Ballot campaign to end MCAS graduation requirement gets underway

by Gintautas Dumcius 8 August 2024

AS PART OF what’s likely to be a costly battle over high school testing standards, a union-backed group on Thursday launched its effort to eliminate MCAS as a graduation requirement.

The Committee for High Standards Not High Stakes touted a website and a new poll showing a slight majority backs their campaign – Yes on Question 2 – with roughly three months to go until the November election.

The ballot question would end the requirement that students pass the 10th grade MCAS test in English, math, and science to graduate from high school and instead require students to complete coursework that meets state standards. Opponents of the question, which include business groups and nonprofits, say keeping MCAS as a graduation requirement is necessary for keeping statewide standards across school districts, and as a sign of college readiness.

But Max Page, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, said in a statement that the MCAS graduation requirement is “failing” the state’s students.

“From increasing anxiety in all students, to undermining true education by teaching to a test, to stacking the deck against students of color, English learners, and those with learning disabilities, the MCAS graduation requirement is deeply harmful for our students and does nothing to actually increase learning or critical thinking,” he said.

The anti-MCAS coalition also includes the Massachusetts School Counselors Association. The campaign has hired Jeron Mariani, who managed the successful 2022 campaign for the millionaires tax, as a consultant, and Kristin Sosanie, who runs a New Jersey-based public affairs firm, for communications.

The campaign released a memo from Mariani, who highlighted a recent survey of 700 likely voters showing 55 percent would vote yes on Question 2, 37 percent would vote no and seven percent are undecided.

“Voters have major reservations about the MCAS’s ability to accurately measure student preparedness for success after graduation,” he wrote. “Half of voters say they are not confident in the ability of standardized tests to measure students’ preparedness for success after graduation (26 percent are not at all confident), and 44 percent disapprove of the MCAS graduation requirement altogether (33 percent strongly disapprove).”

Lake Research Partners, based in Washington, DC, conducted the poll between July 13 and July 17.

The poll occurred before a business-backed group opposing the question launched a $250,000 advertising campaign. The top funders of the Committee to Protect Our Kids’ Future include Bob Rivers, CEO of Eastern Bank; tech entrepreneur Paul Sagan; and Mass. High Technology Council co-founder Ray Stata, among others.

The two sides both underwent name changes in the last few months. The yes side initially called itself the “Committee to Eliminate Barriers to Student Success for All,” while the no camp was initially named the “Committee to Preserve Educational Standards for K-12 Students.”

Campaign finance reports for the two sides are due September 6, when they’ll have to publicly report spending up until that point.

The ballot question joins four others on the November ballot: questions that would authorize the state auditor to audit the Legislature, allow Uber and Lyft drivers to unionize, legalize psychedelic substances, and provide a minimum wage for tipped workers.