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BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — The Massachusetts Teachers' Union and a group of state lawmakers are making the case for abolishing the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, or MCAS test, as a graduation requirement. Right now, all Massachusetts high school students need to pass the test to graduate.
A bill introduced by Sen. Joanne Comerford (D-Northampton) and Rep. Jim Hawkins (D-Attleboro) would eliminate that graduation requirement, replacing it with "multiple pathways" for students to show that they know the necessary material to graduate. The bill requires that the ways to graduate include some options that don't require students to take a standardized test.
The bill will be heard before a meeting of the Joint Committee on Education at 11:00 AM on Monday. The Massachusetts Teachers Association has come out strongly in favor of ending the standardized test, saying it has enabled "white supremacy" and is better as a measure of students socio-economic status than their actual aptitude.
There was a previous push to cancel the tests for the 2020-2021 school year — also by the same lawmakers.
WBZ's James Rojas (@JamesRojasWBZ) has more:
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Written by Chaiel Schaffel