Guest Essay: ‘No’ on Question 2

Guest Essays are opinion pieces, often solicited by The Newton Beacon for specific topics, from people in positions of authority or experience related to those subjects. Guest Essays are fact-checked for accuracy, and they reflect the views of the writers and are not endorsed by The Newton Beacon staff or Board.

The following was written by Matt Hills, a Newton Centre resident and parent of four, a former Newton School Committee chair and current vice chair of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, in opposition to Ballot Question 2, which proposes eliminating the MCAS exam from high school graduation requirements in Massachusetts.

A rebuttal to Hills’s guest essay can be found here.

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I urge all Massachusetts voters to vote NO on Question 2, a referendum question on the November ballot.

If approved, Question 2 would eliminate the grade 10 MCAS graduation requirement, which is the only Massachusetts statewide requirement for high school graduation. Elimination of this requirement would cause real harm to the quality of Massachusetts public school education and further increase inequities for many of our most vulnerable students.

The grade 10 MCAS graduation requirement has been in place for more than 20 years. It is the state’s only opportunity to ensure minimum education standards for all public high schools and provide some consistency across more than 300 school districts. MCAS is part of the 1993 bi-partisan education legislation called the “Grand Bargain” in which significantly more state education funding flows to school districts, with the state responsible for determining that districts are providing higher overall levels of achievement and narrowing historical gaps. Resources could then be focused where extra support is needed.

The MCAS is the statewide assessment that Massachusetts uses to assess district performance on achieving baseline standards. Since the time of the Grand Bargain we have seen large increases in achievement and graduation rates and narrowing of gaps, results that have made Massachusetts a national leader.

In other words, higher standards combined with increased accountability, statewide assessment and additional funding has increased achievement for all students and every student cohort. While we have lost some ground since the pandemic, overall these are the results that we aspired to with the Grand Bargain.

If this referendum passes, each district will determine its own graduation requirement, and we will retreat to the days before the Grand Bargain of more than 300 graduation standards for more than 300 districts. Contrary to supporters’ assertions, the referendum is not “repeal and replace”, but only “repeal” with a prohibition on any statewide requirement.

Massachusetts has been a national leader in K-12 education for the past 30 years, and passage of Question 2 would reverse some of the progress we’ve made. We have a constitutional obligation and a moral responsibility to continue and not reverse this progress.

Even by the standards of contentious campaigns, the gap between fact and fiction is wide on Question 2. A summary of facts, backed by actual data, highlights several key points.

First, if Question 2 is approved then Massachusetts will be one of only three states without comprehensive statewide graduation requirement. We will be a problematic outlier among states.

Second, analysis clearly shows that scores on the grade 10 MCAS are predictive of future life outcomes
including income and likelihood of enrolling and completing two- or four-year college. This is true for
every racial, ethnic and other student group without exception. Preparing our students for the workforce or further education are key goals of a successful K-12 education system.

The data confirm that the MCAS is testing knowledge central to post-grade 12 opportunities and serves a crucial purpose. Third, approximately one percent of the statewide graduating class does not receive a graduation diploma only because they have not passed the grade 10 MCAS by the end of grade 12. It is meant to be a minimum standard, and almost all students meet or exceed that standard.

Fourth, this is not a one-time high stakes test. There are five opportunities to pass the grade 10 MCAS in high school including once in grade 10 and twice each in grades 11 and 12. 92% of those who pass do so on their first attempt in grade 10, and almost all do so by the end of grade 11. There are additional appeals processes for special needs students and for students with good grades but who are “bad test takers”, and approximately 75 percent of appeals have been granted.

Fifth, there is significant teacher involvement in the MCAS. Each year 265 educators review and provide feedback on test items, and 280 educators participated on panels to set standards from 2017-2022. \

Sixth, the MCAS graduation requirement exists simply to assure that graduates have met a minimal consistent set of standards that are supposed to be taught before they graduate, and it is based on grade 10 standards. It is not an IQ test or like an SAT. Classroom preparation for the grade 10 MCAS requirement should consist of teaching the content and agreed-upon standards that are supposed to be taught as part of the curriculum.

There are good reasons that this referendum is opposed by many elected leaders and educators including Governor Healey, Secretary of Education Tutwiler and previous Democratic and Republican Secretaries of Education, House Speaker Mariano, Senate President Spilka, and a wide range of elected and community leaders.

Question 2 would result in a harmful and regressive education policy, and I urge you to vote No.

Matt Hills