The count on Question 2 to nix the MCAS standardized testing graduation requirement ran late into Tuesday night, though the exam’s opponents kept a lead through initial results.
As of 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, voters favored overturning the MCAS exam requirement 58.6% to 41.4%, with 50% of precincts reporting, according to the Associated Press.
Question 2, championed primarily by the Massachusetts Teachers Association, would get rid of the 10th grade MCAS standardized testing graduation requirement for students in the state. Under the question’s language, students would continue to take the test as a diagnostic tool, but graduation requirement standards would be left up to local school districts.
Around 9 p.m., MTA president Max Page said they feel “encouraged by” and “hopeful” about early results.
“The public has responded,” Page said. “We believe they’re going to respond positively. They responded by saying, ‘I trust our educators. I trust our parents.’”
The MCAS testing requirement was originally put in place following the Education Report Act of 1993, broadly overhauling state education standards and funding.
The question was opposed by officials including Gov. Maura Healey, Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler, the MassGOP and advocates with the Protect Our Kids’ Future: Vote No On 2 campaign, who have argued the initiative leaves the state with no unified graduation assessment and lowers standards.
The Vote No On 2 campaign did not respond with a statement by 11:30 p.m. Tuesday night.
Along with teachers unions, the question has been championed by an array of politicians, public figures and organizations including Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey; Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Lori Trahan, Bill Keating and Jim McGovern; Matt Damon; the AFL-CIO; and state Auditor Diana DiZoglio.
At the MTA election night watch party at the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel, the room full of educators and other advocates was upbeat throughout the night. Going forward, teachers said they envision bending away from “testing culture” and to more diverse curricula.
Page said this has “been a long time coming, noting the union pushed bills against the exam requirement in the state Legislature over the last decade that never came to a vote.
“So we finally said, ‘You know what, we’re pretty sure the general public is with us,’” Page said. “So let’s do this other pathway that’s available to us, which is a ballot initiative.”