Try to solve this problem: “If you fly a kite in a 45 degree angle and you release it in a string 225 feet long, approximately, how high from the earth the kite will fly?

Does it seem complicated? Now, imagine how difficult it would be for a high school student, particularly for one who does not speak English. Questions of this type are included in the Math section of MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System), the test students of 4th, 8th and 10th grade have to pass in the public school system of Massachusetts. The test is a mandatory requirement to obtain the high school diploma.

This year, 12 thousand students in the state (12,000!) will not receive their high school diploma next June because they failed the MCAS. Subsequently, they will not be able to attend a state college or university. They will not be able to enroll in any private higher center of education either. The diploma is necessary to register everywhere.

The majority of failing students are immigrant foreigners and African Americans.

Do not assume that the failing students are bad pupils. Many of them have a C+ or B grade average. Some belong to the school’s honors roll. They have tried very hard to study and to overcome difficult educational conditions and the lack of qualified teachers within the public school system.

In case you do not know it, more than a quarter of the teachers recently appointed in Massachusetts are not certified in their area of education. The lack of duly trained teachers is noticeable, particularly in the area of Math, Foreign Languages, Science, and special education. With all these factors against them, the students have to take and pass demanding exams, which, by the way, have proven to be defective.

In all honesty, traditionally, the students of the poorest districts at state and national level receive an education of inferior quality than the white, middle and high-class students. A look at the national statistics is enough to corroborate how African Americans and Latinos are selected to enroll in courses that offer less educational opportunities.
The results of the MCAS prove this discriminatory policy that affects students from minority sectors. And for this reason, since the test was implemented in 1988, student desertion has increased year after year.

It is time for the educational authorities of Massachusetts and the state legislators to think about the negative impact of the MCAS and to agree to end the passing of this test as a graduation requirement.

We all agree that students have to be evaluated (and it should include private school students) but a more just and realistic system of evaluation should be created.

The future of thousands of youngsters is pending on these changes and on the implementation of an authentic educational reform.