Testimony by Josh Kaufman, Student at Brookline High School, at the Legislative Forum on the MCAS, Gardner Auditorium, MA State House, Feb. 11, 2003

Just the other day, I received a letter, which read:

"Each year, Brown University works with the College Board and other
testing organizations to identify exceptional high school students from
all over the world. Congratulations on your academic achievement."

As a student who has failed the MCAS, this letter only deepened my
frustration. My successes, because they come in the shadow of MCAS
failure, are hard to feel good about. I did well on the PSATs (hence the
letter), get good grades, am team photographer for the basketball team,
and work hard in school. But I also have a learning disability, which
means that no matter how hard I work, or how much I study, I may not pass
the math retest.

Since I entered high school, I have worried almost everyday that I might
not graduate. I have not yet begun to think about taking the SATS, or to
prepare college applications. For me, everything hinges on my having
failed a single test. Sometimes, when I am most worried, everything else
seems futile.

I remember a Far Side cartoon, entitled "Mathphobe's Nightmare" which has
been on my mind a lot of late. In the comic, a man who cannot do math
stands at the Gates of Heaven. Though he can see heaven beyond, he can't
get in because the entrance exam is a complex math problem. I feel like
that man, a successful life beyond high school is in sight, everyday in my
mail I find 4 or 5 new college brochures, but still college seems out of
reach. Each time I flip through those brochures, I can't stop myself from
wondering how the admissions officer will react to my saying, "I don't
have a diploma, I failed the MCAS."

I want to be able to walk across the stage at graduation, shake hands, and
get my diploma. People should not be sorted into categories of passing and
failing. I have spoken to many other students who have failed MCAS and
each of them has a compelling story. The stigma of having failed silences
them. I can understand this. On good days I wonder what is wrong with the
system, but most of the time I wonder what is wrong with me.