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Meet the architect of the MCAS electoral fight. 5 questions for Hull teacher Deb McCarthy

Posted on by Gerres
Meet the architect of the MCAS electoral fight. 5 questions for Hull teacher Deb McCarthy

Deb McCarthy taught fifth graders in Hull public schools for a quarter of a century. She is a trade union activist and comes from a family of educators. And now she’s one of the people behind the all-important Nov. 5 ballot question that would eliminate MCAS 10 as a high school graduation requirement.

If the question is approved and becomes law, school districts would still administer the exam but would be able to formulate their own graduation standards.

Supporters say teachers are best placed to check whether students are meeting standards, not through a “one-size-fits-all” standardized test.

Meanwhile, opponents say the test is a much-needed measurement student preparation and academic achievement.

The fight over the ballot attracted significant supporters and big money.

Matt Damon from Cambridge, actor and philanthropist, he lent his voice to the “Yes on 2” campaign.which supports the push to eliminate the graduation requirement.

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey and other elected officials came out in opposition. Senior Legislative Leaders also took this possibility into account changing the ballot question or repealing it altogether if voters consent.

MassLive’s conversation with McCarthy has been lightly edited for clarity and content.

Q: First question: Less than five days left until Election Day. How do you feel?

Deb McCarthy: “You know, what a great question. This has been in the works for over a decade, so I feel like the conversation is coming into focus and that a coalition of teachers, parents and community members are finally being heard about the harm that happens when we deny a student a diploma based on a one-time transcript.”

Q: How did you get into this job? You were a class teacher for many years. But you were mobilized in a very personal way.

AND: “About ten years ago, I was actually chairman of the MTA Government Relations Committee, and we introduced legislation, right? That’s why I have been involved in this legislative process for over a decade.”

“What happened was during the pandemic when everyone was saying we shouldn’t test, and everyone was saying (it was), you know, it’s not a good time to test. And we decided to manage it. And we had a lot of parents who gave up.

(…)I refused to take the test and was placed on administrative leave.” (She later returned to service.)

Q: Opponents of eliminating the graduation requirement argued that if you took away the test, you would remove any objective measure of student achievement and that kids would simply be accepted regardless of whether they had the skills (they had to graduate).

AND: “It’s just not true. Every year we have students in Hull who get into Harvard, students in Weymouth, students in Brookline, students in Wellesley, and students in Boston who get into Harvard and other colleges based on GPAs and rigorous coursework. Colleges don’t ask for MCAS.

Q: Recent polls on this issue show this approximately 51% of voter support for abolition of the obligation to complete studies. When you talk to people, is this reflected in the conversations you have?

AND: “Much more. You know, we do internal polls every week… Remember, we collected 170,000 signatures, right? We have been dealing with acquisitions and telephone banking for four months. I went out into the community, talking. I have been in community with parents who have given up their weekends, (who) have given up their evenings and joined us because they are just as passionate and committed to eliminating this one-time diploma-linked metric.”

Q: What do these parents tell you?

AND: “…That they would like us to address this inequity, that they would like us to do something about degree completion based on a one-time rate.”

Question: You have been a teacher for 25 years. How did you start teaching? What did you get out of it?

AND: “My mother was a teacher in Hull and retired after 50 years of teaching. My sister is a teacher. My daughter is a teacher. My son married a teacher… I played “school” in kindergarten. In the eighth grade, I volunteered in my brother’s special needs class… For as long as I can remember, I knew I would be a teacher.

“…People like to say they teach you how to make a difference. In my case, I taught because students make a difference in my life every day. I became the person I am today because of the students in my class, which is why this fight is so important.”