BOSTON — Critics and supporters of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) are gearing up for a fight in the wake of Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s ruling this week that two proposed ballot questions related to the role of the exam are legally sound.
That decision keeps open the possibility that Bay State voters could decide next fall whether passing the standardized test should remain a requirement to graduate high school here.
The attorney general said both proposed questions — one filed by a Lexington mother and another offered by the Massachusetts Teachers Association — met constitutional muster, but sponsors of both questions have decided to combine forces behind the teachers union-backed proposal.
The initiative would eliminate the requirement that a student pass the MCAS to graduate high school and instead would require that students complete coursework certified by their district “as demonstrating mastery of the competencies contained in the state academic standards in mathematics, science and technology, and English, as well as any additional areas determined by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education,” according to a summary of the proposal by Campbell’s office.
Teachers union President Max Page and Vice President Deb McCarthy said the decision will allow critics of the exam to make the case directly to voters at the ballot box as to why the “harmful graduation requirement tied to the MCAS exams” must be replaced.
“This ballot initiative would make students eligible for a high school diploma if, among other requirements, they complete coursework demonstrating mastery of competencies in our state’s high academic standards,” the union’s leaders said.
The MTA said there are 42 states that “don’t use a single, high-stakes test to deny diplomas to high school students” and that high school students in Massachusetts would continue to take the MCAS tests even if a passing score is no longer a graduation requirement.
Supporters of MCAS said Thursday they are considering appealing Campbell’s certification to the Supreme Judicial Court.
“We’re keeping all options open,” Tricia Lederer, communications director at the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education. “We definitely have not ruled it out.”
The alliance and leaders of seven other influential groups that support the existing requirement issued a statement Wednesday saying they don’t believe the proposed ballot question meets the legal requirements for certification, but didn’t go as far as to say they would challenge Campbell’s ruling.
“Our growing coalition is prepared to fight this measure and is confident that with more information about the positive outcomes the requirement has produced for all students, voters will reject it,” leaders of the groups said.
The coalition includes the local leaders of the Mass. High Technology Council, Pioneer Institute, Retailers Association of Massachusetts, the Worcester Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, the National Parents Union, and Democrats for Education Reform.
Opponents of the proposal argue that it should not have been certified as ballot-eligible because it would ask voters two different policy questions and fails the “relatedness requirement” in the state Constitution. They claim a voter weighing the measure could be put in an “impossible position” if they support eliminating a statewide mandate that students pass the MCAS to graduate but also think that local school boards should have the freedom to adopt a standardized-testing requirement in addition to, or instead of, the question’s reference to completing “coursework.”
“MCAS has proven to be a reliable indicator of a student’s college and career readiness and eliminating it as a graduation requirement would amount to a huge step backward in the Commonwealth’s quest to ensure that all Massachusetts high school graduates acquire a basic mastery of the subject areas needed to be successful in their futures,” the groups said in the joint statement Wednesday.
The MCAS exams were created under a 1993 education reform law aimed at improving accountability and school performance. The first tests were given in 1998, and high school students have been required to pass the tests to graduate since 2003.
To stay on track for the November 2024 ballot, supporters of the MCAS question and others certified Wednesday now have to collect 74,574 signatures and file them with local officials by Nov. 22, and then with the secretary of state’s office by Dec. 6. The MTA said it and its “community allies” will now “formally kick-start its 11-week sprint to gather more than 75,000 signatures.”
Ballot questions that submit enough certified signatures will head to the Legislature in January. Lawmakers can approve them, propose a substitute or decline to take action. If lawmakers opt against action by May 1, 2024, campaigns will have to collect another 12,429 signatures and file them with local officials by June 19, 2024, then the secretary of state’s office by July 3, 2024.