On Friday, State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced that Oklahoma would end annual state testing. It’s a bold headline, but it ignores a simple fact: He doesn’t have the authority to declare that our state will disregard federal law.

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) still requires annual testing in grades 3–8 and once in high school. No waivers have been granted to Oklahoma, nor have any been formally requested. Until Congress changes the law or the U.S. Department of Education approves a waiver, our state must comply.

In other words, Walters has put the cart well before the horse.

That’s unfortunate, because on the big idea, most Oklahoma educators and I agree with him: our current testing model is broken. We’ve been saying this for more than a decade. But meaningful change tak

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