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by JD Chesloff, James E. Rooney and Brooke Thomson, CommonWealth Beacon
November 2, 2024
MASSACHUSETTS DOES a lot of things right. In particular, the state excels at providing the best K-12 education, putting every child on a path to success.
Massachusetts has the best public schools in the country, according to World Population Review. WalletHub’s Most Educated States 2024 Rankings says that “Massachusetts topped all other states in educational attainment and quality of education. The factors considered include the number of residents with diplomas and degrees, school system quality, graduation rates and test scores.”
Question 2 on Tuesday’s election ballot would gut our top-ranked education system by eliminating the Massachusetts Comprehensive Achievement System (MCAS) test as a graduation requirement. As the presidents and CEOs of three of the state’s leading business organizations, we are deeply concerned about lowering the standards of what a high-school diploma means in Massachusetts and how it will hinder the success of our children, their families, the region’s employers, and our economy. That is why we are voting no on Question 2.
Massachusetts’ most significant competitive advantage is its highly educated workforce. The MCAS is currently the only objective metric that measures a student's readiness for graduation. Since it became a graduation requirement in 2003, standards for students have been raised, graduation rates have soared, and dropout rates have decreased. Question 2 would undermine that progress and would be terrible for the future of our children.
MCAS has proven to be a reliable indicator of a student’s college and career readiness. Research from Brown University shows high school MCAS scores predict long-term success and accurately reflect the academic progress of every student. The report shows the higher the MCAS scores, the greater the future earnings -- and that holds true across all ethnic, educational, and socioeconomic groups.
In addition, the MCAS exam is an instrument of equity. Requiring students to meet a state standard to graduate from high school ensures that all districts are setting the same minimum academic standard for their students. If Question 2 passes, Massachusetts will have more than 300 different and unequal standards for graduation, leading to inaccurate assessments of student readiness for college and career and wider inequities in student achievement and opportunities.
MCAS has also been integral to exposing achievement gaps in the system, resulting in increased funding for under-resourced districts and more equitable learning opportunities for children. The data identifies where students stand academically so that interventions can be tailored accordingly. Students who don’t pass the MCAS on the first try are provided targeted support and given five chances to retake the exam.
If this ballot question passes, it will turn back the clock 30 years to a time when children in far too many districts graduated from high school without the skills and knowledge they needed to be successful in life beyond high school.
The Massachusetts economy is poised for growth, which means more opportunities for our children to find meaningful career paths that will lead to upward economic mobility – but only with the right skills and education.
Investments in new industries such as AI and clean tech will add to an economy that already enjoys global leadership in life sciences, health care, financial services, and advanced manufacturing, along with the energy of thousands of small businesses that provide the backbone of our economy. But this growth only happens when we put our children and their futures first by maintaining the best schools in the nation. This has been the foundation of the Massachusetts success story for decades. It’s what we do right.
Question 2 is a misguided effort that undoes what we do best. Children, parents, and employers across the state need to have confidence that a high school diploma is meaningful. For decades, our education system has delivered that confidence. It is for all of these reasons and more that we agree with Gov. Maura Healey, Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler, and many other state leaders who believe that the MCAS must remain a requirement to obtain a meaningful high school diploma.
It’s time to prioritize what is best for our kids, schools, and the future workforce. We can start by voting no on Question 2 in this election.
JD Chesloff is the president & CEO of the Massachusetts Business Roundtable. James E. Rooney is the president & CEO of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. Brooke Thomson is the president & CEO of Associated Industries of Massachusetts.
This article first appeared on CommonWealth Beacon and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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