Some final MCAS keywords: equality, inequality, standards, education

Now, three decades later, Massachusetts ranks first in education, thanks in part to our strict graduation requirements. While Latinos continue to face challenges, families from all over the world come here to enroll their students in our world-class system.

Question 2 aims to abolish the MCAS diploma requirement. While the test could benefit from an update, eliminating our standardized measure of academic proficiency would be detrimental to our students and our state’s competitiveness. Latino students are also likely to be multilingual learners, and the MCAS provides a diagnostic tool for knowing whether these students are being served equitably.

The state also makes accommodation for students with disabilities and offers the math and science portions in Spanish. As the Globe said in its Oct. 30 editorial‘Look at recent history – and vote no on Question 2’: MCAS should be maintained and improved, not eliminated as a graduation requirement. That is why we are voting no.

Rosalin Acosta

Orleans

Amanda Fernandez

Belmont

Acosta is a former Massachusetts Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development. Fernandez is a former member of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education; she is also the founder and CEO of Latinos for Education, but the views she expresses here are her own.

I strongly support eliminating the MCAS as a graduation requirement. The MCAS is promoted as a standardized test, but there is nothing standardized about the state of the schools or the lives of our children. Many schools are underfunded and do not have the resources they need to meet the learning and emotional needs of their students. These schools cannot offer competitive salaries to retain teachers and staff. Many students come to school unprepared because they are hungry, have no home or are traumatized by poverty, violence or the effects of racism.

Question 2 seeks to remove a barrier that disproportionately impacts students of color, students living in poverty, students with learning disabilities, students who speak a language other than English, and students who attend under-resourced schools.

We should not punish children for the inequality in our society. Vote yes on question 2.

Doug Selwyn

Groenveld

If Question 2 passes on Election Day, MCAS will no longer serve as the state’s requirement for high school graduation, but it will still serve as a vital data point for schools and school systems to use as a valid benchmark for student performance to adapt classroom practice.

Massachusetts can still be a national leader in standards-based accuracy Adopt MassCore as a graduation requirement for every high school in the Commonwealth. This rigorous program of study, designed to prepare graduates for the expectations of college and the 21st century workforce, would provide a foundation from which each student could progress.

For some students, perhaps those with learning disabilities who cannot complete the world language requirement no matter how hard they try (I was one of those students; I have dyslexia), the 10th grade MCAS could then serve as an alternate requirement and those those who successfully pass it would also earn their high school diploma.

This would provide Massachusetts with a robust toolbox of options, maximizing every student’s potential after one high-stakes test. This model would allow teachers to shape the scope and sequence of rigorous learning experiences at the school level – where the honor work is done.

Matthew H. Malone

Roslindale

The writer is a former Massachusetts secretary of education and former superintendent of schools.

A common criticism of the MCAS is that it makes teachers ‘teach to the test’.

Let me rephrase that statement: It ensures that teachers are teaching material that is measured by the test.

I have to ask: what’s wrong with that?

Sumner Blount

Arlington