Massachusetts Governor Proposes Graduation Requirement Council After Voter Rejection of Testing

BOSTON — Massachusetts voters decided in November to get rid of the state’s standardized tests as a requirement for high school graduation. Now, the governor wants to set up a statewide graduation requirement council.

In her Thursday night “state of the Commonwealth” speech, Democratic Gov. Maura Healey announced that the council would be formed.

Teachers, schools, employers, and students will all be on the council, which will make suggestions.

In Massachusetts, kids had to pass a lot of tests in order to get their high school diploma. While the passed ballot measure does not get rid of the tests, it does say that passing them will not be necessary to graduate.

After the vote on the ballot question, there are now only seven states that require graduation tests. This number may soon go down even more.

In prepared words, Healey said she respected what the people had decided.

“But it makes us all responsible for making sure that every student graduates ready to do well.” We need a high bar for the whole state. Families, companies, and students all need to know what a diploma means. “The most at-risk students are always the ones who don’t get what they need without that baseline,” Healey said.

“We’ll change to a new great high school model in Massachusetts that works best for our kids.” Healey said, “We’ll pair high standards with great opportunities, like the Early College and job training programs that help students get ready for their next step.”

In Massachusetts, the movement against the graduation requirement was led by a teachers union. They said that it was stopping too many students from getting their diplomas and making it too hard to choose what to teach in schools.

In a statement, the leaders of the Massachusetts Teachers Association said they were glad to hear that Healey had announced “that Massachusetts will have a public process for shaping a shared vision for educating and supporting our students and ensuring every student is benefiting from our state’s high academic standards.”

Jessica Tang, President of the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts, said that the group was excited to work with Healey’s administration “as they work to find a new, truly equitable assessment system that supports all students and schools of Massachusetts.”