Patrick appoints MCAS critic to Board of Education

By Globe Staff

Governor Deval Patrick has selected Ruth Kaplan, an outspoken opponent of using the MCAS test as a graduation requirement, as his first appointment to the state Board of Education.

Kaplan, a member of the Brookline School Committee since 2003, will serve as the designated parent teacher association representative on the board. In 2003, Kaplan championed a resolution approved by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, calling for a suspension of the MCAS graduation requirement.

Patrick has said he supports the graduation requirement, but does not believe the standardized test should be the sole assessment of student academic progress. As part of the massive education package he unveiled last week, Patrick called for improving MCAS and adding new assessments.

At a public hearing at the State House this week, educators, students, and school officials urged lawmakers to stop denying seniors a diploma based solely on their performance on the standardized test.

For the PTA appointment to the board, the governor must choose from a list of three finalists submitted by the Massachusetts Parent-Teacher Association.

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