Unionized teachers made one of their final pushes Saturday to convince Massachusetts voters to remove the MCAS graduation requirement for high schoolers, arguing only three days before Election Day that the test harms both students and educators.

At a get-out-the-vote rally just outside the headquarters of the Massachusetts Teachers Association in Quincy, the organization’s president, Max Page, said teachers are trying to “reclaim the classroom” and get back to “authentic learning” through a ballot question that nixes the testing requirement for tenth graders.

“That is what has made our public education system so great, supporting our educators, supporting our schools, letting teachers teach, letting students learn,” he said as he went on to slam a group opposing the question that has drawn funding from New York billionaire Michael Bloomberg.

The proposed law, which is primarily backed by the Massachusetts Teachers Association, would eliminate the requirement that students pass the MCAS to receive their high school diploma, according to a summary prepared by Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s Office.

Instead of the test, students would need to complete coursework certified by their district as demonstrating mastery in mathematics, science and technology, English, and any other areas determined by the state Board of Elementary and Education.

The rally in Quincy came as more than one-third of registered voters in Massachusetts had already cast their ballot either by mail or in-person at an early voting location, according to data released Friday by Secretary of State William Galvin’s Office.

Sen. Jason Lewis, a Winchester Democrat who co-chairs the Legislature’s Education Committee, said if the ballot question passes, he believes a broader discussion will take place to determine the best ways to assess schools and how the state holds them accountable.

“That system is also broken. That system needs to be reformed,” he told the crowd of union members in Quincy. “We need a system for our students, for our teachers, and our schools that treats them with the respect they deserve and that is fair and equitable to all of our students, all of our educators across the commonwealth.”

Opponents of the question have argued that removing the MCAS graduation requirement eliminates the only “fair, uniform, statewide assessments” for students in Massachusetts and instead allows every school district to devise its own graduation rules.

“That would result in more than 300-plus different standards for graduation, leading to unequal assessments of student readiness for college and careers and wider inequities in student achievement and opportunities,” the Protect Our Kids’ Future: Vote No on 2 campaign has argued.

The group has raised more than $5 million this year, including $2.5 million from Bloomberg, according to state campaign finance records.

State Auditor Diana DiZolgio, who has endorsed the effort to remove the testing requirement, said she came from a family that saw “significant domestic abuse” and was considered a homeless student by Methuen High School.

During her sophomore year, DiZoglio said she bounced around between family members. It was the same year that school officials started telling students “that if you didn’t pass this one test, everything you’ve done up to this point was going to be thrown out the window,” she told the crowd in Quincy.

“I remember having so much anxiety about that at that time that I seriously thought about dropping out of high school like my parents did,” she said. “I got a lot of test-taking anxiety because there was a lot of pressure, and it was too much pressure to have that pressure, and the pressure of making sure that all of the family circumstances were being dealt with at home.”

But opponents of the question argue a single, state-wide standard is important for Massachusetts to “maintain high education standards so our kids are the best prepared for college and career.”

“Diluting those standards means that many students will not have the skills they need in math, English, or science to succeed,” the Protect Our Kids’ Future: Vote No on 2 campaign said.

MTA Pres. Max Page speaks along with VP Deb McCarthy as supporters gather to rally for Question 2 on Nov. 2. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)