Call to Resist

Historical information on fighting the MCAS test. This campaign is not currently active

 

 

Parent's Call to Resist the MCAS; 
Committee of a 100 Massachusetts Parents

The education of our children is essential to their personal development, to their contribution to their community, and to the future of our society. The MCAS testing imposed by the nine member State Board of Education undermines rather than improves our childrenšs education, and harms their development. These biased and deeply flawed tests increase the existing inequities in our schools. They have been forced on our students and schools without the consent of our teachers or
elected school committees.

We refuse to subject our children to the damage from the MCAS tests. We refuse to accept the belittlement of our children and our childrenšs education by arbitrary and fallacious test scores. We call upon parents across the Commonwealth to refuse to allow their children to take these tests, and to insist that their schools provide an alternative educational environment during the testing period. We call upon our elected school committees and legislators to set aside the MCAS and to support quality education, not standardization. 

This year we are a committee of 100. 
Next year we will be a 1000.
The year after 10,000.

We will ensure that the education - not the regimentation - of our children, is the central role of our school systems.

As a parent in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, I endorse the above Call to Resist

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Please provide us with the following contact information:

First and last name
City
Home Phone not required
Work Phone not required
School
Grade
E-mail

     

 

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To sign on to the CALL TO RESIST:

Fill out the above form and click on the gray box or send E-mail to <petition@massparents.org> Please include your name, city, a phone number and your e mail address and school & grade.

You can print out the call (see link at bottom of page) and circulate it at your school, and send responses  to:
Mass Parents
40 Essex St.
Cambridge, Ma 02139

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Signers

 

  1. Nancy Alach          (Cambridge) 

  2. Al Arment   (Springfield)

  3. Janet Axelrod         (Cambridge)

  4. Steve Backman      (Boston)

  5. John A. Barnes  (Cambridge)

  6. Josiane Hudicourt-Barnes   (Cambridge)

  7. Jeffrey Benson

  8. Connie Biewald     (Cambridge)

  9. R.C. Binstock         (Cambridge) 

  10. Mary Buchinger Bodwell (Cambridge)

  11. Meg A. Bond      (Cambridge)

  12. Irene Bosch             (Brookline)

  13. Carolyn  Boyes-Watson        (Cambridge)

  14. Mark Boyes-Watson    (Cambridge)

  15. William Bowers     (Brookline)

  16. Catherine Brady     (Cambridge)

  17. Leah Brown          (Roxbury)

  18. Leslie Brunetta         (Cambridge)

  19. Macnamara Buck     (Cambridge)

  20. Dakota Butterfield (Cambridge)

  21. Amey Callahan    (Cambridge)

  22. Chris Cartter             (Cambridge)

  23. Steve Cohen     (Cambridge)

  24. Nancy Cole    (Cambridge)

  25. Perry Conley     (Amherst)

  26. Brian Conway     (Cambridge)

  27. Linda Costa       (Cambridge)

  28. Lynne Cowie    (Florence)

  29. Nancy deProsse  (Amherst)

  30. Brian Dowley  (Cambridge)

  31. Marla Erlien  (Cambridge)

  32. Jean Fitzgerald     (Chicopee)

  33. Lucia Flammia    (Cambridge)

  34. Dennis Fox         (Brookline)

  35. Kenneth Fox         (Springfield)

  36. Dan French    (Cambridge)

  37. Sara Freedman  (Cambridge)

  38. Doug Fuda     (Boston)

  39. Mary Fusoni     (Arlington)

  40. David Galiel (Marblehead)

  41. Robert Goldrup Jr (Springfield)

  42. Deborah Good    (Brookline)

  43. Decia Goodwin     (Cambridge)

  44. Kathy Greeley         (Cambridge)

  45. Sara Green         (Walpole)

  46. Paul Gregory     (Cambridge)

  47. Marie-Laure Grimaldi     (Boston)

  48. Kate Gyllensvard     (Cambridge)

  49. Karen Hartke    (Boston)

  50. Mike Heichman     (Boston)

  51. David Himmelstein (Cambridge)

  52. Cheryl Hirshman    (Lincoln)

  53. Pixie Holbrook  ( Conway)

  54. Judy Housman    (Cambridge)

  55. Michael Hussin, (Pelham)

  56. Marilynn Johnson  (Boston)

  57. Marty Jukovsky    (Cambridge)

  58. Pat Jukovsky       (Cambridge)

  59. Sandra Kanter   (Cambridge)

  60. AnnNoel Kesselheim   (Pelham)

  61. Jackie King        (Cambridge)

  62. Jon King             (Cambridge)

  63. Terry Knight         (Brookline)

  64. Anne Kofke

  65. Mindy Kornhaber     (Belmont)

  66. David E. Krebs     (Cambridge)

  67. Julia Kirst       (Cambridge) 

  68. AnnNoel Kesselheim (Pelham)

  69. Shelley Laine     (Marblehead)

  70. Gerald Laporte     (Rehoboth)

  71. LuanneMary Laporte    (Rehoboth)

  72. Mary Lenihan     (Jamaica Plain)

  73. Clara Lennox, MD     (Dorchester)

  74. Kathy Lewis     (Townsend)

  75. Peter Loftus     (Cambridge)

  76. Lydia M. Lowe         (Cambridge)

  77. Jolianna Lobrose         (Plainfield)

  78. Laura Lubetsky,         (Newton)

  79. Bill Madsen  (Cambridge)

  80. Kathy MacDonald     (Boston)

  81. Shirley Mark        (Cambridge)

  82. Susan Markowitz (Newton)

  83. Mary Marotta         (Leominster)

  84. Charlo Maurer     (Cambridge)

  85. Kevin Massey     (Cambridge)

  86. Kay Mathew     (Roxbury)

  87. Martha Matlaw      (Boston)

  88. Pam Matz     (Cambridge)

  89. Ellen Mayer (Cambridge)

  90. James Morrow,     (Holyoke)

  91. Chris Murray     (Hanover)

  92. Linda Nathan    (Cambridge)

  93. Colin  Novick ( Worcester)

  94. Tracy Novick ( Worcester)

  95. An Nguyen     (Cambridge)

  96. Myanna O'Brien-Myers     (Chicopee)

  97. Judy Perlman  (Cambridge)

  98. Malcolm Pittman     (Cambridge)

  99. Tim Plenk        (Cambridge)

  100. Stanley Pollack  (Arlington)

  101. Robert Postel    (Cambridge)

  102. Barby Prothro        (Cambridge)

  103. Helen Raizen     (Boston)

  104. John Rioux     (Conway)

  105. David Rivard    (Cambridge)

  106. Michael Rome (Cambridge)

  107. Elena Saporta     (Cambridge)

  108. Rick Scharf     (Cambridge)

  109. Abigail Schirmer     (Cambridge)

  110. Mark Schultz     (Cambridge)

  111. Jan Shafer (Cambridge)

  112. Nanette  Simenas (Cambridge)

  113. Ellen Slater    (Cambridge)

  114. Scott Slater    (Cambridge)

  115. Dominique Stassart 

  116. Barbara Smith (Taunton)

  117. David Sprague    (Westhampton)

  118. John Spritzler     (Brighton)

  119. George Stiny      (Brookline)

  120. Rev. Talbert Swan II     (Springfield)

  121. Martha Sweezy    (Cambridge)

  122. John Tagiuri     (Cambridge)

  123. Jeffrey Thomas     (Cambridge)

  124. Karen Tichnor         (Wayland )

  125. Michael Tichnor      (Wayland )

  126. Kathi Tighe   (Cambridge)

  127. Lee Venolia     (Williamstown)

  128. Rosie Walunas     (Sunderland)

  129. Larry Ward     (Cambridge)

  130. Anna Ferrigno Ward    (Cambridge)

  131. Crispin B. Weinberg    (Brookline)

  132. Andrea Whitaker        (Cambridge)

  133. Peggy Wiesenberg     (Boston)

  134. Rand Wilson,                (Lincoln)

  135. Jesse Winch         (Cambridge)

  136. Andrea Winter 

  137. Tim Wise         (Cambridge)    

  138. Steffie Woolhandler (Cambridge)

  139. Shari Zimble     (Cambridge)


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Background to the call to resist:

Parents of students at the Mission Hill school in the Roxbury section of Boston and the parents of students at the middle school in Scarsdale New York have set the stage for a broader call to parents of public school students to resist their state's high stake tests.

Individual families from many different Massachusetts communities (Cambridge, Boston, Rehoboth, Brookline, Chicopee, Falmouth, Amherst, etc) boycotted the April administration of MCAS tests (the new Grade 3 Reading test and writing section of the English Language Arts tests for grades 4,7,8 and 10). Some Swampscott parents asked this week why MassCARE parents were not calling for a statewide boycott. The proposal to withhold diplomas on the basis of poor MCAS test results is a profound violation of student rights. Caring parents should not legitimate MCAS by accepting it. Parents have a right to withhold consent for their children to participate in this harmful educational experiment.

As long as students are quietly taking their tests, the Legislature is not going to act on the pending bills to change the punitive use of MCAS testing by state and local officials. 

-- Tens of thousands of students are being put at risk by the misuse of MCAS: 

-- Students are being labeled as educational failures at age 8; 

-- Some school districts are denying promotion to the next grade to low scoring students simply on the basis of test results; 

-- Some districts are tracking students into remedial classes with low expectations or
enrichment programs with high expectations based on the results of
standardized testing; 

-- State officials are threatening to deny high school diplomas and admission to 2 or 4 year state colleges to students who score poorly on MCAS even if they have achieved passing grades  in required courses.

Just as the Freedom riders resisted illegitimate segregation laws, so the time has come for parents to resist an illegitimate and damaging education policy. We are launching a 10 day mini-campaign culminating in Committee of 100 Massachusetts Parents calling for parents across the state to keep their children from being tested (boycott, but call to parents, not students directly). The Call is shown above.

Students in 8th grade or lower in most school districts are not at risk if parents send them to school with a written request informing the school officials not to administer MCAS to the child. Students in this year's 10 grade must pass two MCAS tests (English Language Arts and Math MCAS tests) to graduate on or after 2003. For these students, the consequences will depend on whether the legislature or Board of Education changes state policy before 2003, or local School Committees challenge the policy.

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Please circulate this Call by e-mail or printing it out (see link at bottom of page)  to gather support for the Committee of 100 Massachusetts Parents who will sign on/ issue the Call. There are many more than 100 boycotting families, especially if we include last year. Our goal would be to get good distribution of urban/suburban/rural, North Shore/South Shore, parents.

We hope to hold a press conference of subgroup of the Committee of 100 at State House or Mission Hill or related site accessible to some parents and news media before May 14 test start.

Use Massparents web site www.massparents.org as information central and Massparents listserv for coordination. 
Post to <massparents@igc.topica.com>. If you are not subscribed send a blank message to <massparents-subscribe@igc.topica.com>

Copy of Call to Resist to Print out

 

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