Supporters of a ballot question that would end the use of the MCAS as a high school graduate requirement are promising to ramp up their advertising efforts with a multi-million dollar blitz ahead of the November general election.
The “Yes on 2 Campaign,” a group primarily backed by the Massachusetts Teachers Association, kicked off their media barrage Tuesday morning by shuttling $250,000 into a 30-second spot that argues teachers will no longer have to teach to the test if voters back their question.
“True learning can’t be reduced to a multiple choice question on a high-stakes test,” Massachusetts Teachers Association Vice President Deb McCarthy said in a statement. “Voters have an important opportunity to stand up for the quality of education by replacing the MCAS graduation requirement this November.”
The statewide teachers union has already spent over $1.1 million on the effort to end the use of the MCAS as a high school graduation requirement and officially launched its campaign earlier this month.
“A Yes on Question 2 means no more teaching to the test, so teachers can focus on how individual students learn – assessing grades, papers, and participation to help develop critical thinking and creativity,” a narrator said during the ad.
The Yes on Question 2 campaign said the spot is part of its “larger paid advertising efforts, which is an anticipated eight-figure buy spanning broadcast and digital media through November.”
The massive pledge, if it pans out, will rival only a handful of campaigns from previous election cycles. The campaign faces stiff resistance, including from Gov. Maura Healey and House Speaker Ron Mariano.
Opponents of the measure have said ending the MCAS graduation requirement and replacing it with a mandate that students complete coursework “certified” by their district will eliminate Massachusetts’ “only objective standard” for finishing high school.
The “Protect Our Kids’ Future: No On Question 2” has already funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars into its own advertising push.
“This will drastically increase inequality and unfairly harm kids who live in districts that will lower education standards to inflate graduation rates, even if students aren’t yet ready,” the chair of the opposition campaign previously said.