New ad touts ‘replacing’ MCAS grad requirement
$250,000 buy is first volley from campaign to end high-stakes test
THE CAMPAIGN TO end the state’s 10th grade MCAS high school graduation requirement is rolling out its first ad, a 30-second spot that will begin streaming on digital platforms.
“Question 2,” says the ad narrator, “maintains our high state standards by replacing the high-stakes MCAS graduation requirement, which only shows who’s good at taking tests, not who’s prepared to succeed after graduation.”
The question, which will appear on the November ballot, would end the requirement that students pass the 10th grade MCAS in math, English, and science in order to graduate from high school. The ballot campaign, largely bankrolled by the Massachusetts Teachers Association, the state’s largest teachers union, argues that the graduation test – in place since 2003 – has narrowed the curriculum in schools and penalizes students who perform poorly on standardized tests.
Opponents of the ballot question, led by education reform and business groups, would likely give the ad an incomplete grade. That’s because, despite saying the ballot question would replace the high-stakes MCAS graduation requirement, the ad doesn’t spell out what it would be replaced with.
That issue has become a point of sharp contention between the two sides.
Supporters of the ballot question say it will be replaced with existing state standards. They say students will still have to pass a required set of courses that must adhere to state curriculum standards outlining material to be covered in different subjects at each grade level. The ad says scrapping the graduation test will lead to richer classroom experiences for students. “A yes on Question 2 means no more teaching to the test, so teachers can focus on how individual students learn – assessing grades, papers, and participation to help develop critical thinking and creativity,” the ad says.
Opponents argue that there is no uniform determination of whether schools are meeting those state standards, so jettisoning the graduation test would effectively mean there is a different standard in each of the more than 300 Massachusetts school districts.
Opponents – organized as Protect Our Kids’ Future: Vote No on 2 – rolled out their first ads in July, also in an initial $250,000 outlay. The No on 2 ads have an omission of their own, featuring a parent and teacher both arguing that it’s crucial to keep the state standards in place – without ever mentioning the 10th grade test that forms the crux of those standards.
As with many ballot questions, the issues are complicated and not easy to boil down in a 30-second ad, which can be framed to pull viewers to one side or the other.
The MCAS ballot question is likely to see millions of dollars spent on both sides. Backers of the question – the Committee for High Standards Not High Stakes – say the new ad is the first of “an anticipated 8-figure advertising campaign” they will mount between now and the November 5 election.
Commonwealth News