The Thrive Act is more than a call to replace the MCAS-based high school graduation requirement. It would assure that local communities retain control of local school systems and establish a community-led response when improvements are needed.
MTA members are strongly advocating for its passage, emailing their representatives and senators. To date, more than 1,300 people have sent letters to their representatives on Beacon Hill, encouraging them to act on the legislation.
The Thrive Act would accomplish some of the same goals of a ballot question now progressing toward the November 2024 statewide ballot, by replacing the MCAS-based graduation test, one of the most punitive aspects of MCAS. But the act is much more comprehensive.
In addition to replacing the standardized test-based graduation requirement, the legislation would eliminate state receiverships and reinstate democratic control to communities and school committees. Massachusetts has three districts that are under state control: Holyoke, Southbridge and Lawrence. The act also would establish a commission to create a new, whole-child system of assessing schools.
On the graduation requirement, it would replace the MCAS exam as the arbiter of student mastery of the state standards with a requirement that allows students’ districts to certify that they have satisfactorily completed coursework showing mastery of the skills, competencies and knowledge required for graduation.
The ballot question, meanwhile, is showing evidence of strong statewide support.
Educators, parents, community members and volunteers collected 101,511 certified signatures endorsing the ballot initiative. Signatures were collected from every community in the Commonwealth.
Following up on a successful Oct. 4 public hearing on the Thrive Act at the State House, a Virtual Day of Action was held on Jan. 30, drawing together advocates to learn more about its objectives and mobilize support.
In several communities, local leaders are writing letters to the editor, expressing public support for it. Although introduced in the state House and Senate in January 2023, the bill remained in committee as MTA Today went to press.
Joe Spremulli, president of the Norton Teachers Association, wrote an op-ed published Feb. 1 in the Sun-Chronicle of Attleboro, sharing the purpose of the legislation and how it would help students.
"Thousands of educators like me support the Thrive Act, a bill currently in the Legislature that would create, among other things, a fair and rigorous evaluation system for graduation that focuses on the whole child," Spremulli wrote. "Teachers want information that will help us understand our students as people, data that is as nuanced as they are, data that the MCAS cannot supply."
In a separate interview, Spremulli said the Thrive Act provides for the conversations that school leaders need to have. "We really need to talk about the assessments we’re using, how we’re evaluating our schools, how we’re evaluating our students. I like the idea of a commission, coming together and saying, let’s design a system that’s going to look at our students as whole people as they move forward and meet the challenges of the 21st century."
MTA Vice President Deb McCarthy, a former fifth-grade teacher in Hull, said the high-stakes nature of the high school graduation test has turned schools into testing warehouses. The volume of signatures collected for the ballot question indicates support for removing a one-time test as a sole measure of accomplishment, she said.
"The people are letting us know that all students deserve an education that is well-rounded and focused on students – not a one-time test score," she said.
MTA President Max Page said educators are the professional experts who matter most, and know that the MCAS has narrowed curriculum and over the years has unfairly prevented thousands of students from graduating.
"The MCAS should not determine who gets a diploma," Page said.
For more information on the Thrive Act please visit massteacher.org/testing.
