ONE OF THE Legislature’s key voices on education policy said he’ll vote in favor of the November ballot question that would do away with the 10th grade MCAS as a graduation requirement for Massachusetts high school students.
Sen. Jason Lewis, who co-chairs the Joint Committee on Education, said he plans to vote for the ballot question that would end the requirement that all students pass the 10th grade test in English, math, and science before receiving a diploma. Lewis said he will file legislation in January to implement in its place a requirement that all students complete a state-established sequence of high school courses in order to graduate.
“I don’t think that standardized test scores alone can give you a picture of students’ capabilities, and tying graduation specifically to certain test scores is not the best way for us to make that determination,” said Lewis, a Winchester Democrat.
The MCAS graduation requirement is a cornerstone of the state’s 1993 Education Reform Act and has been in place since 2003. Proponents say requiring students to pass the 10th grade test ensures a basic level of competency in math, English, and science before they graduate. Opponents have criticized the use of a single test to determine who receives a diploma, and argue that the test has led to a narrowing of the curriculum in high schools, especially those serving lots of lower-income students, one of the student groups that struggles more to pass the test.
Only about 700 students, or roughly 1 percent of the graduating class of about 70,000 high school seniors, ultimately fail to pass MCAS each year despite multiple opportunities to take the test. Most of those who don’t clear the bar are students with disabilities or English language learners.
Lewis said if the ballot question passes, he’ll propose legislation that would require all students to complete the MassCore set of courses to graduate. The MassCore course sequence was adopted by the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education in 2007 and updated in 2018 with the aim of ensuring that students are prepared for higher education.
The course sequence consists of four years of English and math courses, three years of a lab-based science and history, two years of a world language, one year of arts coursework, and five additional classes deemed “core” courses.
The aim, according to the state education department, is “to align high school coursework with college and workforce expectation.” Following the course sequence “increases the likelihood that high school graduates will meet admission requirements for the Commonwealth’s four-year public colleges and the University of Massachusetts, as well as improve the chances of admission at private colleges,” according to the state.
MassCore is recommended for all Massachusetts high schools but is not a state requirement. In 2023, 83 percent of all graduates completed the course sequence, according to state education department figures.
Lewis said his proposal was developed based on some of the negotiations that took place earlier this year in the hopes of averting a ballot question showdown. Those conversations included the Senate, House, Healey administration, and teachers union officials.
“Over several months we had multiple meetings and spent a lot of time talking with each other. Ultimately, we were not able to bridge some of the differences,” he said of the effort to reach agreement on changes to the state graduation requirement.
The Massachusetts Teachers Association, which is the driving force behind the ballot effort, hailed Lewis’s announcement.
“His endorsement is a major win for the Yes on 2 campaign in our efforts to replace the MCAS graduation requirement,” MTA president Max Page and vice president Deb McCarthy said in a statement. “Sen. Lewis, like so many parents and teachers, knows that a one-size-fits-all standardized test can’t fully measure any child’s likelihood of success after graduation.”
The statement did not say whether the MTA supports the idea of mandating completion of the MassCore course sequence as a graduation requirement in place of MCAS.
The campaign against the ballot question said lowering standards is not the answer to challenges students face, and pointed out that the three top officials in state government all oppose scrapping the MCAS graduation requirement.
“We respectfully disagree with the senator – as do the governor, House speaker, Senate president, and many other leaders from around the state,” said Dom Slowey, a spokesman for the campaign, in a statement. “Eliminating the only statewide academic standard for high school graduation is not the answer to the issues Sen. Lewis identifies. Lowering standards is unfair to all children, but especially those who need the most help.”
The ballot question is being led and funded by the MTA, the state’s largest teachers union, while a number of deep-pocketed business leaders have provided the bulk of the donations to the campaign opposing the question. Millions of dollars are expected to be spent by both sides in the run-up to the November 5 election.
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