Colorado Springs Senator Angered At Amendments To His Testing Bill

DENVER - A grand bargain was reached Monday on the issue of reducing the number of standardized tests given in Colorado's public schools - ninth grade math and reading exams will continue under both bills being considered - enraging some while pacifying others. Sen. Michael Merrifield, D-Colorado Springs, is among the enraged. "If it comes out the way I've been hearing, I'd be embarrassed to have my name on the same bill," Merrifield said, a sponsor of Senate Bill 257, one of two testing bills still alive.