Separate but equal?

Bruce Ditata has a different take on the MCAS exam in this editorial from Saturday.

In purely economic terms, MCAS, the high-stakes test that remains the only avenue to a high school diploma in the commonwealth, is funded on an unequal basis from town to town and discriminates against students of poorer communities. The funding formula favors wealthier cities and towns with higher property values which are taxed at a fixed rate, barring unpopular tax overrides.

Affluent communities are, therefore, immune from such realities as lack of textbooks. While the Newtons, Wellesleys and Brooklines have the luxury of multiple texts — one for the classroom, one to take home for homework/enrichment — the New Bedfords, Fall Rivers and Warehams are fortunate to have one class set of texts which are shared by three to four homerooms and cannot leave the building. Where is the "equality" in that scenario?