Groups sue to stop high school exit exam in Massachusetts, claim discrimination

Associated Press ^ | 9-19-02

[Oldeconomybuyer]

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) --

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Why do "multi-cultural" and "minority" groups want to keep multi-cultural and minority kids uneducated?

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System

Download Page for 2002 MCAS Results

[Lewite]

I guess those folks (lawyers) did not read nor understand the wonderful truth from "The Bell Curve". It should be required reading for all college students and grads.

[okie01]

"Why do "multi-cultural" and "minority" groups want to keep multi-cultural and minority kids uneducated?"

Because the teachers' colleges and the teachers union don't want you to know the system is broken. This way, maybe nobody will notice...

[SevenofNine]

Actually ahhh what their problem?

They can't take the test because it is discrimnate against them ahhhh Olde I took this test when I was in high school


What make them so special

[Congressman Billybob]

Let's face it, we HAVE to put a stop to this DISCRIMINATION AGAINST THE STUPID. It's just UNFAIR. And it's not just happening in high schools. It's everywhere. I want medical schools to be even-handed in admitting and graduating their fair share of stupid doctors.

Yeh, that's right. I want a doctor who cut class and is dumb as a box of rocks standing over my unconscious body with a knife in his hand. NOT.

Congressman Billybob

Click for major article on turnover in the House of Representatives: "Til Death Do Us Part."

Click for latest book: "to Restore Trust in America"

Latest column, "The Politics of Flight 93," is posted on FreeRepublic.

[Steve_Seattle]

I wonder how Asians did on this test? Since they aren't mentioned, my guess is that they had a pretty good pass rate. If Asians did well - many of whom are fairly recent immigrants whose family language is not English - then the test is not biased against minorites, particularly black minorities whose families have lived in this country for 200 years or more. I am so fed up with the whining of blacks and Hispanics. The Asians just roll up their sleeves and get the job done.

[HEY4QDEMS]

I know I've said this before, but it's worth repeating.

All tests discriminate by design, they seperate those who know the answers from those who don't.

[Chi-Town Lady]

"Instead of fixing struggling schools, the state instead opted to enact a high-stakes exam that effectively has punished, sacrificed and abandoned the students that were really the ones that needed the education the most," plaintiffs' attorney Tom Frongillo said.

Doesn't everyone need an education? Why do they insinuate that some people need it more than others? Also, how many of those students that failed have been to class everyday? How may actually read the material? How many asked for help with something they did not understand? It's not necessarily the schools that have failed but they themselves who do not value a good education.

[Steve_Seattle]

Here in Washington, the school system is headed for an iceberg over this same issue. In about two years, passing the test will be a requirement for graduation, and as things stand now, half the kids won't graduate.

[Steve_Seattle]

"Instead of fixing struggling schools"

Is it the schools that are struggling, or is it that the students and parents are not doing their part? When I go to the local library, I see a lot of Asian students there, but few if any blacks or Hispanics. It's a question of priorities, and blacks and Hispanics apparently have other priorities. They think an education is something that is GIVEN to a passive recipient, whereas an education is something that requires work and discipline.

[elephantlips]

What really discriminates against the poor and minorities are public schools that are incapable of teaching anyone enough to pass the "exit exam." However, I like the "bell shaped curve" comment. Ah, reality, it kind of smacks you in the face every once in a while.

[mhking]

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[mhking]

Is it the schools that are struggling, or is it that the students and parents are not doing their part? When I go to the local library, I see a lot of Asian students there, but few if any blacks or Hispanics. It's a question of priorities, and blacks and Hispanics apparently have other priorities. They think an education is something that is GIVEN to a passive recipient, whereas an education is something that requires work and discipline.

It's a two-fold problem. Not only is it a matter of parents who are not emphasizing education and excellence, it is also an issue of educators who see their collective jobs as more of baby-sitters, passing the time from paycheck to paycheck. Many of these educators are so wrapped up in trying to use "alternative" methods to teach "self-esteem" and "cultural diversity" that they have forgotten the basics.

The whining and crying that these folks are doing over the exam is bogus. They know - and have known for literally years what is on the exam, yet they refuse to teach it!

Rather than getting wrapped up in other things, they need to start early and teach the students what is on the exam, i.e., what they need to pass the exam and to move on and succeed in life.

I'm sorry, but many of these feel-good classes that students in urban public schools are saddled with are not doing a damned thing to help them move forward. They don't help those kids get ready for college; they don't help those kids get ready for life.

In many cases, the parents of those kids don't know enough to hold the educators' collective feet to the fire. In many cases, the parents don't care. The teachers don't care either, and they can't be held accountable. Why? Because the unions protect them.

Competition would force this accountability, simply because the schools would be forced to compete for funds, both public and private. Accountability would be forced on the instructors, because without it, the schools would cease to function. The local and state governments need to make vouchers available for parents (the ones who give a damn, at least) to be able to send their children to schools where they can get a quality education. Where they can learn what is on the standardized examinations. Where they can be prepared for life beyond grade school.

With the present system, and with the hand-wringing going on by ill-minded individuals who want to stop the testing and hamstring the students, we are going to be left with yet another generation of men and women who don't have the skills to achieve even a living wage in the America of tomorrow.

[Chi-Town Lady]

It's about time that the schools stop passing kids on who don't know their a** from a hole in the ground. How can we possibly ensure our nations continued strength when the next generation is functionally illiterate? If you don't know the material that's been covered then you need to stay there until you do. Like I said before maybe a little studying would actually help.

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

How can we possibly ensure our nations continued strength when the next generation is functionally illiterate?

We can't and we won't. We have raised a generation of kids who can't read and don't want to work hard. It's too boring and too hard to actually put effort into something like study or training.

It's failed parenting and it's too late for half the kids.

[facedown]

One students in the lawsuit is Hispanic and five are black.

This AP reporter must be one of them.

[facedown]

Oops, should have checked the source first - original has "student".

[Still Thinking]

Yeh, that's right. I want a doctor who cut class and is dumb as a box of rocks standing over my unconscious body with a knife in his hand. NOT

Actually, I WOULD like to have that doctor standing over the lawyer's unconscious body, or if the anesthesiologist is from the came crowd, perhaps his conscious body.

[Still Thinking]

The whining and crying that these folks are doing over the exam is bogus. They know - and have known for literally years what is on the exam, yet they refuse to teach it!

Oh come on now! With all the tolerance assemblies, sexual orientation consciousness raising, condom practice, etc., how do you expect a teacher to have any class time left for these archaic topics, which were probably selected by a bunch of dead white men, anyway!