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Outrages

  

9486 in the collection  

    A Few Seniors Boycott Graduation to Protest MCAS

    Standing in a hallway of her soon-to-be-alma mater yesterday, Brookline High School senior Emily Nelson looked the part of an imminent graduate -- the royal blue robe, the tassel-swinging cap, the eager smile. But she also sported a more personal symbol: a small orange-and-black button with ''MCAS'' and a line crossing it out.

    Nelson is among the first class of Massachusetts public high school seniors who must pass the English and math portions of the 10th-grade MCAS test to earn a diploma. She boycotted the MCAS, so instead of a state-recognized diploma, she got a ''graduation document'' yesterday noting that she had completed all of Brookline High's requirements. And she did not accept it, another sign of her protest against the graduation requirement.

    ''It's a long process, but it's by no means done . . .,'' said Nelson, 17, who plans to attend Middlebury College in Vermont. ''More and more people are coming forward with huge flaws in the test. It's not going to end with us.''

    Brookline High, with its 98 percent success rate on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test, yesterday symbolized one side of the graduation season for the class of 2003. Another side unfolded miles away on a different commencement stage -- one for Lawrence High School, whose 69 percent pass rate on the exam ranks among the lowest in Massachusetts. Lawrence is a magnet for immigrants, with census data showing that nearly one-third of its residents were born outside the United States. School officials say the language barrier, not a lack of trying, hurt the most on the MCAS.

    At the Tsongas Arena in Lowell yesterday, where Lawrence High's graduation exercises took place, 117 of 374 graduating seniors received ''certificates of attainment'' instead of high school diplomas. If they want to retake MCAS, they will be able to take remedial courses at community colleges, but the certificate will not get them into public colleges or qualify them for federal financial aid. Principal Thomas Sharkey hopes more students will pass when the latest round of MCAS scores come out in July -- and just in case, he has ordered diplomas for all seniors to swap with their certificates.

    ''This is a celebration of the 374 students having fulfilled the requirements of the Lawrence public school system,'' Sharkey said. ''The certificates are not the same as a diploma, and the kids know that.''

    But that knowledge did not dampen the typically edgy excitement of graduation.

    ''I feel happy anyway,'' said Victor Guerrero, 18, who has not passed but plans to attend Northern Essex Community College.

    ''I don't even care if I failed MCAS,'' said Jhan Polanco, 17, although he said he plans to take the exam until he passes. He also wants to attend Northern Essex.

    Speakers at the ceremonies barely referred to the test. Brookline School Committee Chairwoman Marcia M. Heist said the day belongs to the class of 2003, not to the MCAS. Senior Sean Garren -- one of five Brookline High boycotters -- said he thinks he and other protesters made their point.

    ''We reached out, and people heard what we had to say,'' Garren, 18, said.

    Indeed, school committees in two communities -- the city of Northampton and the five-town Hampshire Regional School District -- are scheduled to meet today to decide whether to defy the state Department of Education and award diplomas to seniors who failed MCAS. The school committee in South Hadley voted last week to take that route, and is expected to meet tomorrow to reconsider its vote or award diplomas to all. The DOE has threatened withholding state money for towns that award diplomas to seniors who haven't passed, or revoking the teaching licenses of those who distribute those diplomas.

    For Lawrence High's class of 2003, though, the debate is over. Atanis Almanzar, 17, and Chantal Perry, 20, basked in the realization that their high school journey was complete, with or without the MCAS. Almanzar passed the exam; Perry did not. But each has greater tasks ahead.

    ''We made it,'' Almanzar said.

    ''Yeah, we did,'' Perry replied.

    ''And we're moms!'' Almanzar said.

    Realizing their accomplishment, they exchanged high-fives.

    — Anand Vaishnav and Catherine Dunn
    Graduation Speakers
    Boston Globe
    June 1, 2003
    http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/153/metro/Graduation_speakers+.shtml

    INDEX OF OUTRAGES

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