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BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Massachusetts voters have approved Question 2, which eliminates the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) as a high school graduation requirement.
For years, all 10th graders in the Commonwealth have been required to take the test to graduate. But the yes vote means that the more than 300 school districts across the state will set their own criteria for graduation.
However, the MCAS will not be completely eliminated. Students will still need to take the test, just not as a graduation requirement.
The Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) had been pushing for the passage of Question 2. The union said graduation should not be determined by what they called “high-stakes testing,” and instead students should have to “demonstrate that they have mastered the state’s education standards, skills and competencies through their schoolwork and teacher evaluations.”
Massachusetts is only of a handful of states that has a standardized graduation test. However, those against Question 2, including Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, argued that getting rid of the MCAS would remove the only graduation standard the state has without anything to replace it with.
“Massachusetts has the best public schools in the country because of our high standards, not in spite of them,” Healey said during a news conference last month. “Question 2, in our view, would eliminate a tool that we know works in terms of our ability to assess how our young people are doing, and frankly what additional supports districts and schools need.”
Healey acknowledged there are concerns about the MCAS, but refuted the MTA’s claim that it is a one-time, high-stakes test.
“Students are given five opportunities to pass and if they don’t pass the first time, they’re provided with special support and accommodation for the next time. And they have appeals processes and the like after that,” she said.
In response to the governor, the MTA said the MCAS “is not responsible for the quality of public schools in Massachusetts,” rather it is because of the educators.
“Instead, this requirement limits learning for all students and directly harms the students who are denied a diploma for failing to pass the exam,” the MTA said in a statement.
Read the results of the four other ballot questions:
Question 1: Mass. Voters Back Question 1 Allowing DiZoglio To Audit State Legislature
Question 3: Mass. Voters Approve Question 3 Allowing Rideshare Drivers To Unionize
Question 4: Mass. Voters Reject Question 4, Keeping Psychedelics Illegal
Question 5: Massachusetts Votes 'No' On Question 5, Tipped Worker Wages Stay Same
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