Massachusetts students will see all new graduation requirement standards next year following the passage of Question 2 in Tuesday’s election.

Question 2, championed by the Massachusetts Teachers Association, successfully threw out the MCAS standardized testing graduation requirement for high school students. Students will continue to take the test as a diagnostic tool, but graduation standards will be set by local school districts based on the completion of coursework.

Question 2 decisively passed 59% to 41%, with over 95% of precincts reporting Wednesday, according to the AP. The AP declared the question’s victory at 3:51 a.m. Wednesday.

Districts across the state must now determine what graduation requirements look like for the next year.

The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, led by a secretary who outspokenly opposed the question, began to lay out next steps Wednesday with a statement to local districts — their first open guidance on the question.

DESE stated the “earliest the law would take effect” in Dec. 5, 2024, and MCAS retests scheduled between Nov. 6 and Nov. 13 will go ahead. The department urged districts to “highly recommend” eligible students still take the retests.

However, DESE stated, students who do not pass the MCAS standard will be eligible to graduate based on the the local districts’ coursework standards “as of the date the new law takes effect.”

“The voters have spoken on this, and I think it was important was that DESE moved forward in getting out the appropriate guidance right now, in terms of implementation,” said Gov. Maura Healey Wednesday when asked if she would support efforts to undo the ballot question.

Healey was also an ardent opponent of the Question 2 campaign.

More detailed guidance on certification will be “forthcoming,” DESE said, but the department laid out in loose terms how the “competency determination” — or graduation standard — has changed.

“Since 2003, the (competency determination) has been based on achieving qualifying scores on relevant MCAS tests,” DESE wrote. “When the new law takes effect, the CD will be based on ‘satisfactorily completing coursework that has been certified by the student’s district’ as written in the ballot question.”

MTA leadership celebrated their win Wednesday, saying “Massachusetts voters have proclaimed that they are ready to let teachers teach, and students learn, without the onerous effects of a high-stakes standardized test undermining the mission of public education: to prepare all students for future success as citizens, workers and creative, happy adults.”

MTA President Max Page and VP Deb McCarthy said Wednesday they are open to discussing making MassCore — state curriculum framework currently recommended but not mandated —  “available” to students across the state.

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Opponents of the question also emphasized the importance of looking into statewide graduation standards under the new law, but kept an eye on undoing the ballot measure.

“Eliminating the graduation requirement without a replacement is reckless,” said John Schneider, Chair of the Vote No on 2 campaign. “The passage of Question 2 opens the door to greater inequity; our coalition intends to ensure that door does not stay open.”

The Pioneer Institute, EdTrust and Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education also came out with statements against the election result, expressing concern about student performance declining and the need for a common statewide standard.

The AFT Massachusetts union joined the MTA in praising the passage, calling it an “important step toward addressing the systemic opportunity gaps” exacerbated by reliance on the test.

“We are committed to defend our win,” McCarthy said to a crowd at the MTA watch party Tuesday night. “We are not going to let anybody take it away from us, right? The people have spoken.”