Gov. Deval Patrick is making available $168 million in federal stimulus money to Massachusetts public schools. If he can do that, there’s no reason he can’t find the $2.4 million the Department of Education needs to give the MCAS exams in history and social sciences.
A solid knowledge of our country’s founding and development is essential for every citizen. Assessments have been too long delayed.
The tests were to have been given this month as the final trial run before kicking in as part of graduation requirements for the class of 2012. In February, Commissioner Mitchell Chester persuaded the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to drop the tests as graduation requirements for the classes of 2012 and 2013 as well as the trial run because money was so tight.
The Patrick administration has given every sign that it wants to retreat from the high standards that MCAS represents. It organized a task force that advocated teaching “21st century skills,” which in our view is shorthand for content-free education.
By Boston Herald Editorial Staff | Saturday, April 4, 2009
Gov. Deval Patrick is making available $168 million in federal stimulus money to Massachusetts public schools. If he can do that, there’s no reason he can’t find the $2.4 million the Department of Education needs to give the MCAS exams in history and social sciences.