Mass. lawmakers hear testimony on MCAS graduation requirement
BOSTON - The Massachusetts Teachers Association wants the state to stop using the MCAS test as a graduation requirement. The union is pushing to get the matter before voters.
Some lawmakers do not want that to happen and are trying to find their own resolution first. A hearing was held Monday on Beacon Hill about the MCAS.
Currently, high school students are required to pass the standardized test before being allowed to graduate. Opponents say that is unfair to many students like English language learners.
"We are united in demanding an end to the punitive high stakes testing regime that distorts student learning in every school by creating a test and punish culture, undermines the professional expertise of our educators, and year after year harms hundreds of students who are denied a diploma simply for not passing some portion of a standardized test," MTA President Max Page said Monday.
Opponents of dropping the requirement say it would lower education standards and would make it harder for the state to support districts whose students are struggling academically.
