Massachusetts Ballot Question 2 would end MCAS graduation requirement, if voters approve
BOSTON - Ballot Question 2 on the future of MCAS exams has been one of the most contentious issues in Massachusetts during the 2024 election.
Massachusetts Ballot Question 2
A "yes" vote would end the mandate that requires students to pass the tenth grade Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) exam to graduate high school.
A "no" vote would keep it as a graduation requirement.
About 99% of students pass the exam, according to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). If they don't pass, they can take it up to five times. There's an appeals process and there are alternative tests.
"No" on Ballot Question 2
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey is leading the call for a "no" vote on Question 2.
"That question, if it passes, would deliver us to a place of no standard - essentially 351 different standards for high school graduation. I don't believe that is the right direction to go, the governor does not believe that it's the direction to go," Massachusetts Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler told WBZ-TV.
If Ballot Question 2 is approved, it would not drop standardized test-taking in Massachusetts schools. Federal law requires an English and math test in third through eighth grade and once in high school.
High school students in Massachusetts have been required to pass the MCAS tests to graduate since 2003.
"Yes" on Ballot Question 2
Sen. Elizabeth Warren and the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA), the largest union of teachers in the state, both support a "yes" vote.
"One test is not a great measure for every kid, that ultimately we keep about 700 kids from getting a high school diploma and it's a lot of special needs kids and a lot of kids who are just learning English," Warren said in a debate on WBZ last month.
"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," MTA President Max Page told WBZ. "What students will be judged on is successfully passing the curriculum that shows they have mastered our state standards - grades in courses."
Shelly Scruggs of Lexington filed the petition in July 2023 to put the question on the statewide ballot. She said she did it on behalf of her teenage son who "works hard" but "isn't a great test taker."
Check back here after 8 p.m. for live election results on Ballot Question 2.