BOSTON -- JUST 15 YEARS ago, Massachusetts public school student performance ranked in the middle of the pack in national comparisons. By 2005, the Commonwealth became the first state ever to place first in four categories on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the nation’s report card.

The transformation was triggered by the state’s 1993 Education Reform Act, which put in place tough standards and accountability in return for a large infusion of taxpayer money. Despite our success, standards and accountability are now under attack in Massachusetts.

In February, Governor Patrick’s budget proposal called for eliminating the Office of Educational Quality Assurance (EQA), the centerpiece of an accountability system that is a national model.

A recent State House hearing for a bill that would eliminate the MCAS exam as a high school graduation requirement turned into a pep rally for MCAS opponents. The very next day, Patrick appointed anti-MCAS crusader Ruth Kaplan to the state Board of Education.

We’ve all heard the criticisms of MCAS: it forces teachers to “teach to the test,” stifles creativity and has caused a spike in dropouts. Opponents argue for making individual student portfolio reviews part of the graduation requirement.

But the time and training needed to put an effective portfolio regime in place would cost hundreds of millions of dollars; resources that could be better spent elsewhere in our K-12 system. Individual portfolios used to be a cornerstone of Vermont’s student assessment program, but the state found it cumbersome, ineffective and dropped it.

MCAS is an appropriate balance between portfolio assessment and standardized tests. Close to half of a student’s score on English and math is based on essays or short written answers that measure real reading, writing and problem solving skills, not rote memorization.

The passing score of 220 on a 200-280 scale requires students to answer just 40-50 percent of questions correctly. Students who can’t do so are not ready for college or employment.

Opponents also blame MCAS for subjects like music and art being dropped in too many schools. But tight budgets — not MCAS — are responsible for those subjects’ being eliminated.

As for increasing the dropout rate, there is no limit on the number of times students can take MCAS, and more than half the Massachusetts students who drop out have already passed it.

In fact, MCAS has been a blessing for students who need additional support.

The Commonwealth has invested $150 million in extra help for students whose lack of basic skills was identified by the test.

Massachusetts is retreating from its own success even as an increasing number of states are adopting the model pioneered here. Florida and New York, among others, use financial incentives to hold schools accountable for achieving high standards.

Our curriculum frameworks are extolled by educators across the country for their content and alignment with MCAS. Ironically, the latest praise for the exam came the same day Patrick appointed Kaplan to the Board. A federal Department of Education study hailed Massachusetts’ testing system and the standards it uses to measure proficiency.

EQA, which has conducted more than 175 comprehensive reviews of Massachusetts school districts since 2002, is the heart of an accountability system that complements the testing regime. It has been praised by Education Week, and even cited approvingly in Judge Margot Botsford’s 2005 opinion in the landmark Hancock school finance case. Yet it too is under fire from the administration and its allies in the education establishment.

Sadly, some Massachusetts leaders seem hell-bent on snatching “defeat from the jaws of victory,” as education-reform architect and former Senate President Tom Birmingham said in an interview after the anti-MCAS hearing.

That defeat would victimize both our children and the state economy.

Massachusetts is neither an easy nor a low-cost place to do business. Our competitiveness is uniquely dependent on the skills advantage created by a highly educated workforce.

The Commonwealth has poured $40 billion in new money into K-12 public education since the passage of education reform. For the most part, return on investment has been high. Sadly, recent actions by Governor Patrick and legislative opponents of standards and accountability demonstrate a disturbing willingness to give back the gains that investment has yielded.

Charles D. Chieppo is a senior fellow and Jim Stergios is executive director at the Pioneer Institute, a nonpartisan Massachusetts public-policy think tank.