This op-ed appeared in The Daily Hampshire Gazette
As a Springfield public school teacher, proud Massachusetts Teachers Association member, parent of two kids in the Northampton schools, and a former Northampton School Committee member, I am voting “no” on Question 2 because a statewide graduation requirement is essential to ensuring equity in our schools.
Question 2 is actually not about MCAS at its core, as MCAS will remain in place if it passes. Instead, Question 2 is about whether the state or individual districts should set graduation requirements.
A bedrock principle of a fair and equitable public education system is that ZIP codes should not determine the standards and quality of education students receive. In this vein, I will be voting “no” as the standards and quality for a diploma also should not be determined by a student’s ZIP code, either.
A “no” vote means that the responsibility to set a statewide graduation requirement stays in the more impartial hands of our state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). A “yes” vote would bar any statewide or districtwide assessments as graduation requirements, and instead each public school district will determine their own diploma requirements.
Imagine if instead of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection having the responsibility for establishing minimum standards for drinking water quality, we voted to give each city in our state that authority? Or what if we removed the Department of Transportation’s authority to regulate driver’s licenses and instead gave that authority to each city?
Take Springfield. It is the third largest city in our state, with 90% of students identified as high needs (low income, English language learners, and students with disabilities). For the past 15 years, from 2010 to 2024, Springfield’s graduation rate grew from 56% to 85% (Go Springfield!). Sadly, when this success story gets shared, the response is often a biased and offensive suggestion that our teachers must be “teaching to the test,” as if to say that Springfield students and teachers couldn’t possibly achieve such success without some underhanded or less-than tactic.
Is it ever said that Northampton, Amherst, and Longmeadow, which have about a 95% graduation rate or higher, are also “teaching to the test?” Springfield proves that a uniform statewide requirement and a high level of creativity and teaching are powerful forces for our most vulnerable students.
Unfortunately, our society can be biased and discriminatory and we see how this continues to play out when outcomes are assumed based on the demographics of a district. Without MCAS and its graduation requirement, we risk furthering these inequities. Currently, there are vast differences across Massachusetts as to what coursework each district requires for graduation. If a student from a given district applies to a school or job after graduating, we need to ensure that the very real and pervasive biases about certain municipalities do not limit their college and career opportunities.
Without a statewide requirement, an additional burden will be placed on our already stretched teachers, staff and administrators, especially in our highest-need districts. To ensure they have equitable and competitive graduation requirements in place compared to other districts, many districts will need to scramble within the school year to increase or decrease the number of necessary credits students need to graduate. As a result, this could impact the courses districts offer and have staffing implications for districts as well. The ripple effect would certainly be detrimental.
A “no” vote is necessary so all diplomas in Massachusetts are held to the same high standards. We do not want students being compared against one another from biased perspectives about their school district. We also certainly do not want to overburden our teachers and districts as they attempt to fill the void that would be created if Question 2 passes.
I invite you to join me in voting “no” on Question 2 for our children and for Massachusetts, so we ensure students and families know that the standards and quality of their diploma are not determined by their ZIP code.
Roni Gold of Northampton is a longtime Springfield public school teacher and math coach, and former Northampton School Committee member.
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