BUFFALO — The US Education Department is not relenting on requirements to test students on math and language arts abilities, despite the end of No Child Left Behind, and it reminded some states that federal funding could be at stake if too many children skip the annual assessments.

But testing opponents say they’re not giving up, either, and after a surge in students opting out last year, they’re looking for even more to sit out in the tests.

A letter from the federal department last month reminded state school chiefs that the requirement to test at least 95 percent of grade 3 through 8 students is still in place under the nation’s new education law, passed in December.

Last year, the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, a group that’s critical of standardized assessments, counted more than 640,000 students in over a dozen states who refused to take the assessments to protest the high-stakes consequences of the tests.

The new Every Student Succeeds Act leaves it to states how to handle schools that fall short in participation.

Associated Press