For Immediate Release

May 27, 2003

Contact: Lisa Guisbond, MassCARE, at State House from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., then at 617-730-5445

Other contact information for special ed parents included below, with individual quotes

 

Special Ed Parents Support MCAS Option

 

MassCARE, a parent-led statewide organization opposed to the MCAS graduation requirement, strongly supports the Creem/Berry amendment to the state budget, which would enable local districts to grant diplomas to special needs students who fulfill local graduation requirements but do not pass the MCAS.

 

Many of the thousands who have joined the Massachusetts Coalition for Authentic Reform in Education over the past few years have been motivated by a sense that it is unfair to deny diplomas to students who have overcome many hurdles to fulfill local graduation requirements but have failed the MCAS. When CARE members think of students who exemplify this injustice, it is often special needs student who come to mind. Many CARE members are parents and/or teachers of special needs students who have spent the past several years trying to voice their concerns that the graduation requirement winds up punishing exactly the students who work the hardest to meet local requirements.

 

A group of parents of special needs students will be available to speak to the press at the State House, Room 437, at noon.

 

Here are some voices of special needs parents:

 

Angela C. Grattaroti, special ed parent and co-chair of the Leominster Special Education Parent Advisory Council: "The Creem/Berry amendment makes perfect sense to me as a special needs parent. Our kids work tremendously hard to fulfill local requirements. Hard-working, talented and capable students should not be penalized for having learning disabilities by being denied the diplomas they deserve."

Contact Information: 978-534-1872/1167 or cell 508-843-1511.

 

Sue Senator, Brookline School Committee member and parent of an autistic student : “School systems should be able to take into account progress made in rigorous goals, be they from local requirements or an Individualized Education Plan, and that progress should count every bit as much as an MCAS score. My hard-working, high-achieving autistic son deserves a diploma, too.” Contact information: Sue will be at the State House, Room 437, at noon, or call 617-738-7968.

 

James Doyle, special education parent: “A proposed Senate amendment would acknowledge the common sense proposition that special needs students learn differently and tend to underperform on standardized tests, no matter how much they’ve learned. The amendment would let local districts and a student’s educational team give consideration to a range of other measures of the student’s school performance to determine whether the student has earned a high school diploma. Those who claim to care about the education and future success of all our public school children should be ashamed to oppose a humane and sensible proposal like this. If it were their own child whose future hung in the balance based on one standardized test, they would be singing a different tune.” Contact information: Work number in Methuen, 978-682-5656.