A local civil rights activist compared the Cambridge Public Schools’ new achievement benchmarks to apartheid-era South African policies at last night’s School Committee meeting.

One way that Cambridge measures student achievement is by comparing minorities’ test scores to those of whites. According to a report published by the school system this past December, Cambridge would attain a “standard of excellence” if there were no gap between white students and minorities on tests. The “standard of excellence” also mandates equal attendance and discipline rates across ethnic groups.

“We could accept this report if white students scored at 100 percent all the time,” said civil rights leader Kathy Reddick, the president of the Cambridge branch of the National Association for the Advancement of the Colored People (NAACP).

“Are you the leaders of an apartheid educational system?” Reddick asked committee members.

Others at the meeting expressed similar sentiments of discontent with the school system’s management.

“The system is sinking,” said a local woman, Leslie Brunetta.

Cambridge scored 253rd out of 278 districts statewide on the 2005 Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) 10th grade English exam. And it scored just slightly better—251st—on the MCAS 10th grade math exam.

“There’s a lot of fear going around this high school,” said a student member of the School Committee, James Conway, referring to the distress surrounding MCAS scores. “People are really trying their hardest to pass this test and succeed, and they should be commended,” Conway said.

While committee members addressed standardized tests performances and the need for an information technology upgrade in the schools, some worried about the broad scope of the meeting and urged the committee to be more specific in setting achievable educational goals.

“Goals have to be smart,” said committee member Patricia M. Nolan ’80.

According to Nolan, “smart” goals are ones that are specific, time-based, and measurable.

“Our goal is to raise achievement and close the achievement gap,” she said.

-Staff writer Laura A. Moore can be reached at lamoore@fas.harvard.edu.