A&160;group of Concordia Parish parents met Monday to discuss the impact of a &uot;life-threatening&uot; test on their children.

All fourth- and eighth-graders are required to pass the controversial Louisiana LEAP test this year if they are to be promoted to the next grade.

Debra Probst and Lisa Hutchins, two mothers of Concordia Parish students, held Tuesday’s meeting to organize parents to join a lawsuit against the test.

Between 25 and 30 parents attended the meeting at the Vidalia Recreation Center.

Probst and Hutchins argue the children should not be expected to master the skills tested by LEAP.

&uot;Our children’s &uot;education here is unstable,&uot;&160;Probst said. &uot;They have not been taught what they should have been taught.&uot;

And it is not the teacher’s fault. It is the curriculum, she added.

Probst and Hutchins argue that district’s across the state do not have curriculums in place to address all the skills found in the LEAP test.

And sometimes even intelligent people do not perform well on standardized tests, Probst said.

The state also lacks certified teachers to teach the students including the 40,000 fourth- and eight-graders expected to fail the LEAP test.

Probst and Hutchins are encouraging parents upset over this policy to join a group called Parents for Educational Justice. The organization filed suit against the State of Louisiana on March 1.