I am writing in favor of the Thrive Act, a bill which if made law would end passing Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests a requirement of earning a high school diploma.
Had I been required to pass MCAS, I never would have gotten a high school diploma. I would have had to settle for a cheesy “certificate of completion.’’ I wonder how easy it would have been for me to go on to earn my bachelor’s and master’s degrees, had I been subject to the testing regimen.
My skills and knowledge are conspicuously lopsided. For 50-odd years I’ve been interested profoundly in literature and music, and in no other subjects. From eighth through 12th grade, I spent countless hours in my room with a cassette player teaching myself tunes by ear. I pursued it passionately.
Pursuing a passion means freeing up as much time as possible to do it as soon as possible. It doesn’t happen when one is forced to first cover all the other academic bases, with success being defined according to a remotely and facelessly determined criterion of proficiency. Pursuing a passion is the only way a student can develop their genius (this is not to say that I’m any genius of a guitarist or writer).
With fewer geniuses comes less innovation. Massachusetts is depriving itself of innovators. Please tell your legislators to vote for the Thrive Act.
Daniel S. Miller
Granby