Sept 2, 2003
Dear CARE Members and Friends:
The Legislature’s Education Committee will hold a hearing on all the MCAS bills (that are part of the current legislative session) next Tuesday, Sept 9, 2003 from 10:00 am on, in Gardner Auditorium at the State House. Please plan to come testify that day, and spread the word to others! The hearing is likely to run into the late afternoon at least, so teachers and students may still be able to testify if they come as soon as school lets out. We want to issue a special appeal to people from Boston, Fitchburg, Leominster, and the New Bedford / Fall River area to attend!
As far as we know, the procedure will be: You can sign up to testify on the spot. Committee staff usually set up a table outside the auditorium about an hour or so before a hearing begins, and will start taking names at that point. We probably will not focus as much on organized panels this year (as we did in June 2001) and instead will rely on people signing up on their own to speak. As usual, the Committee will probably take legislators first, then members of the public. Testimony is limited to 3 minutes per person, and the committee chairs adhere strictly to that limit, especially for folks on our side. If you cannot attend, plan to send in written testimony to the committee.
Many organizations that are members of the Alliance for High Standards, NOT High Stakes will be mobilizing for this event. Several groups, including CARE, will be issuing press releases, providing materials, and turning out members to testify. We think it is important to show that opposition to the MCAS has not gone away, and that we will continue to fight, even if our chances for immediate redress in the Legislature are limited. We also believe that a good turnout, informative and persuasive testimony, and a slew of letters from the districts to your legislators could influence the vote, later in September, on a reformed appeals process for special education students.
Gardner Auditorium is in the basement of the State House and can be reached from the side door. We will send out a list of MCAS bills under consideration, more details of the hearing, directions to the State House, and some suggestions for talking points later in the week. Please reply to this message and say whether you and/or others from your area can come. If you can’t attend, please send written testimony to the committee and send a copy to the CARE office at this email address.
Hope to see you there on Sept 9!!
Jackie King, Lisa Guisbond, Larry Ward
MassCARE coordinators
