Top Pols Against MCAS Change

House Speaker Ron Mariano speaks to reporters on Thursday, March 21, 2024 at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel.

House Speaker Ron Mariano, a former teacher, said Thursday he does not support scrapping the use of the MCAS exam as a high school graduation requirement.

During an appearance at a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce forum, CEO Jim Rooney asked Mariano to weigh in on the potential ballot question, which opponents worry could spur a patchwork of graduation requirements as districts develop different ways to evaluate whether students have mastered their coursework.

"I think there is a reason and a rationale for the test," Mariano said.

Supporters of the question, led by the Massachusetts Teachers Association, say the tests put unnecessary pressure on students and are a poor measure of academic performance.

The overwhelming majority of students pass the MCAS and qualify for graduation, but about 700 students each year do not receive a sufficient score to earn their diploma. Mariano said those students can take "adaptive tests."

"So we seem to be in a real fight over 700 kids, which sort of seems like a waste of resources," the Quincy Democrat said.

Gov. Maura Healey, who expressed her previously announced opposition to the ballot initiative earlier this week, indicated her administration is assessing how to help that cohort of students.

"We've got to find a way to take care of those young people, get them what they need, and see them through. So that's a different discussion that my team is engaged on right now," Healey said on WBUR. "But I think that it's important to maintain the ability to assess our young people."

Mariano said he was laid off as a teacher in the wake of Proposition 2 ½, which voters approved in 1980 to install limits on property tax increases. Mariano recalled at the time there were two teachers across the hall who seemed "borderline incompetent," and he realized their students were losing out on two years of their educational experience.

"We had no way of determining that, and I just thought that was wrong," Mariano said. "That's why I supported the MCAS when the testing was presented. I thought we made a huge commitment of money to the school systems -- and in return, our request for some degree of accountability and some attempt to measure achievement was within the realm of a reasonable request. And I still think there's a place for it."