Teachers' Union Broadcasts Anti-MCAS Message on Airwaves

BOSTON (SHNS) – The campaign behind the effort to delink statewide standardized tests from high school diplomas is rolling out its first large-scale ad campaign – with a promise of “paid advertising efforts, expected to include eight-figure buys spanning broadcast and digital media.”

The Massachusetts Teachers Association and the American Federation of Teachers of Massachusetts are supporting an initiative petition (Question 2 on the November ballot) to eliminate the use of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, or MCAS, as a graduation requirement for all public high school students. The unions say the test takes up class time, puts undue stress on students and prevents about 700 students each year from graduating.

The union-backed “Yes on 2” campaign, which calls itself the Committee for High Standards, Not High Stakes, released its first ad Tuesday, pairing video of students, teachers and families with audio of calls to replace the MCAS graduation requirement with a different set of standards.

“Question 2 maintains our high standards by replacing the MCAS graduation requirement, which only shows who is good at testing, not who is prepared to succeed after graduation. A yes to Question 2 means no more test-based instruction, so teachers can focus on how individual students learn, assessing grades, assignments, and participation to help develop critical thinking and creativity,” the announcement said.

The 30-second spot cost the committee $250,000 to air on platforms across the state — the same amount the opposition campaign spent on a two-part series last month featuring a parent and a teacher who want to keep the graduation requirement intact.

Opponents of the referendum question say it would reduce the value of a Massachusetts diploma and create an environment in which districts have different standards, potentially widening the divide between high- and low-income districts and between high- and low-achieving students.

Under Question 2, students would still take the national exams throughout their schooling, but the 10th-grade test would not be used as a requirement for high school graduation. Instead, individual districts would set their own standards for graduation.

“We have 180 of our members who have spent about six weeks making over 100,000 calls and knocking on 70,000 doors,” MTA Chairman Max Page said earlier this month. “We’re getting a great response from people. We have a growing group of parents who are active in this effort. We’ve already started in July and August, but the campaigns start after Labor Day.”

The campaign’s press release announcing the ad says it kicks off advertising efforts leading up to the November election, which are expected to exceed eight figures in broadcast and digital media buys.

“We’ve been working hard on this for years, but we decided to get our message out to people,” Page said. “We’re confident. Part of that confidence comes from the 170,000 signatures we’ve been able to collect, which is remarkable. It really touches a lot of parents and community members.”

The opposition campaign was launched in July with the slogan “Protect our children’s future.”

One of the opposition ads featured James Conway, a Revere High School history teacher and MTA member.

“I’m still a member of the MTA. I support the MTA and other campaigns. I just think they’ve gotten this wrong,” Conway said in an interview last month. “I think it’s a good thing that teachers are coming out and saying we need these standards and this requirement. I think it might influence some voters who look at the MTA staff and just assume that all teachers agree with this.”

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