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Healey, Campbell at odds with public opinion on MCAS ballot question
While Healey and other state leaders have maintained their position against the ballot question to eliminate MCAS as a high school graduation requirement, three polls show the "yes" vote solidly ahead.
Governor Maura Healey doubled down against eliminating the MCAS as a high school graduation requirement Wednesday while polls continue to indicate that the public widely support the ballot question.
Some state officials, including Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler, have been against Question 2 since its inception. They emphasize standardizing education across the state and maintaining the state’s high standard.
Healey, Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll, and Attorney General Andrea Campbell attended a press conference Wednesday in Roxbury hosted by the “No on 2” Campaign, NBC Boston reported.
“If you eliminate MCAS and you don’t have anything else to replace it in terms of a state-wide standard that we want to make sure is in place for all of our young people,” Healey said. “It means we’ll be holding our schools to lower standards than some states like Alabama and Mississippi.”
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However, multiple polls have put public support firmly behind the ballot question. Polling from The Boston Globe and Suffolk University show a double-digit lead for the “yes” vote with 58 percent in favor of removing the graduation requirement, while 37 percent oppose it. A University of Massachusetts poll and a WBUR poll show similar results.
The Massachusetts Teachers Union is the main force behind the ballot initiative, arguing that the test is too high-stakes, derails more meaningful learning, and unfairly holds back students of color, low-income students, students with disabilities, and students who are English learners.
Healey appeared on Boston Public Radio Wednesday and commnted on her position on Question 2 and Question 5. She said she’s “sensitive” to the needs of students with disabilities or English learners, who represent the majority of students who don’t pass the MCAS and can’t graduate.
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“Without a replacement for a uniform standard state-wide, I don’t think it makes sense to go this way, and I think there’s a better way to achieve this,” the governor said.
If the MCAS is dropped as a graduation requirement, students will still take the MCAS, but their graduation would hinge instead of local district standards, which are already set in English, math, and other subjects. State-wide, the MassCore curriculum is recommended, but the requirements include physical education and U.S. history and civics in addition to the MCAS, according to the state.
Warren, Pressley support ‘Yes on 2’
Senator Elizabeth Warren backed the union and voiced her support for the ballot measure at her debate Tuesday. Representative Ayanna Pressley has also endorsed the MTA’s position, saying “testing is a tool, that’s it.”
State Senator Jason Lewis, the chair of the Joint Committee on Education, threw his support in for the ballot question and announced his intent to implement “an alternative, non-test-based, consistent, and rigorous statewide graduation standard.”
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