By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
WEST WINDSOR — School district officials have come out against a state Department of Education requirement that high school seniors must pass the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) to graduate.
The West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School Board has adopted a resolution that calls on the Department of Education “to immediately withdraw its pending graduation requirement proposals from consideration before the state Board of Education” and to revisit the issue later.
In place of the PARCC test, the resolution urges the state Department of Education to implement “a multi-year transition to a new assessment system that does not set a minimum passing score as a graduation requirement on the new PARCC assessments.”
It also urges state officials to provide other paths to obtain a high school diploma that includes alternatives that are not based on standardized tests. In the interim, students should be allowed to graduate on the basis of credits earned, grade point averages and completion of local requirements.
And the resolution calls on the New Jersey Legislature to review and hold hearings on the legality and impact of the state Department of Education’s proposed graduation requirements.
School board member Isaac Cheng said he supported the resolution because he did not believe that the PARCC test “makes sense for our district.” The students exceed state averages, and the PARCC test results are not likely to tell school district officials “what we don’t (already) know.”
Mr. Cheng also said he was troubled by the prospect of eliminating the opt-out provision for parents who do not want their children to take the PARCC tests. He added that he was wary of using it as a measure to evaluate teachers.
Several residents also applauded the school board for adopting the resolution opposing the controversial PARCC test. The resolution has been sent to state lawmakers and state education officials.
“I want to thank the board for bringing forth a resolution telling the state Board of Education to vote against the proposed PARCC graduation requirement,” resident Virginia Manzari said. “As you know, I have been advocating for this for several months, and I am pleased that you’ve finally decided to do it.”
Resident Martha Luszcz also praised the school board for passing the resolution. But she questioned why the resolution did not include language to reinforce the right of parents to have their children opt-out of taking the exam. Other school districts have done so, she said.
