CAMPAIGN PRESS RELEASE: Massachusetts Voter Table & MassVOTE Endorse Yes on 2 Campaign

19 September 2024

Community orgs will integrate their grassroots power into the campaign to fight for equity in public education, starting this weekend with canvasses on “Empowering Gateway Communities”

BOSTON, MA — Today the Yes on 2 campaign announced endorsements from the Massachusetts Voter Table and MassVOTE, bringing significant grassroots networks and community engagement to the effort to end discriminatory and ineffective high-stakes testing. These two equity-focused organizations join a broad coalition of community leaders, organizations, and elected officials united behind replacing the MCAS graduation requirement.

"Standardized tests like the MCAS unfairly stack the deck against students of color, English language learners, and students with learning disabilities,” said Shanique Rodriguez, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Voter Table. “Our mission is to stand up for equity in our commonwealth, so we’re proud to urge voters to vote Yes on 2 and join the fight to end the MCAS graduation requirement.”

“The MCAS graduation requirement puts too much power into the hands of a standardized test that disadvantages some students and can’t even measure the likelihood of success after graduation for all others,” said Cheryl Clyburn Crawford, Executive Director of MassVOTE. “Students deserve to be assessed on their full range of talents and work, not reduced to a number from a test. We’re proud to endorse the Yes on 2 campaign and officially join the effort to make sure a one-size-fits-all test can’t deny a qualified student their future.”

The Massachusetts Voter Table is a coalition of 40+ organizations that integrates nonpartisan voter engagement with grassroots organizing, advocating for the resources, representation, and power for communities of color, working-class people, new citizens, and youth in Massachusetts. The Voter Table endorsement is a democratic process where each coalition organization casts a vote, and a campaign must receive at least 75 percent in order to obtain the endorsement.

MassVOTE is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that seeks to increase voter participation by working to increase voter registration, education, and participation in historically underrepresented communities throughout Massachusetts.

All organizations will now officially integrate their grassroots efforts with the Yes on 2 field campaign to talk to voters about what’s at stake this November on the MCAS ballot question. Since the early summer, Yes on 2 supporters have knocked on over 150,000 doors and made over 200,000 phone calls to talk to voters about this important issue.

This coming weekend, the Yes on 2 will hold a series of grassroots events and canvasses focused on “Empowering Gateway Communities” to kick off the partnership together. Elected officials, volunteers, parents, teachers and civic leaders will all hit the pavement to talk to voters about education equity and the MCAS graduation requirement.

Learn more about the effort to replace the MCAS graduation requirement and join the Yes on 2 campaign at www.yesonquestion2ma.com.