Education in Massachusetts

As a result of the Act, funding for public education in Massachusetts doubled, from $1.3 billion in 1993 to $2.6 in 2000. Each public school district in Massachusetts was given a “foundational budget” to ensure that lower-income communities would still be receiving the same funds and the higher-income ones. Districts with lower income that spent less than their foundation budget were given more funds the next year, and districts with higher income who spent above their budget had their funds decreased. By 2002, each district in Massachusetts had reached its foundational budget.

Prior to the Act, the only mandatory classes in Massachusetts were history and physical education. After 1993, standards were developed for science and technology, mathematics, English, foreign languages, the arts, health, and history. In response to these new standards, Massachusetts students began to do better in school. For instance, students were introduced to algebra in grade 8, earlier than recommended by the National Mathematics Advisory Panel. Massachusetts’ average SAT scores rose for thirteen years. Massachusetts scored first in fourth- and eight-grade reading and math domestically. Internationally, students in Massachusetts were receiving an education comparable with those of the educational giants of the time, Japan, Korea, and Singapore.

These stricter standards were not to stay. In 2010, Massachusetts instead started to rely on the country-wide Common Core, whose standards were proved to be less demanding than those of MERA.

To test students against these stricter standards, a new standardized test was implemented. The Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) was used to judge both students and schools against the new standards. In order to graduate, students must pass the tenth-grade MCAS tests. Again, as Massachusetts acquiesced to the country-wide Common Core, the MCAS changed as well. Schools now offer a new version of the MCAS, known as MCAS 2.0, which implements the new standards and parts of a national common core test, the PARCC.