09/10/2003

By DAN RING Staff writer
dring@repub.com

BOSTON - A confrontation between a leading legislator and a Western Massachusetts man summed up yesterday's legislative hearing on some bills that seek to eliminate the requirement that high school students pass the MCAS exams to graduate.

Rep. Marie P. St. Fleur, D-Boston, was quick to respond when MCAS opponent Wayne P. Masse of Granby emphasized that 5,000 students in the Class of 2003 didn't pass the tests and didn't obtain diplomas as a result. Masse is proposing a statewide ballot question that would allow local officials to establish graduation requirements, a move that would end the state's MCAS graduation mandate.

"Our children are getting frustrated and disillusioned, some to the point of despair where they do drop out," Masse told members of the Committee on Education.

St. Fleur, co-chair of the committee, told Masse that about 55,000 students in the class did pass the exams and did obtain their diplomas.

"We should also recognize those students who did the work and passed the exam," St. Fleur told Masse. "We should not take away from a group of students."

Legislators yesterday aired 38 bills related to Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exams during yesterday's hearing on Beacon Hill.

None of the bills is being given much chance of passing because of the strong support for MCAS among political leaders, such as St. Fleur and Gov. W. Mitt Romney. A lot of opposition among the public also seems to have vanished after 93 percent of students in the Class of 2003 passed the English and math tests.

Some of the bills would suspend or postpone the MCAS graduation requirement and others would repeal it. Other bills aim to make it easier for special needs students or those in vocational schools to obtain a diploma.

Ruth Kaplan, a member of the Brookline School Committee and co-chair of the Alliance for High Standards Not High Stakes, a coalition against the MCAS graduation requirement, said about 2,000 special-needs students in the class of 2003 did not pass the tests.

"The test is destroying the aspirations of some of the commonwealth's hardest working students," Kaplan said.

Supporters said the MCAS is the best way to make students successful and give them skills to thrive in the workplace after they graduate.

James A. Peyser, chairman of the state Board of Education, said the MCAS is changing the culture in some schools by driving home the need for learning and achievement. Peyser said the graduation requirement should remain in place.

"We must not retreat from our commitment to higher achievement for all students by abandoning or watering down our standards," Peyser said.

Last week, Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly certified Masse's proposal to eliminate the MCAS graduation requirement. Masse, a father of four, said he and about 50 other volunteers are planning to hit the streets as early as next week to begin collecting some 66,000 signatures from registered voters needed to place the question on the 2004 ballot.