Last week, the Massachusetts Association of School Committees passed its own resolution calling for the suspension of MCAS as a graduation requirement. The vote at the school committee convention was powered largely by delegates from suburban districts, who significantly outnumber urban members. It obviously cannot prove what voters in a majority of the state would say, or even urban voters,'' said Monty Neill, who heads FairTest, a national anti-testing group based in Cambridge. But Neill said the vote ''is a clear sign that a diverse array of urban voters support'' suspending MCAS as a graduation requirement. A recently released Mass Insight poll shows strong support for using MCAS as a graduation requirement.
Students rub their eyes in frustration as the merciless clock ticks.