Posted on 08/07/2023 8:30:41 PM PDT by massmike
The board of the Massachusetts Teacher Association has voted unanimously to back a ballot question eliminating the state’s MCAS exam graduation requirement, kicking off the next step in the prominent campaign.
The union has long been an outspoken opponent of the test. In their statement, the president and vice president argued the exam “has not only failed to close learning gaps that have persisted along racial and economic lines, but the standardized tests have exacerbated the disparities among our student populations.”
However, the union emphasized, the ballot question would not end the test, just the graduation requirement.
Opponents of the ballot initiative have argued getting rid of the requirement would lower standards for students and the value of the Massachusetts diploma.
(Excerpt) Read more at bostonherald.com ...
Idiocracy marches on
I was long an involuntary member of a teachers’ union. Permit me to make a few observations.
1) The union leadership is no way representative of the membership. The membership consists of Trump conservatives, Bernie Sanders communists, and literally everything in between.
2) Nevertheless, the ultra-liberal slate wins every time. Why is that? It’s almost like an hereditary monarchy. The old socialist union leaders pick the new socialist union leaders. Then they fix elections in a way that would make Stalin blush.
Oh, the stories I could tell you about that.
Teachers’ Unions should not exist.
Diplomas are handed to high school graduates who cannot read them. This is a disgrace.
Those who can read them might be trouble for the dem overlords...Better to keep everyone stupid....
Typical dimmocrap move: when certain groups can’t make the standard, just eliminate the standard. Always pandering to the lowest common denominator. This is surely how we made the great technical and medical discoveries in this country.
All unions have the right to exist. The First Amendment protects the right of free assembly. So shouldn’t workers be able to freely assemble, and form a union? I find that argument to be very persuasive. If two (or two million) workers want to gather together and agree on a common goal, that is their right.
Ah, but here’s the thing. Employers should also have the right to ignore a union, and fire any and all striking workers. Replace them with people who are willing to work. But in too many jurisdictions that option is no longer legally (or politically) possible.
It’s no longer a level playing field.
Massachusetts doesn’t think much of their young people, do they?
TAKE NOTE... Conservatives should flood the schools. Reverse Gramsky on them.
“has not only failed to close learning gaps that have persisted along racial and economic lines, but the standardized tests have exacerbated the disparities among our student populations.”
Since when were tests supposed to close a learning gap? They are to test what students have learned, not be used as a learning tool.
What conservatives? This is Massachusetts we are discussing, here.
Since I didn’t see an explanation of the acronym MCAS in the article, here it is.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_Comprehensive_Assessment_System
As suspected it is yet another standardized test that certain groups have trouble passing and therefore must be eliminated.
Actually, it tests whether the teaching staff did its job correctly. Granted, a lot of the problem stems from decisions made by the administration, but the system failed.
The teachers just want to blame their failure on, oh, I don’t know....racism. I guess climate change is just a step too far.
EC
The Bell Curve never lies.
FDR, the most famous of “progressives” wrote convincingly that government unions should not exist.
Governments are by themselves a monopoly, and they work for the public good and under public direction. A union of workers promoting their own interests is therefore automatically a monopoly, and unjust control of money and services that citizens are forced to use and pay for. Indeed, worse than any private corporate monopoly.
Public sector unions can twist, deflect, or ignore the will of the public, and are automatically therefore unelected political players.
They are the definition of both malfeasance, and tyranny.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.