By Bonnie Washuk,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – High school juniors will take a college entrance exam instead of the Maine Educational Assessment this spring, despite a legislative bill to keep the MEA for one more year.

The Maine Legislature’s Education Committee voted unanimously against a bill submitted by Sen. Michael Brennan, D-Portland, to delay the change to the spring of 2006. A related bill presented by Rep. Thomas Saviello, I-Wilton, sought to gain legislative oversight of the state’s plan to give 11th-graders the SAT in place of the MEA. That bill failed on a 10-2 vote.

The committee votes will go to the full House and Senate as recommendations not to pass.

The strength of the committee votes indicate that all juniors will take the SAT this April, said Sen. Elizabeth Mitchell, D-Vassalboro, co-chairwoman of the Education Committee.

The biggest attraction about having all juniors take the SAT is that it will help more Maine students go to college, Mitchell said.

Committee members were assured by the College Board and Education Commissioner Susan Gendron that the new SAT will measure student progress, “not just aptitude,” Mitchell said.

Unlike the MEA, a state test, the SAT is a national test that will allow the state to compare Maine to the country, Mitchell said. “And our kids are sick to death of testing,” she added, saying that taking four days of MEA each spring, plus the SAT, is too much.

The most persuasive argument was the need for an expectation that all students graduate ready for college, whether they go to college or work, Mitchell said. “Every student needs to be treated as if they can succeed,” which means more students should be encouraged to take more challenging courses in high school.

Gendron said she was pleased with the committee’s vote, calling it the right direction. Treating all students equally is Maine’s “moral obligation,” Gendron said.

If the House and Senate affirm the committee’s votes, juniors will take the SAT on a Saturday in April. Students who miss that test will be able to make up the exam May 6, Gendron said.