9486 in the collection
Anti-MCAS Effort Heads for Defeat
Ohanian comment: I don't understand it:
Why wouldn't the teachers union support this effort?
Why wouldn't FairTest support this effort?
Losing is not ignoble when your cause is noble.
Not waging a fight is ignoble. What's more, it's gutless.
BOSTON - A Granby man yesterday all but conceded defeat for his efforts to eliminate the requirement that students pass the MCAS exams to graduate from high school.
Wayne P. Masse, a father of four, said he believes that he will not collect the 65,825 signatures of registered voters needed to get a
question on the state ballot that could overturn the MCAS mandate. Masse said his chances of gathering enough signatures are about "one in 66,000."
Masse is facing a Nov. 19 deadline to submit the signatures for certification by local election officials. Masse would then have until
Dec. 3 to turn in those signatures to the secretary of state.
At the current pace, Masse estimated that he and 40 other volunteers may only submit about 14,000 signatures to town and city officials - only about 20 percent of the number needed. That would be a generous estimate, considering he and two other volunteers have gathered only
about 1,000 signatures, he said.
"Of course, I'm disappointed," said Masse, 44. "I'm not surprised. I'm more disappointed for the kids than for myself."
Masse said he received lukewarm support for his proposal partly because 95 percent of students in the statewide class of 2003 passed the English and math portions of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exams and received diplomas.
About 3,300 students from the class of 2003 still are attempting to pass the test. Beginning with the class of 2003, students needed to pass the two exams to receive diplomas. They may take the tests over.
"A lot of people say it's the best thing for education," Masse said. "They believe it holds the kids accountable. That's their big thing."
Masse, an office worker at South Hadley Fuel Oil Corp., said one test should not determine whether a student receives a diploma.
Supporters of MCAS said they expected that Masse would come up short in gathering signatures for his proposed referendum.
"MCAS is thoroughly established and accepted throughout the state," William S. Edgerly, chairman emeritus of the State Street Corp. in
Boston and a leader of a business group that backed MCAS, said yesterday. "He would be quite unlikely to get much support. There's a
very strong acceptance of MCAS. It's doing a lot of good and improving our public schools," Edgerly said.
Masse's proposal called for allowing school districts to set their own graduation standards.
Masse said he also failed to capture the support of key organizations opposed to MCAS, such as the Massachusetts Teachers Association, whose deep pockets could have helped subsidize the effort. Monty Neill, a member of the steering committee of the Cambridge-based Massachusetts Coalition for Authentic Reform in Education, said he also expected Masse
to fail. Neill said his group agreed with Masse's goal, but the Granby man lacked the money and organization needed for a successful
referendum. "We thought there was no real point in jumping onboard," Neill said. "We saw no way to make it work."
The coalition opposes the MCAS graduation requirement, saying a test shouldn't be used as a sole hurdle for graduation and that reliance on the test damages curriculum and instruction.
In early September, Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly certified the language in Masse's proposal, giving him and his supporters more than two months to collect the signatures.
Masse and his wife, Janice, raised no money and did not pay people to collect signatures for the proposed ballot question. Masse did not pay
for advertising.
Masse said he may again attempt to gather signatures for an anti-MCAS referendum on the 2006 statewide ballot.
— Dan Ring
Anti-MCAS Effort Heads for Defeat
Springfield Republican
2003-11-
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
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