The Protect Our Kids’ Future: Vote No on 2 campaign, which is supported by Associated Industries of Massachusetts and other organizations, launched this morning seeking to defeat a potentially destructive ballot question that would remove the Massachusetts Comprehensive Achievement System (MCAS) graduation requirement for students throughout the commonwealth.

AIM has always championed the value of education and high standards. That is why this association was a driving force behind the landmark Education Reform Act of 1993.

It is also why we agree with Governor Maura Healey and other state leaders that MCAS must remain a requirement for students to obtain a meaningful high-school diploma that will open doors for them throughout their lives.

MCAS has proven to be a reliable indicator of a student’s college and career readiness. Brown University research suggests that “high school MCAS scores predict long-term success and appear to reflect students’ academic skills.” The exam has helped to make Massachusetts public schools the envy of the nation – the state has led the nation for decades in performance measured by the National Assessment of Education Performance, commonly known as the nation’s report card.

MCAS is also an instrument of equity. Requiring students to meet a state standard to graduate from high school ensures that all districts are setting a minimum academic standard. Eliminating the MCAS graduation requirement would leave Massachusetts without a common, objective measure of achievement that all students, across all communities, are expected to meet. In its place would be more than 300 local graduation standards.

Protect Our Kids’ Future: No on Question 2 launched its campaign with two ads, one featuring a public school teacher and the other featuring a parent of public school children. The media campaign begins with a six-figure ad buy on digital platforms.

James and Jill, who are featured in the first ads, represent the real concerns that teachers and parents have about removing this key education standard and lowering expectations for kids across Massachusetts.

“I’ve never met a parent who came to me and said, “Can you do less for my daughter?,’” says James, Public School Teacher.

“It’s not fair to our kids and it jeopardizes their futures,” says Jill, Public School Parent.

Protect Our Kids’ Future: Vote No on 2 has also launched a website at votenoquestion2.org and accounts on Instagram, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter).

The campaign will be holding a virtual campaign briefing at noon on Wednesday. Joining the briefing will be No on 2 Finance Co-Chair Bob Rivers (Chair & CEO of Eastern Bank), No on 2 Executive Committee Members Keri Rodrigues (Co-Founder National Parents Union), and Will Austin (CEO of Boston Schools Fund), and senior campaign leadership.