The Baker administration and Board of Elementary and Secondary Education should be applauded for maintaining Massachusetts' academic independence and testing autonomy, but the Commonwealth should reject any further participation in the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) consortium.
MCAS has served Massachusetts very well for nearly two decades. The test and the pre-Common Core standards were the key to Massachusetts' leadership position that was forged by the 1993 Massachusetts Education Reform Act and demonstrated by historic gains on national and international tests.
BOSTON – A measure ensuring access to restrooms and other public facilities for transgender people, known to some as the Bathroom Bill, won the backing of Speaker Robert DeLeo Tuesday, although the leader of the House of Representatives said a vote on the bill may not occur until 2016, if at all.
The measure would bar discrimination against transgender people's access to restrooms and school locker rooms based on their sexual identification rather than their physical makeup. Both bills would expand a 2011 anti-discrimination law. DeLeo (D-Winthrop) told reporters most lawmakers want more information on the proposal before they will feel ready to vote on it, according to the State House News Service.
