by Jon Bernstein, Sam King, Mark Lorion, Ron O'Hanley and Corey Thomas, CommonWealth Beacon
March 14, 2026

IF SCHOOL SYSTEMS hand out high school diplomas that do not reflect real learning, students pay the price through fewer opportunities, lower earnings, and diminished confidence. In the coming months, the governor and state education leaders will finalize a new statewide high school graduation policy. They should adopt a requirement that ensures every student has mastered core academic skills and knowledge they will need for success.

Massachusetts has long been a national leader in education, but that advantage is at risk. Student achievement is declining, and racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps are widening. These trends threaten not only the state’s economic competitiveness, but, most importantly, the futures of individual students, particularly those who rely on public education as a pathway to opportunity.

The high school graduation requirement is a powerful tool the state can use to reset expectations for students. A diploma must do more than mark time spent in classrooms; it must guarantee readiness. It should signal that a student can read critically, write clearly, reason mathematically, and apply knowledge in real-world settings. A diploma must represent real readiness for college, careers, and civic life.

As leaders of some of the largest business associations in the state, whose members employ thousands of Massachusetts residents, we see the consequences when students graduate without essential skills. They struggle, businesses struggle, and the entire economy suffers.

That’s why we’re urging the Healey administration to set and enforce a rigorous, statewide high school graduation standard that is aligned with the demands of a competitive, knowledge-based economy, and to require that every graduate demonstrate they have truly met the standard by passing a common, uniform assessment.

We are pleased that the recommendations of the Governor’s Statewide Graduation Council include required coursework in math, English, science, history, and more, bringing Massachusetts in line with 40 other states. A strong foundation in core academic subjects is essential.

Yet, simply taking a class does not guarantee learning. Student grades can be useful, but grading can be subjective and varies across classrooms, schools, and districts. As a result, students are too often told they are ready when they are not.

Students should be required to pass end-of-course assessments to measure whether they have mastered core academic content and foundational skills that prepare them to think critically, creatively, and innovatively. These assessments would provide a clear, consistent, and objective signal of readiness regardless of where the student lives or their socioeconomic status.

We arrived at this juncture after voters passed a ballot initiative in November 2024 that eliminated the 20-year-old state requirement that students pass the 10^th grade MCAS to earn a high school diploma. In adopting the ballot measure, some voters accepted the arguments of proponents that a single high-stakes test should not be used to determine student readiness to earn a diploma. Others accepted arguments that the MCAS forced teachers and students to spend too much time on test preparation at the expense of course content.

Adopting a new system that requires end-of-course assessments would address both of these issues. Exams will be administered in a select number of core academic subjects and taken right after students have been taught the content. Student success will be measured as an outcome of quality teaching and learning, with the opportunity to demonstrate mastery across a number of academic areas. 

Some voices in this debate don’t believe there should be any kind of state standardized assessment at all or that students should not have to pass them to earn a diploma. We disagree. Requiring students to pass exams will signal to them that mastering the course content is essential and will motivate them to learn. Holding students to a high standard by requiring them to pass a test is not punitive, it is fair and equitable. It prepares them for the real world and ensures they have received the foundational instructional support necessary for their future success.

State-designed end-of-course assessments create a fair and equal opportunity for all students to demonstrate mastery. They establish a common standard across districts, ensure that expectations do not vary from classroom to classroom, and send an unmistakable message that the state believes in every student’s capability to meet high expectations when given the support and the resources that should accompany these new standards.

These are hardly new issues for the Massachusetts business community, which has been deeply involved in public education advocacy for decades, and played a pivotal role in the landmark Education Reform Act passed more than three decades ago.

It was the business community that came together in 1988 to mount a campaign to bring about historic improvements in education, borne out of deep concern that too many students were graduating from the state’s public schools unprepared for college, career, and informed citizenship. Business leaders supported dramatic increases in state funding tied to a new, progressive system for distributing those resources coupled with high standards for student learning, assessments of performance, and accountability for results.

These reforms, adopted in 1993, have made Massachusetts a national leader in per pupil spending and helped catapult the state to first in the nation in student achievement.

The state is at an inflection point in education. The gains made over the past three decades are at risk; students have not recovered from pandemic learning loss as well as their peers in other states. The business community is once again calling for action.

High school should serve as a bridge for students to lifelong success and economic mobility. The skills students master during these years shape their access to higher education, workforce training, and family sustaining careers.

Students can and do rise to high expectations when they are afforded the right instruction, support, and opportunity. Massachusetts owes them nothing less than a diploma that truly reflects their readiness to succeed.

Jon Bernstein is chair of the Massachusetts Business Roundtable. Sam King and Mark Lorion are co-chairs of the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council. Ron O’Hanley is chair of the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership. Corey Thomas is chair of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.

This article first appeared on CommonWealth Beacon and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.