The Alabama Board of Education on Thursday voted 7-to-2 to raise the score requirement on the state’s third grade reading test – the first hurdle determining whether the student moves to fourth grade – for the current school year and beyond.

Republican board members Jackie Zeigler, whose district includes much of south Alabama, and Stephanie Bell, whose district includes part of central Alabama, voted no. Both said they were concerned that the score State Superintendent Eric Mackey recommended was too low.

“A lot of my constituents and teachers and fellow educators reached out and they said we just need to push on that accelerator a bit harder,” Zeigler said about not raising the score high enough.