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| The following column, "Parents and Schools," runs periodically in The Reminder and is written by Dr. Edward Costa, II Superintendent of East Longmeadow Public Schools This past week, the State Department of Education released the AYP scores for all schools and districts in the Commonwealth. AYP stands for "Adequate Yearly Progress" and is based upon the MCAS scores for all students in each school. However, a school can have high MCAS scores and still fail AYP.You might just get concerned when you hear why. Three years ago East Longmeadow Public Schools made a decision to mainstream many special education students that previously had been sent to other institutions for their education. We based the decision to do this on the following facts: a) East Longmeadow parents wanted their children to be educated in the schools in town where they live and pay taxes; b) research, including federal laws all encourage mainstreaming into the main educational pathways as much as possible; c) it was simply the right thing to do- our special education students deserve the same benefits of our school system as do all other students; and d) it was fiscally responsible to bring our students back into our school system. We brought our students back to our system and designed very specialized programs for them at Birchland Park Middle School, Mapleshade Elementary School and ELHS. The "rest of this story" centers around the current federal law that requires all students (regardless of handicap) to take the MCAS examination. Now I ask you- do you believe that moderate to severe handicapped children should take a test that almost always subjects them to failure?We're not talking about minor disabilities- we're talking about students who really have a tough time even communicating. These children are required to take the same rigorous MCAS standards that "regular" children take. I can line up 100 citizens on the street, and they will all say "that's not fair". So where is the common sense of our federal government with No Child Left Behind (NCLB)? It appears they are more interested with No Child Left Untested ... The East Longmeadow School Committee was one of the first districts in the state to vote to support MCAS and higher standards and accountability for education but they did so with the one constant caveat that special education students be exempt from the test.Now, eight years later, the government still turns a "deaf" ear. This week, when the State Department of Education published the AYP (adequate yearly progress) scores for all schools, you noticed our Birchland Park Middle School on the list. Our school failed the AYP only because one student sub-group (this is a State Department term) of special education students failed to perform well on the test. Birchland Park scored extremely well on all parts of the Progress Cycle except that one. Having any student sub-group of your school fail means your entire school fails. And, your school system gets labeled "needs improvement" as well.Where is the justice? Where is the humanity? Where is common sense? I am proud that the community of East Longmeadow embraces students with specialized needs and handicaps.But for the grace of God, any family can have a handicapped child, or have a child that develops a handicap later in life. I thank our School Committee for taking a brave stance on bringing our students back into our schools three years ago instead of sending them out to institutions all over the state and beyond.I wonder if the federal government and NCLB really meant to label AYP "Are You Perfect"? Dr. Edward W. Costa II Superintendent of Schools |