Eighth graders at city schools begin taking standardized tests Tuesday, but some students at two alternative Manhattan schools are refusing take part.

Instead, parents of some students at the two schools say they're trying to teach New York State education officials a lesson.

Most eighth graders at Manhattan's "School of the Future" and the "Institute for Collaborative Education" say they'll boycott today's English exam.

Parents say there's too much emphasis on the state test, and that a single test score should not determine promotion or graduation.

“We have schools where very fine education and wonderful programs are going on, and children are being taught to think critically, to do creative projects, to research and to write. These tests turn our schools into test prep centers, and we will not have this,” Jean Hirschmann, the parent of a boycotting student, said Tuesday.

One student boycotting the exam, Claire Kazar, added, “Real life does not happen in multiple choice answers. These tests and the preparation for these tests are not teaching us the skills we need to know for finding the answers we need in the future.”

The two schools staged a similar boycott last year.

The New York State Education Department maintains that students must take the exam at some point. If not, the department and the Board of Education will be brought in to intervene.