Yes on 2 gains support
6 October 2024
THE CAMPAIGN in support of the ballot question that would remove MCAS as a graduation requirement in Massachusetts picked up considerable steam over the past week, gaining many notable supporters.
Several of the pols that are now throwing their support behind Question 2 are from Greater Lowell and the surrounding area.
On Monday, U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan was among the first from the region to officially endorse Yes on 2.
“As a proud Lowell Public Schools graduate and the parent of two girls in public schools, I know we must do everything in our power to help students and educators succeed in the classroom. While MCAS is an important part of the equation when it comes to measuring students’ growth, its use as a one-size-fits-all graduation requirement leaves hundreds of the most vulnerable in our schools behind each year, many of whom are in gateway cities like the ones I represent,” Trahan said in a statement. “I strongly believe that more resources and services must be allocated to schools to help those students succeed, and I plan to vote for Question 2 to ensure that, in the meantime, students who meet academic and attendance requirements to graduate but struggle to pass all three MCAS exams don’t have their futures upended by being denied a diploma.”
Almost all of Lowell’s State House delegation — Reps. Rodney Elliott, Vanna Howard and Rady Mom — was included in a list released Tuesday of more than 50 state legislators who are backing the ballot question. Also on the list locally were Reps. Margaret Scarsdale and Danillo Sena and Sen. Jamie Eldridge.
They were followed on Friday by State Auditor Diana DiZoglio
“We absolutely need to track progress, but high stakes standardized tests like MCAS are not the only way to measure how students are measuring up. Growing up in Greater Lawrence, I witnessed firsthand how the MCAS graduation requirement disproportionately impacts students from marginalized communities and English language learners,” DiZoglio said in a statement. “We should not be letting a single test determine whether a student is allowed to graduate. By voting Yes on 2, we will keep MCAS as one data point among many, ensuring accountability while giving all students a fair shot at success.”
And these local names represent only a fraction of the politicians who are now backing the question. It will be interesting to see how much of an impact their collective political firepower will have on voters in November.
