Statement of Pioneer Institute on MCAS Ballot Failure and State of Education in Massachusetts

Yesterday was a bad day for public school students in Massachusetts because the last pillar of the most effective state education reform in modern American history fell. Since 2008, the Commonwealth has been witness to the systematic dismantling of the 1993 Education Reform Act.

With every step – the elimination of school district accountability, weakening of academic standards, severely limiting the growth of the nation’s best charter public schools and now eliminating the MCAS graduation requirement – the performance of Massachusetts students has fallen further from the time when Massachusetts eighth graders tied for best in the world in science and achievement gaps were narrowing.

Today, few states are seeing their National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores decline as quickly as Massachusetts. After today we find ourselves exactly where we were in 1992, with no single statewide high school graduation standard on which higher education institutions and employers can rely.

The results will undoubtedly be that the decline in student performance will further accelerate. And since the graduation standard will be far different in less affluent communities than in wealthier ones, it is poor and minority students who will bear the brunt of the change.