Letter: One percent: What's the problem?

7 October 2024

In his Oct. 5 letter [”Weakening academic standards will result in fewer job opportunities for Mass. students”], Ed Lambert encourages citizens to vote “no” on Ballot Question 2. He states that businesses are having a hard time finding qualified employees. And citing a November 2023 survey by the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education, the alliance’s executive director argues that the problem will get worse if high students are no longer required to pass the MCAS exams to earn a diploma.

If that comes to pass, he wrote, “more high school students would graduate without the know-how and skills employers need.’’ The writer goes on to say that just 1% of students fail the tests. If it’s only 1%, what’s the problem?

If we are in fact looking at 1%, it follows that a great many unqualified individuals must be coming from among the 99% who do pass the exams. The letter states that “we need to provide more support’’ for those who fail the tests. In my view, to produce competent workers we need to “provide more support’’ — money, that is — for public education overall, not just for any given 1%.

The commentary is rooted shallowly in the too-recent past. It does not anticipate the argument that part of the problem might be that passing the MCAS has been required for 30 years. Perhaps the reason that a great many young people are underqualified is that for 30 years the testing regimen has forced schools to adopt narrow “teach-to-the-test’’ curricula. Instead of decades, the writer goes back no further than November 2023, when the business alliance published its survey. People should vote “yes’’ on Question 2.

Daniel S. Miller

Granby