Bickerton: "We're not going to force the kids to take the test."

The Metrowest Daily News was at the PARCC presentation in Framingham on Tuesday, and they capture the information well from that night:

Bob Bickerton, senior associate commissioner at the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, said the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993 does not give the state the authority to allow students to not take a standardized test, but that "common sense prevails from that point forward." 

"We're not going to force the kids to take the test," he said.

And, in a response that I find even more intriguing, we have this from DESE spokesman J.C. Considine:

"Districts have experience in this" with the MCAS, he said. "They have ways of handling students who may not want to participate."

...which would mean that it's up to districts on everyone doing MCAS?