2005 RESOLUTIONS
The following is a report on actions taken on the 12 resolutions that were considered by the 2005 Delegate Assembly. The Annual Meeting was held in Worcester on October 26, in conjunction with the MASC/MASS Joint Conference.
 

RESOLUTION 1—MCAS Passing Scores
Submitted by the Brookline School Committee
Co-sponsored by the Arlington, Gill-Montague, Holbrook, Marlborough and Winthrop School Committees

BE IT RESOLVED to recommend to the Legislature that the proficiency standard to which our students should aspire should include factors other than MCAS scores, and further resolves to file appropriate legislation that would require the Board of Education to consider multiple forms of assessment in determining whether a student has met the level of proficiency. Such legislation will provide that an MCAS score of 240 shall not be the sole basis upon which proficiency is determined for the purpose of calculating AYP status and shall not be required for graduation.

The resolution was adopted.
RESOLUTION 2—Opposing the Addition of Science and Technology/Engineering MCAS Testing as a Requirement of the Competency Determination
Submitted by the MASC Board of Directors

BE IT RESOLVED that the Massachusetts Association of School Committees call upon the Massachusetts Legislature to:
1) Focus on ensuring that every Massachusetts middle school and high school has the material and staff resources in place at least one year prior to the administration of the test, to provide authentic laboratory instruction and field experience;
2) Implement the intent of the 1993 Education Reform Act calling for multiple assessments of student achievement, through the development of performance-based assessments in the sciences as well as other subject areas; and
3) Enact legislation to be filed by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees to accomplish the purposes set forth in this Resolution.

The resolution was adopted.assessments before using the test.
RESOLUTION 3—Appointments to the Board of Education
Submitted by the Pentucket School Committee

BE IT RESOLVED that the Massachusetts Association of School Committees urges the governor to expedite such an appointment with all deliberate speed, and, further,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Massachusetts Association of School Committees urges the legislature amend the law further to require the governor to make such appointment within 45 days of receipt of the nominations from a list of three.

The resolution was adopted.
RESOLUTION 4—Use of Race in Desegregation Plans
Filed on behalf of the Lynn School Committee at the School Committee's Request

BE IT RESOLVED that the Massachusetts Association of School Committees seek the support of the National School Boards Association and, as a separate entity or as part of a coalition of educational groups, prepare or collaborate in filing as amicus curiae a brief in support of the Comfort Case should the case be heard by the United States Supreme Court.

The resolution was adopted.
RESOLUTION 5—“Costing Out Study” for Education Reform
Submitted by MASC Resolutions Committee

BE IT RESOLVED that the Massachusetts Association of School Committees urges the legislature to authorize the planning and execution of a formal study by an independent group to determine the cost of fulfilling its mandate for the long term in order to meet the goals set forth in the Massachusetts Constitution, and that MASC continue to support this initiative.

The resolution was adopted.

RESOLUTION 6—State Accountability and Assessment Systems
Submitted by the MASC Board of Directors

BE IT RESOLVED that the Department of Education be required to complete the following steps to determine the cost and implication of all state requirements and standards relative to these assessment systems:

1. Conduct a series of meetings with superintendents, principals and school committee members that focus on the regulatory burden for Massachusetts public schools.

2. Utilize the resources of some of the state's universities which include some of the most respected institutions in the nation, to assess the overall regulatory burden, culture, and effectiveness of the systems listed above.

3. Require that any state mandated regulatory or assessment system be subject to an administrative, time and cost audit and report, analogous in some respects to that required by the federal Paperwork Reduction Act for federal administrative and filing requirements. This audit should assess the collective staff time required to fulfill the mandate and determine the cost. Following the report, the Board of Education should be required to:
o obtain public comment for the record from stakeholders and the public at large,
o publish the findings and recommendations,
o report these findings to the legislature,
o study the implications, and
o identify options to reduce administrative requirements that are ineffective, inefficient, and/or irrelevant to the mission of the public schools.

4. Reassess the operations and value of the Education Management Audit Council system and process by:
i. consolidating the number of standards (currently 15) and indicators (currently 118) into workable, relevant, and measurable criteria.
ii. soliciting feedback from school districts and other stakeholders relative to the amount of time necessary to prepare for and comply with requirements of the audit.
iii. reviewing EMAC compliance with the Open Meeting Law and Public Records Law to ensure that public deliberation goes on in public and information the public is entitled to review is made available.

5. Review the administrative processes mandated under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (Reauthorized) and the state requirements under the Massachusetts special education statutes to determine whether paperwork reductions may be feasible.

6. Assess the systems for their relevance to special constituencies, including students who are part of vocational technical, special education, English language learning, and early childhood programs.

7. Require the Department of Education to provide meaningful and effective technical assistance to districts straining to fulfill all mandates at the current time for each of the assessment and accountability systems.

The resolution was adopted.
RESOLUTION 7—Value Added Assessment
Submitted by the Worcester School Committee

BE IT RESOLVED that the Massachusetts Board of Education shall design and implement a value-added accountability system for analyzing and evaluating student achievement and school performance. This value-added system shall include the basic components identified and recommended for it by the 2004 Rennie Institute study, Gaining Ground: Value-added Analysis for Massachusetts. The value-added system shall include annual grade-by-grade testing with vertically-aligned tests, the capacity for local school districts to enter their own data elements, enhanced data auditing functions, linkages to post-secondary data, and methodical appraisal of statistical systems required for the responsible analysis of value-added data.

This system shall be designed by the Board of Education for all appropriate assessments and evaluations of school and student performance which are in control of the Board of Education. Insofar as permitted under Federal law and regulations, the Board shall include the value-added system in its NCLB Accountability Plan.

A motion was made to postpone action on this resolution.
The motion to defer the resolution was adopted.
The resolution was deferred.

RESOLUTION 8—METCO Funding
Submitted by the MASC Board of Directors

BE IT RESOLVED that the Massachusetts Association of School Committees expresses its continued support for the METCO program, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED
that the Massachusetts Association of School Committees urges the legislature to fund METCO receiving districts from a general appropriation at a rate equal to the school choice rate.

The resolution was adopted.
RESOLUTION 9—Advocacy
Sponsored by the MASC Board of Directors

BE IT RESOLVED that the Massachusetts Association of School Committees reaffirms its advocacy positions on the following matters of public policy, calling upon the legislature to:

o Provide adequate state funding for publicly governed schools, a state tax rate that sustains adequate funding, and sufficient fiscal authority for local school committees.

o Reorganize the State Board of Education, and remove the prohibitions against sitting school committee members and practicing public school educators from serving on the board.

o Direct 100% of state Medicaid reimbursements to school districts that are providing the services to be retained by those districts.

o Maintain a Masters Degree as a minimum standard for superintendents of vocational-technical school districts.
o Enact a moratorium on new charter schools and charter school expansion until issues of funding and governance are resolved.

o Develop a variety of assessment instruments so that no single test determines the fate of a student; evaluate the impact of the MCAS on teaching and learning; and assess the impact of MCAS, including the effect on school drop out rates, on certain vulnerable categories of students, including, but not limited to vocational students, disabled students, and English Language Learners.

An amendment was proposed that would add the following:
FURTHER, that MASC file legislation requiring that all Commonwealth Charter Schools shall provide on their board of trustees or directors or whatever governance board is utilized, for a seat t be filled by the designee of any school committee of a community or region with the largest number of enrolled students. If two or more communities or regions have the same number of students enrolled, then the past year's enrollment numbers shall be added until one community or region prevails. The school committee designee must be an elected member of the relevant school committee with the exception of Boston or other district where the school committee is appointed.
The amendment was rejected.

The resolution was adopted, as originally submitted.

RESOLUTION 10—Social Security
Submitted by the MASC Board of Directors

BE IT RESOLVED that the Massachusetts Association of School Committees calls upon the Congress of the United States to reject any measure to privatize Social Security, but approve measures to strengthen the actuarial soundness of the Trust Funds to ensure long term financial strength, and, further
That MASC call upon the Congress to eliminate the Public Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provision to Social Security Benefits.

An amendment was proposed that would delete the proposed text which appears in italics (above).

The amendment was defeated, after much discussion.

The resolution was adopted, as originally presented.
RESOLUTION 11—Social Services Safety Net
Submitted by the MASC Board of Directors
BE IT RESOLVED that the Massachusetts Association of School Committees calls upon the legislature to strengthen and support the social services safety net of health, nutrition, housing, social services, public safety, and justice programs to ensure that students and their families will have the resources and care they need to pursue their education and their livelihood.

An amendment was proposed to add the words “parental education” following “public safety”.

The amendment was defeated.

The resolution was adopted as originally presented.
RESOLUTION 12—School Improvement Plans
Submitted by the MASC Board of Directors

BE IT RESOLVED that the Massachusetts Association of School Committees propose legislation which will restore to School Committees the right which they enjoyed until April of 2004 to approve School Improvement Plans.

The resolution was adopted.
If you have any questions regarding the above resolutions, email gkoocher@masc.org