August 8, 2013

Hon. Deval Patrick
Governor, Commonwealth of Massachusetts Massachusetts State House
Office of the Governor
Room 280
Boston, MA 02133

Dear Governor Patrick:

I am reaching out to you today to request that you compel the Massachusetts Civil Service Commission to investigate the merits of continuing the use of the Massachusetts Civil Service Exam as the foremost determinant for promotions. I call on you today to request that the Commission investigate the racial and gender based discrimination claims against the test under M.G.L. Ch. 31, §2(a) and ask that they determine whether we need to rely almost exclusively on a standardized exam to determine leadership abilities in this day and age.

I believe that we do not need to wait for an outcome in the Lopez v. Commonwealth case in order to take action. Several cases over the past 20 years in the Commonwealth have shown a pattern of discrimination against minorities and female applicants by the Civil Service exam. We must move forward boldly because we can do better.

As a Chief Executive for 32 years, I was able to assemble excellent senior leadership teams that reflected the diversity of the community it served. It has never occurred to me that I should choose a senior leadership team via testing. In fact, I would think that such a factor being the foremost determinant of suitability for senior leadership would be rejected by any CEO in the private and nonprofit sectors as senseless in determining who would be an effective leader.

Typically, decisions on who should be a senior leader are based on demonstrated ability to achieve goals, ability to achieve a working chemistry with other senior managers, and ability to relate culturally to the issues and needs of the staff who report to him/her as well as the community being served.

A standardized exam as the determinant of suitability for promotion runs counter to most of the above criteria. Standardized exams can be useful screening tools