Healey, education secretary oppose MTA efforts to remove MCAS graduation requirement

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Photo | Flickr | Ajay Suresh The Massachusetts State House

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By Chris Lisinski | State House News Service

Count Gov. Maura Healey and her education secretary among the opponents of a proposed ballot question that would allow Massachusetts students to graduate high school without achieving sufficient MCAS scores.

Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler made clear in an interview that aired Sunday that he and Healey believe the measure backed by the powerful Massachusetts Teachers Association is the wrong approach, even while leaving open the door to reforming the exams.

"I support the idea of there being a standard, a state standard for high school graduation," Tutwiler said in an interview on WBZ's Keller @ Large. "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 direction to go. The governor does not believe that is the direction to go, so no, I do not support it."

Tutwiler said the field is already flooded with "misinformation" about the proposal, stressing that it would not eliminate the MCAS altogether but would instead decouple results from high school graduation requirements.

Healey and Tutwiler waded into the debate one day before lawmakers kick off their formal review of the measure. A special legislative committee will meet for the first time Monday afternoon, when members will hear arguments for and against the proposed MCAS ballot question ahead of a May 1 deadline for lawmakers to approve it or propose a rewrite.

If the Legislature takes no action by that date, sponsors of each ballot question need to complete one more round of signature-gathering to secure a spot on the November ballot -- and if the MTA and their supporters succeed on that front, they will then need to convince voters to back a measure opposed by the governor.

While lawmakers consider whether to try and broker a compromise, Tutwiler signaled the administration could be on board with changing the tests themselves.

"Could it be a different assessment? Absolutely. Should the assessment evolve and maybe look different ways? Absolutely, and I'm more than open to that conversation," he said. "But inasmuch as it relates to a standard, I believe there should be one."