The Massachusetts attorney general is poised to decide this week if supporters of a petition to end the state’s standardized test requirements for graduation will be permitted to collect signatures to force a statewide referendum.
The proposed referendum, which has the backing of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, would allow students who have completed their high school coursework to receive their diploma without passing the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exam.
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Under current state law, students must take the test in 10th grade, and reach a high enough score in math, English, and science in order to graduate. In 2022, the state Board of Education voted to increase the minimum score necessary to pass the tests. The board cited poor academic outcomes among students who were passing the tests.
In a statement to the Washington Examiner, MTA President Max Page and MTA Vice President Deb McCarthy said that the teachers union is “committed to creating the best learning environment for all students” and that the MCAS requirement for graduation was “harmful” to students.
“On August 6, our Board of Directors voted to support a ballot initiative filed by parents, educators and recent high school graduates that is aimed at eliminating the harmful graduation requirement tied to MCAS exams,” Page and McCarthy said. “The ballot question would make students eligible for a high school diploma if, among other requirements, they complete coursework demonstrating mastery of competencies in the state’s high academic standards. MTA educators are not advocating for discontinuing the MCAS exams overall.”
But the union’s support for the referendum was harshly criticized by Bob Eitel, the president and co-founder of the Defense of Freedom Institute and a former Department of Education official, who accused the union of attempting to let students graduate without the ability to read or write.
“The fact that this teacher union wants to graduate students who cannot read or do math tells you everything you need to know about its priorities,” Eitel told the Washington Examiner. “This union does not care if students have learned the educational basics. It cares about protecting teachers who fail to do their jobs, and students pay the price.”
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell is set to rule whether or not the petition qualifies as a ballot initiative on Wednesday. A spokesperson for Campbell pointed the Washington Examiner to the state website which outlines basic criteria for submitting a ballot initative.
“We will announce which measures have met certification requirements this Wednesday as set out in the law,” the spokesperson said.
Teachers unions have long opposed the expansion of standardized testing requirements, and have often pushed for existing requirements to be curtailed. But while some unions have opposed standardized testing altogether, others have stopped short of calling for its demise.
The American Federation of Teachers says that it supports the use of standardized testing to a degree, but also notes on its website that “Attempts to use test scores to compare individual student performance, without reference to other factors which affect student achievement, are a disservice to the public debate on education.”
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In contrast, the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers union, says that the “current standardized testing system is both inequitable and ineffective at gauging what students know.”
“To ensure that every student—regardless of their race, origin, or background—can have their learning assessed in an equitable and accurate way, we are coming together to support changes to our testing system,” the NEA says on its website.
