MAVA Colleagues,
Thought you would find this interesting.
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David
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State education board members worry about timing, budget for new graduation requirements
Diane Adame June 23, 2026
Two years after voters cast aside the MCAS as a graduation requirement for Massachusetts high schoolers, the state released recommendations last week for new graduation standards across the state.
Massachusetts school districts would have until fall 2027 to get their curriculum into alignment, and roughly two yearsfor yet-to-be-formed councils to draw up new end-of-year assessments.
But members of the state’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education worry that’s not enough time — and the costs associated with the change are too high in a difficult economic climate for local governments.
“I look at the amount of work that’s going to be involved in getting districts to buy in or to pass the legislation and regulations, and then working with the districts to implement MassCore,” Matt Hills, the board’s vice chair, said at a Monday meeting. “I’m wondering how you’re going to do this in anywhere close to the amount of time that you’re proposing.”
Under the proposed set of standards released by the state last week, high schoolers across the state will have to take end-of-course exams, present a senior capstone project or portfolio and complete “MassCore,” the state recommended program of study.
The recommendations have not yet been enacted. The state still needs to “establish statutory and regulatory authority,” and the report is “intended to inform policy decisions” by Gov. Maura Healey and state lawmakers, according to the recommendations.
If enacted, state officials said the implementation would be gradual, with MassCore starting with ninth graders entering high school in fall 2027.
About three-quarters of Massachusetts high schools already meet MassCore’s requirements for core academic subjects, including English language arts, math, science, history and social science.
But Hills said he thinks the state could be asking too much of school districts that would need to change their curricula.
“Wait until you have everything lined up before you start any districts moving down a path that you don’t already have the regulatory and/or statutory authority to move down,” he said. “I just think that you’re taking something with a lot of thought that can be really, really good and risking the whole thing collapsing under its own weight.”
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Pedro Martinez said he’s confident with MassCore as a start since “the vast majority of districts are very close” to implementing this program.
“MassCore by itself also has a lot of flexibility,” he said. “It allows us to waive some of the elective courses, which really right now has allowed the vast majority of both our districts and our students to be able to meet the MassCore requirements.”
Martinez also said, for the state’s high schools that aren’t in line with the MassCore requirements, it’s a “disservice” to those students since they’re left underprepared for college.
“We’re trying to balance the implementation risk but also the sense of urgency because what we have today is not OK,” he said.
Under the recommendations, high school seniors will also need to show they have met financial and artificial intelligence literacy milestones. They must also complete or opt out of state or federal free applications for financial aid for higher education, or FAFSA.
Board Member Ericka Fisher said she has “grave concerns” about funding these requirements across the commonwealth.
“I’m thinking about the curriculum that some of these schools are going to need and courses to be taught and who needs to teach these courses when budgets are strained now and will be even in more dire straits over the next two years,” she said.
Massachusetts Education Secretary Steve Zrike said he agrees some schools will need a lot of support.
“There also are the resources in order to plan and coordinate that require a lot of time, and so we’ve already made available some resources with this launch of these recommendations that have gone out with the idea that we’re going to be advocating for more,” he said.
Zrike said the state will also conduct an analysis to determine which schools are going to need more technical or staffing support in order to implement these requirements.
Board Member Kristen Smidy said she worries about districts resorting to charging more for student athletics or cutting arts programs to fund MassCore.
“I know MassCore has an all-encompassing perspective around making sure students get a wide array of courses, but I can see resources being allocated differently because of MassCore,” she said. “I want to make sure that we’re supporting districts not only to offer MassCore but to continue to offer robust options other than MassCore based on what’s important to their community.”
Martinez added there will be new advisory councils formed to help create end-of-course assessments. But Smidy also urged the state to consider other options aside from end-of-course assessments to measure students’ mastery of course subjects.
“I know of plenty of schools that offer assessments along the way throughout the school year, and then they waive the end-of-course assessment for students who have demonstrated strong mastery of the content throughout the year,” she said. “I want to make sure that we’re acknowledging learning across the board as well as what the voters have said that they wanted in terms of a step away from standardized tests and a step towards ensuring students have this holistic education.”
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David J. Ferreira
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