AUGUSTA — The Maine House has given initial approval to a bill that supporters say will ensure parents know their right to opt their children out of standardized tests.

The House rejected an effort to kill the bill with an 80-62 vote Friday. The chamber then sent the bill to the Senate.

Parents are already free to have their children sit out of standardized tests. But supporters of the bill say that many parents don’t know they have that option.

The amended version of Assistant Democratic Leader Sara Gideon’s bill would require the Maine Department of Education to produce a report each year outlining the federal and state laws on standardized tests.

The department says that schools could lose federal funding if they test fewer than 95 percent of students each year.