Massachusetts denies diplomas to some high schoolers

BOSTON -- Four attempts. Two points shy.

The numbers plague Karl Kearns, a senior at Burke High School in Boston. This was the first year in which seniors statewide were denied diplomas if they failed the state's high school test, the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exam, or MCAS.

Kearns was one of some 4,800 seniors who didn't make the cut.

Despite maintaining a B average, winning an award for "most improved" in his class, being captain of his football team and overcoming the challenges of a broken home and a reading disability, he didn't score high enough to get a diploma and graduate.

"I don't think it's fair," said Kearns, who went to graduation anyway to be with friends. "I know I could be up there if the MCAS wasn't thrown in our face."

MCAS, given annually since 1998, is a key part of the state Education Reform Act of 1993, which established mandatory levels of funding for all schools. It was enacted in response to a ruling by the state Supreme Judicial Court that Massachusetts had a constitutional duty to adequate fund all public school districts. State spending on public schools has since jumped from $1.6 billion to $4.1 billion this year.

While 92 percent of Massachusetts seniors have passed the tests, the new requirement has hit some schools hard.

The city of Lawrence is graduating less than 60 percent of its 437 seniors, the lowest passage rate in the state. In Chelsea, 64 percent are passing. In Springfield, it's 69 percent, and in Fitchburg, 74 percent, not including handfuls of recently awarded waivers.

In Cambridge, home to Harvard University, slightly more than three-quarters are passing.

Overall, 94 percent of seniors in suburban schools have passed, compared with 79 percent in city schools. About 30 percent of Hispanic and 25 percent of black seniors have not passed, compared with 6 percent of white seniors and 10 percent of Asians, according to Department of Education statistics.

Even before this year's tests, parents organized against MCAS, teachers were suspended for not administering the test, lawmakers held hearings and student boycotts were common.

Former Gov. Paul Cellucci once ducked students who stormed the Statehouse to challenge him to take the exam and lose his job if he failed. Cellucci declined to take the test.

But Massachusetts education commissioner David Driscoll said the 92 percent success rate eclipsed even the state's prediction.

"The sheer numbers have driven the opposition almost underground," he said.

Other states also have struggled with high-stakes testing.

About 2,500 protesters gathered outside Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's office in May to demand he suspend the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Beginning this year, Florida high school seniors must pass the 10th-grade exam to receive their diplomas. Statewide, 14,000 12th-graders didn't pass and more than 43,000 third-graders didn't pass the test required for them to advance to fourth grade.

In California last week, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell said that making students pass that state's new exit exams before they can graduate should be delayed until 2006, because there is mounting evidence that thousands of students can't pass it. The graduation requirement was supposed to begin with the class of 2004.

A federal education act signed by President Bush last year requires students in grades three through eight be tested annually in reading and math.

School boards around Massachusetts toyed with the idea of handing out diplomas regardless of whether students passed MCAS but backed off after Driscoll warned that principals and superintendents could lose their jobs and districts would lose state funds if they defy regulations.

Judges in both state and federal courts have refused to block enforcement of the MCAS requirement.

Documents called "certificates of attainment" are available for students who meet local graduation requirements but don't pass the MCAS. But a diploma is needed to qualify college-bound students for state and federal financial aid. Students can take several retests, including one in July.

James Peyser, chairman of the state Board of Education, said the first year is the hardest.

"My guess is that next year there will be far less controversy and discussion about this throughout the year, in particular because the Class of 2004 is already farther ahead," he said.