Cambridge MassParents for Education not MCAS/Cambridge CARE
(Coalition for Authentic Reform in Education)
342 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02139
 

                                                                                                               Jan 22, 2002
Dear School Committee Member:

    We are writing on behalf of the thousands of families whose children depend on our public schools for their education. More than 1000 Cambridge residents have signed petitions calling for an end to the MCAS as a graduation requirement and its replacement with multiple, fair means of assessment. More than 9,000 Cambridge residents voted in favor of suspending the MCAS tests in a non-binding referendum in November of 2000.

    We respectfully urge the Cambridge School Committee to exercise your authority to grant high school diplomas to all students who meet Cambridge's requirements for graduation, regardless of their MCAS scores. We trust that the Cambridge school system, under the guidance of our Superintendent and our elected School Committee, is much better able to determine the full range of a student's learning and achievements and contribution to the community than the distant state Department of Education, using only a single standardized test.

    The Hampshire Regional School Committee voted unanimously on October 1, 2001 to grant diplomas to deserving seniors regardless of MCAS scores. Several other school boards  are actively considering this possibility. The Mass. Association of School Committees voted overwhelmingly (4-1) in October to reaffirm its vote of the previous year calling for suspension of the MCAS graduation requirement until major questions about the test have been resolved. So far, the state chooses to ignore the school boards.

    Historically, local School Committees have had the authority to determine who will graduate. They have held on to this responsibility since the first public school was established in 1821, despite tremendous swings in educational philosophy, and debates about what should be taught and how learning should be measured. It is, in fact, a radical break from sound educational practice for the Dept. of Education to claim that it has the right to determine who will get a diploma, through the use of a single standardized exam - especially one as flawed and controversial as the MCAS.  

    The Dept. of Education has waged a relentless and expensive public relations campaign in recent months to convince the public that the MCAS fight is over because of the drop in the 2001 tenth grade failure rate. Yet 22,000 students ­ about a third of last year's tenth graders ­ did not pass the exam and face possible denial of a diploma in 2003. In Cambridge, almost 50 percent of last year's tenth graders did not pass the tests. This figure is staggering. Many of these students deserve to graduate on the basis of their school work, their portfolios and other accomplishments.
  
    We don't want our students  subject  to intensive remediation,  costly MCAS-prep classes,  and taking exams over and over again. Many students  will become discouraged and drop out. Many will have had a perfectly decent high school career but without receiving their diploma on graduation day, will suffer sharply diminished prospects for college or a career.  Given the deeply discriminatory character of the MCAS, we cannot leave it in place.

    We urge you to exercise your responsibility towards the public students of  Cambridge and insure that deserving seniors receive their diplomas in 2003.

Sincerely,

Josiane Hudicourt-Barnes, Jackie Dee King, Tim Plenk and Larry Ward