Photo: Provided by Protect Our Kids’ Future: Vote No on 2 Committee.
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Gov. Maura Healey spoke out against a ballot measure that would end the MCAS graduation requirement.
Question two on the November ballot seeks to remove passing the state's standardized test as a requirement for graduation and instead let students get a diploma if they meet academic standards set by the state and their district. It would not eliminate the test as a whole.
The Massachusetts Teachers Association helped get the question on the ballot. The union argued using the test as a graduation requirement is harmful and does not lead to better instruction in class nor is it responsible for the success of the state's schools.
Gov. Healey said Massachusetts has the best public schools in the country because of its high standards and getting rid of the requirement could jeopardize that.
"Eliminating the MCAS requirement means we won't have the same standard for schools across the state," Gov. Healey said. "We will have different standards in Randolph than we will in Reading and that's a system that I don't believe sets us up for success."
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The Governor adds that if the question is approved Massachusetts will be one of two states without a statewide standard for graduation and that most students pass MCAS.
"Of the 70,000 graduating high school students in the state, 99 percent of them meet the standard for graduation," Gov. Healey said. "Our focus collectively should be to address the needs of that one percent of students who aren't getting over the goal line."
In response to the governor's comments, MTA President Max Page and Vice President Deb McCarthy said in a statement it is disappointed that the governor chose to side with a "few corporate donors" and against educators, parents, and students.
“More than 50 organizations, 30 municipal boards and committees, 75 elected officials, and countless volunteers and families have backed the Yes on 2 campaign," the statement reads. "We're proud to stand with our broad coalition to fight for our students and educators to end the MCAS graduation requirement."
Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and Attorney General Andrea Campbell joined the governor in supporting the No on 2 movement.
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