Opponents, advocates each file to change language of ballot question nixing MCAS graduation requirement

Both sides of the MCAS debate have made motions in the Supreme Judicial Court to change the language of the proposed ballot question to nix use of the standardized test as a high school graduation requirement.

The MCAS ballot question, which faces final certification hurdle before the Nov. 5 general election ballot this year, would remove the use of the test as a graduation requirement, but allow districts to continue to administer the test.

Massachusetts Teachers Association leadership and 64 registered voters filed a brief with the court on Wednesday, asking the justices to alter the title and description of the MCAS ballot question they say “fail to capture the scope of the initiative.”

The initiative petition is currently titled, “A Law Requiring that Districts Certify that Students Have Mastered the Skills, Competencies and Knowledge of the State Standards as a Replacement for the MCAS Graduation Requirement.”

“We are asking the court to change the title and wording of the ballot question so voters are clear that all students will be educated in accordance to state academic standards and all students receiving a high school diploma have mastered a core group of skills and competencies aligned with those standards,” the MTA wrote in a statement.

The question is posed as, “A Yes Vote would eliminate the requirement that students pass the (MCAS) in order to graduate high school but will still require students to complete coursework that meets state standards.”

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The Committee To Preserve Educational Standards For K-12 Students filed a brief Wednesday night contesting the MTA’s proposed changes and requesting that “MCAS” in the title and question be replaced with “uniform statewide assessment.”

“The Committee argues the language is misleading and provides voters with an incomplete description of the ballot question’s impact, because it does not inform voters that the Petition would eliminate any uniform statewide assessment of academic competence (and not just MCAS) as a graduation requirement, and leave that determination solely to local school districts,” the committee said in a statement.

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