The state Board of Education has proposed that it will "allow" school committees to issue second-tier "certificates of achievement" to students who meet local requirements for graduation but do not pass MCAS – if they jump through some additional hoops. Essentially, the board is admitting that the high-stakes MCAS is unfair and will leave many students behind.

The board has suggested that its certificates will "assist" students in getting jobs, attending community colleges, joining trade licensing or apprenticeship programs, and entering the military. However, the board has little control over these matters in the wider world. These certificates would come with no guarantees.

In fact, the certificates appear to be a political strategy to reduce opposition to the MCAS and upstage local school committees that intend to grant legitimate diplomas to seniors who meet all of their school system’s requirements. The certificates will confuse school committees and the public, rather than helping students who have not passed the MCAS exam.

No. The "certificate of achievement" will NOT be the equivalent of a high school diploma. Students who earn certificates will not be high school graduates. They will not be eligible for many colleges, job opportunities, or military service options that would have been available to them as high school graduates.

No. The certificate will sort and label students; it will tell the world that recipients failed the MCAS and that they "were not able to graduate" from high school. In essence, the certificate will solidify a two-tiered education system.

No. A number of School Committees have passed resolutions stating their intention to continue awarding diplomas to seniors who meet local graduation requirements but have not passed MCAS. Unlike the "certificates of achievement," these diplomas will signify graduation from high school.

While the state Department of Education has claimed that these diplomas will have no standing, CARE’s Legal Advisory Committee has researched the issue and advised that local school committees at the present time have the right to continue to issue diplomas regardless of MCAS scores; moreover, the state Board of Education has overstepped its authority by imposing a single test, never mandated by the statute, as the sole measure of competency. In addition, CARE’s lawyers say that the MCAS graduation requirement is contrary to the intent of the statute. A federal lawsuit recently filed against the state makes similar arguments.

4. Will the certificate make it easier for students to attend community colleges?

No. As the system stands now, a student must have earned a high school diploma, GED, or a passing score on an "ability to benefit" test (the latter option allowed only on some campuses) in order to attend a community college and receive credit for college-level courses. There is no evidence at the present time that a certificate will substitute for any one of these possible routes to community college admission. In fact, the certifcate may be used to erect an additional barrier rather than increase access to community college, if students are required to take certain remedial courses or to keep trying to pass the MCAS in order to stay in community college.

Not necessarily. Certificates will present one more obstacle to young people trying to secure decent jobs. Since recipients will not be high school graduates, they are likely to face limited employment opportunies, lower wages, and slower job advancement. Some Board of Education members have even proposed that employers should be encouraged to make continued MCAS re-tries a condition of a "certificate-holder’s" employment.

Special ed students are entitled to receive a free appropriate education until the age of 22, unless they receive a regular education diploma. The certificates could be misused to encourage schools to "push out" special education students at the end of their senior year, in cases where additional schooling would be beneficial and appropriate.

Not that easy. State officials have discussed requiring a student to maintain a 95% attendance record, fulfill all local graduation requirements, and make repeated attempts (at least once per school year) to pass the MCAS exam. One official estimated that only about 50% of the students who have not passed the MCAS would be able to fulfill those requirements and receive a certificate.

For more information on the campaign to oppose second-tier "certificates of achievement" and support the granting of graduation diplomas to qualified seniors, regardless of their MCAS scores, contact: MassCARE coordinators