CHICOPEE, Mass. — The MCAS Test will remain a part of the Massachusetts education curriculum moving forward, but it will no longer be a state requirement for students to pass to graduate high school.

"The difference is that now like the vast majority of states in the nation that test will be diagnostic," said Massachusetts Teachers Association President Max Page. "It will be useful to gather trends to see in general where kids are going using this type of assessment, but it will not have a high stakes impact."

Page said their union, which is made up of 117,000 public school and college educators, has believed for years the standardized test was a detriment to students’ success and would lead to dropouts and disruptions of the school curriculum. 

Spectrum News spoke with a Chicopee Comprehensive High School parent who voted YES on Question 2 and says it's a big relief for his children.

"My daughter is a varsity cheerleader and between cheer and all the academic stuff she has," said Chicopee Comprehensive High School Parent Ryan Padden. "And trying to keep up and looking at colleges and things like its just too much pressure for her."

Page said tests can also be a detriment to students who may not be great test takers as well as those who may have learning disabilities.

He said the state academic standards apply to all school districts in the Commonwealth and believes eliminating the MCAS as a requirement will also help teachers better support student needs.

"And by focusing away from the MCAS as this high-stake test," Page said. "We will lift up, in fact that's right on the ballot issue, we will lift up the high stakes state standards that our educators teach too. They develop their curriculum around. Textbook companies develop their textbook around our state standards. They're the highest in the country and we are proud of them."

Page said the new MCAS policy will go into effect starting with this academic year.

Opponents said the test was critical for measuring success in the classroom.