The School Committee should clarify in writing that teachers are told to ignore the test. Superintendent James Walsh should ensure that principals and teachers hold firm against whatever test pressures they confront. In the meantime, parents and students who find teachers shifting to rote memorization or removing creative activities from the curriculum should complain, loudly, as should teachers who feel pressured to boost scores. Committee members and Superintendent Walsh should also stop trying to dampen support for an MCAS boycott. Their position may be understandable given the state's funding power, but let's not take their anti-boycott line too seriously.
All signs point to a much bigger boycott next month than last year.
Students are communicating by email and holding meetings across the state. SCAM members are now debating what boycotters should do while the exam is administered. The student discussion is mature, thoughtful, and politically aware. And clever, too. Parents and teachers should support these students.