260 Who Failed Teacher Test Flunk Again

In a turnaround, the state Board of Education voted Wednesday not to give a break to about 260 people who flunked Massachusetts’ first-ever certification test for prospective teachers.

The decision means that 59% of the state’s nearly 2,000 teaching candidates failed. About one-third failed the reading and writing portions alone.

Last week, when the test results became known, the board voted to lower the passing grade so that only 44% flunked. The vote came at the urging of Education Commissioner Frank Haydu III.

But Haydu was harshly criticized by acting Gov. Paul Cellucci for lowering the state’s standards, and on Monday he resigned. On Wednesday, the Board of Education went back to the higher passing grade in a 6-1 vote.

“We want to deliver the unmistakable message of high standards for teachers and students,” said board member Abigail Thernstrom.

With the new standard, an estimated 260 people who benefited from the lower benchmark flunked. They can take the test again when it is offered later this month or in October.

The poor showing on the test prompted a round of teacher bashing by late-night talk show comedians. State House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran denounced the prospective teachers as “idiots.”

Finneran said last week that he saw the tests, which were not released, and was appalled to see candidates who couldn’t “define a noun or a verb or what democracy means or the meaning of the word ‘imminent.’ ”

Some test-takers, when trying to rewrite sentences, misspelled words most 9-year-olds can spell, even though the words were in front of them. Some wrote at a fifth- or sixth-grade level. Many wrote sentences lacking nouns and verbs, he said.

Fred Balboni, a prospective teacher who took the test, accused the board of “heinous political exploitation” in switching its vote.

“Teachers are feeling really put upon and demoralized,” said Balboni, an Emerson College graduate who hopes to teach performing arts or communication in the fall. “Some are even switching their majors away from education.”

Neither Balboni nor any of the other prospective teachers who took the test have received their scores. They will be notified in a few days.