Colorado is Slashing Standardized Testing: What Parents & Businesses Need to Know

What This Bill Actually Does

Standardized testing fatigue is a real issue in our schools, and Senate Bill 26-068 is Colorado's legislative attempt to put the brakes on it. Right now, students take a massive mix of tests. Some are mandated by the federal government under laws like the Every Student Succeeds Act, while others are piled on by the state. This bill draws a hard line: the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) must reduce standardized summative assessments to the absolute "minimum extent practicable" while remaining compliant with federal law.

So, what exactly goes away? The bill specifically targets tests that aren't federally protected. According to the state's fiscal note, Colorado will eliminate the PSAT currently required for 9th and 10th graders, which serves as a precursor to the SAT. It also axes the state-specific social studies assessment, which is currently administered to a representative sample of fourth and seventh graders across one-third of our schools. The federally required CMAS (Colorado Measures of Academic Success) tests for reading, math, and science aren't going anywhere—federal law still demands those, and this bill doesn't break federal law.

The legislation goes a step further in Section 22-7-1020. It legally requires the CDE to apply to the federal Department of Education for a waiver within 90 days of the bill passing if that's what it takes to shrink our testing footprint even further. The state can propose creative, outside-the-box solutions to the feds, like shortened assessments or a matrix sampling model (where different kids take different parts of a test to measure overall school performance, rather than every kid sitting through the entire thing). It is a sweeping mandate to get kids out from under the #2 pencils and computer screens, pushing them back into regular, daily instruction.

What It Means for You

If you are a parent or a teacher, this bill directly and immediately impacts your spring calendar. By eliminating the PSAT in high school and the social studies test in elementary and middle school, your kids are getting back days—sometimes weeks—of instructional time that used to be eaten up by test prep, test administration, and the inevitable schedule disruptions that happen when a school goes into "testing mode."

However, there is a real trade-off to consider here. If your high schooler was relying on the free, in-school PSAT as their primary practice for the SAT or for National Merit Scholarship qualification, that safety net is disappearing. You will now need to seek out those practice exams independently. Furthermore, without those 9th and 10th-grade test scores, the state is going to lose a massive chunk of its "growth data"—the metrics used to figure out if a high school is actually helping kids improve year over year. When you are looking up school ratings on greatschools.org or the state's dashboard to decide where to send your teenager, those ratings are going to look very different in a couple of years as the state transitions to a new evaluation framework.

For local taxpayers, this is a rare piece of legislation that actually relieves pressure on your local school district. Administering statewide tests requires massive logistical lifting: buying bulk Chromebooks just for testing, paying substitute teachers to act as proctors, and upgrading specialized internet bandwidth. This bill takes a lot of that expensive administrative weight off the shoulders of your local principals and superintendents.

• Check your student's college prep plan: Without the mandatory 9th and 10th-grade PSAT, you may want to look into free online resources like Khan Academy if college readiness testing is a priority for your family.
• Review your school's data: Understand that high school performance ratings will be influx over the next two years as the state redesigns its accountability frameworks.
• Make your voice heard: If you have strong feelings about reducing testing—or if you're worried about losing high school growth data—contact the Senate Education Committee before their upcoming hearings.

What It Means for Your Business

Most Colorado business owners won't feel a direct compliance pinch from this bill, but if you operate in the ed-tech, tutoring, or educational logistics space, SB26-068 is a massive market signal. Companies that contract with the state to develop, administer, or grade the PSAT and the social studies assessments are going to lose out on $2.2 million in state contracts annually starting in FY 2026-27. Local school districts will also be dialing back their spending on third-party test proctors, supplementary testing materials, and the IT contractors they often bring in to manage testing bandwidth.

On the flip side, there is a hidden opportunity here for the private sector. The state is losing its mandatory early high school testing data. Without the state-mandated PSAT in 9th and 10th grades, ambitious parents will likely turn to private solutions. If you run a private tutoring business, a learning center, or a college-prep service, expect a significant uptick in demand. Parents who relied on the state to provide free, standardized benchmarks for their 14- and 15-year-olds will now be looking for private assessments to make sure their kids are on track for college admissions.

Real estate developers and agents should also pay close attention. Home values are deeply tied to local school performance ratings. Because this bill eliminates the growth data currently used to grade high schools, the Colorado Department of Education has to completely rebuild its school performance frameworks. During this transition period, school ratings might shift, which can directly impact neighborhood desirability and housing marketing strategies.

• Audit your public contracts: If your business provides supplementary materials, IT support, or temporary staffing for spring testing windows in local school districts, prepare for a drop in demand and adjust your revenue forecasts for next spring.
• Pivot your consumer marketing: If you offer private college prep or tutoring, start drafting campaigns aimed at parents of 8th and 9th graders right now. Emphasize that the state will no longer provide free baseline PSAT testing and offer your services as the necessary replacement.
• Monitor local school ratings: Real estate professionals should prepare to explain to clients why high school performance metrics might look different or lack historical comparison data starting in 2027.

Follow the Money

This is where the bill gets really interesting: it is a net savings for the state, but it still requires some strategic upfront spending to make the transition work. By eliminating the PSAT and the social studies assessments, Colorado will save $2,276,563 every single year from the State Education Fund. That is a substantial amount of cash that is freed up and can theoretically be redirected to other critical educational priorities, like teacher pay or classroom resources.

But you can't just delete a major test without breaking a few administrative spreadsheets. Because the state relies heavily on these specific test scores to evaluate how well schools and teachers are performing, the Colorado Department of Education has to rebuild its entire accountability system from scratch. To do that, the bill requires an appropriation of $91,945 from the General Fund in FY 2026-27 and $124,945 in FY 2027-28 to hire specialized technical consultants (0.8 FTE). These folks will reprogram the state's data models and host statewide training sessions. Even with those new administrative and travel costs, the bill is a massive net positive for the state budget, saving roughly $2.1 million overall each year.

Where This Bill Stands

SB26-068 is fresh out of the gate but carries serious momentum. It was officially introduced in the Senate on January 28, 2026, and immediately assigned to the Senate Education Committee. It features strong bipartisan sponsorship from Senators Kolker and Pelton, alongside Representatives Hamrick and Garcia Sander. Bipartisan support right at introduction gives this legislation a very healthy chance of surviving its first few committee votes.

The bill also features a Safety Clause in Section 2, which is critical. A safety clause means the legislature deems the bill "necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety." Practically, this means if the bill passes and the Governor signs it, it goes into effect immediately, bypassing the standard 90-day waiting period. Because the bill mandates applying for a federal waiver within 90 days of passing, you can expect this to move quickly through committee hearings. If you want to weigh in—whether you are a parent, a teacher, or a test-prep business owner—now is the time to reach out to the Senate Education Committee.