The Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) board of directors voted unanimously Sunday to throw its weight behind a ballot measure to end standardized testing currently required for students to graduate, according to the Boston Globe.
Ahead of the board of directors vote, the MTA submitted a ballot question Wednesday to the state’s Attorney General’s Office for the 2024 election, which would eliminate the requirement that students pass the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS), a test on English, math and science, in order to graduate, according to the Boston Globe. Instead, students would be able to graduate if they complete coursework that meets the state’s academic standards. (RELATED: Nation’s Largest Teachers Union Votes To Officially Promote Child Sex Changes)
“We are a union that is committed to fixing a key part of what’s wrong in public schools, that is this over-reliance on high stakes testing,” Max Page, MTA president, told CBS News. “What students will be judged on is successfully passing the curriculum that shows they have mastered our state standards. Grades in courses.”
The union argues that the MCAS requirement punishes students who are poor test takers and disadvantages those with disabilities or who are not fluent in English, the Boston Globe reported. An average of 700 high school students do not pass the exam each year and do not graduate as a result.
The MCAS requirement makes sure that students are ready to graduate high school and then enter secondary education or the workforce, Chris Anderson, president of the Massachusetts High Technology Council, told the Boston Globe.
“This proposal would jeopardize the futures of Massachusetts high school graduates, endanger the state’s standing as a national leader in education and put the state’s economy at a further competitive disadvantage,” Anderson told the Boston Globe. “Eliminating this statewide standard would do a disservice to all students, particularly students in underperforming districts and schools.”
Teacher Jennifer Kirmes(Rt) instructs students on the first day of class inside her science classroom at Cesar Chavez Public Charter School for public Policy 05 June 2006 in Washington, DC. Photo credit PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP via Getty Images)
Some teachers argue the test requires lots of preparation in the classroom, CBS News reported.
“It was a rough week every time we had to do it,” Reva Finley-Call, a Massachusetts teacher, told WBZ-TV. “Working at a school and seeing my students struggle or you get anxious because it’s a big thing and you have to pass it to pass school. Even as a student I hated standardized testing.”
The Massachusetts AG is still considering whether MTA’s proposed question will appear on the 2024 ballot, the Boston Globe reported.
The MTA did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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