“The voters have spoken on this issue and I think what is important now is that the DESE moves forward and provides the appropriate guidance now in terms of implementation,” she said. declared Wednesday. post-election briefing.

Since 2003, passing the 10th grade MCAS has been a uniform statewide graduation requirement. But Massachusetts is one of a declining number of states — about eight in total — that maintain a standardized exit exam. About 700 students each year, or about 1 percent of eligible seniors, did not pass the exam to earn a diploma – mostly those who were just learning English, from low-income backgrounds or with learning disabilities. ‘learning.

With that requirement gone, education advocates are urging public education officials to come up with a new high school graduation standard that keeps the bar high for students.

“A high school diploma must be meaningful in every community, and the students who earn it must be truly ready for the future,” Ed Lambert, executive director of the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education, said in a statement.

Will Austin, CEO of the nonprofit Boston Schools Fund, who also opposed Question 2, said a “starting point” for any new requirements would be “some assurance that children have access to the same program and the same courses”.

With more than 300 school districts in Massachusetts, some advocates and education officials have expressed concern about an explosion of varying course standards in districts that have better resources or staffing than others.

But teachers who favored eliminating the high school exit exam said decoupling the MCAS from graduation requirements would put the emphasis back on classroom learning.

Kyle Gekopi, a social studies teacher at Wellesley High School and co-president of the Wellesley Educators Association, said he believes the result is a “huge victory for equity.”

“This is a big step forward for the individuals in our class, for our profession and for encouraging students to pursue their dreams and passions,” he said. “MCAS is so restrictive for our students who are looking for different paths to success, and I would like to see us refocus our curriculum and our work on things that really matter.”

“Our students are worth more than twenty,” Gekopi added.

It was a costly victory for the state’s largest teachers union. The MTA made $15 million in in-kind contributions to its “Yes on 2” campaign, triple the amount spent by the opposing party to maintain the status quo.

Business leaders, including deep-pocketed donors like billionaire Mike Bloomberg, contributed generously to the “No to 2” campaign in recent days. But the latest donations ultimately did not bear fruit.

MTA leaders said they look forward to returning the emphasis to curricular learning in the classroom.

“The key to our success is exceptional educators and the resources (given to them and their schools), as well as the state’s high standards,” Page said. “And those we have and will continue to have.”