By C. Eugene Emery Jr.
During the March 22 edition of Rhode Island Public Television's "A Lively Experiment," state Education Commissioner Deborah Gist defended the requirement, saying that letting students graduate without proficiency would be short-changing them.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Controversy continues to rage over the requirement that Rhode Island high school students score highly enough on the New England Common Assessment Program test to receive a diploma.
During the March 22 edition of Rhode Island Public Television's "A Lively Experiment," state Education Commissioner Deborah Gist defended the requirement, saying that letting students graduate without proficiency would be short-changing them.
"Anyone who's telling these students that ... it doesn't matter that they're able to do math at a basic level when they leave high school is just wrong," Gist said. "And it's not fair to them because what's going to happen to them when they leave our high schools and they go to the community college where 70-75 percent of them have to pay to take remedial courses to get the exact same math that we're talking about?"
PolitiFact Rhode Island examined Gist's claim and ruled it Mostly True. Read the complete analysis here.