Matt Damon endorses Question 2 to toss MCAS graduation requirement

Matt Damon chimed in on a highly-debated Massachusetts ballot question Wednesday, urging voters to toss out the MCAS standardized testing graduation requirement.

“Number one, we need to trust our teachers not some one-size-fits-all test,” the Cambridge-born actor said in a video posted to X, formerly Twitter. “Our teachers use multiple forms of assessment to determine whether a student deserves a diploma or not. So let’s put the power back in their hands to make that determination.”

Question 2 would nix the MCAS standardized testing graduation requirement for Massachusetts high school students. If the question is passed, students would continue to take the test as an assessment tool, and graduation requirements would be left up to local districts.

The question has been championed by the Massachusetts Teachers Association, among other teachers unions and politicians including Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Gov. Maura Healey, Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler, the MassGOP, and some parent and business groups are among those opposing Question 2. Opponents have argued the question would leave the state with no unified graduation assessment and lower standards.

Cambridge Rindge & Latin School graduate (and actor) Matt Damon is YES on 2! pic.twitter.com/9MooGFAxtx

— Yes on Question 2 (@question2_ma) October 30, 2024

Damon also argued high-stakes testing “tends to narrow the curriculum and the focus so that teachers are teaching to the test” and compromise time spent teaching things like critical thinking and creativity.

“It disproportionately affects lower income communities,” said Damon. “Of the kids who are denied diplomas 85% are English learners, kids with disabilities, people of color, people whose futures we do not want to limit. So please vote yes on Question 2.”