Matt Damon and Mike Bloomberg comment on the MCAS election question | News

In a sprint to the finish line, celebrities, elected officials and millions of dollars in new donations have flooded the hotly contested race for Ballot 2 over the past two weeks.

A “yes” vote on Question 2 would remove the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System as a requirement for high school graduation. The referendum is the most controversial of the five ballot proposals and has raised more than $18 million in donations from both sides, including $7 million in the last 11 days.

The race took a turn on Wednesday when Hollywood star Matt Damon — a Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School graduate and Harvard dropout — advocated a “yes” vote on Question 2 in a video posted on X.

“We need to trust our teachers, not a one-size-fits-all test,” Damon said in the video, adding that the graduation requirement “disproportionately affects low-income communities, students with disabilities, and people of color” — “people whose futures we don’t want to limit.” .”

Eight days earlier, Michael R. Bloomberg—former New York City mayor and Medford native—made a splash when he donated $2.5 million to the No campaign.

“Mike Bloomberg has been a vocal advocate for issues affecting children, such as reducing gun violence and improving education,” Dominic Slowey, a spokesman for the No on 2 campaign, wrote in an email.

Bloomberg's donation represents 48.5 percent of the total funds raised by the No on 2 campaign. According to reports from the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance, the event was accompanied by a number of donations from other business leaders.

James S. “Jim” Davis, chairman of New Balance, donated $250,000 to the campaign. State Street Corporation, John Connaughton, co-managing director of Bain Capital, and Ross Jones – a managing director at Berkshire Partners – each donated $100,000.

Damon's endorsement of a “yes” vote joins supporters from the Massachusetts congressional delegation, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) – who endorsed the question on Monday – and Rep. Ayanna S .Pressley (D-Mass.).

“Passing Question 2 is about promoting an education system that maintains high standards while recognizing the different ways students learn and succeed,” Markey wrote in a statement.

Markey and Damon's recommendations were posted directly to social media platforms as part of the Yes on Question 2 campaign.

The campaign is funded by the Committee for High Standards, Not High Stakes. Her only benefactor was the Massachusetts Teachers Association, which spent nearly $14 million on the campaign.

In Cambridge, Vice Mayor Marc C. McGovern and City Councilor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler are public supporters of the Yes campaign. McGovern and Sobrinho-Wheeler both voted in favor of Question 2 at an Oct. 7 City Council meeting, although the proposal ultimately failed 4-4-1.

“I believe it is time to replace the test with a fairer measure of a student’s competence by taking a comprehensive look at their schoolwork and giving teachers and districts more freedom to decide what is best for their students,” wrote Sobrinho-Wheeler in an email.

But other top state officials also oppose the measure, including Gov. Maura T. Healey '92, Attorney General Andrea J. Campbell and leaders in the state legislature. At an Oct. 22 panel discussion at the Graduate School of Education, Massachusetts Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler said he opposed the measure because it did not propose an alternative, which he said hurt student preparedness.

The No on 2 website lists Cambridge city councilors Paul F. Toner and Patricia M. “Patty” Nolan '80 as opponents of the measure, as well as former Cambridge School Committee member Manikka Bowman.

Toner, who previously served as president of the MTA and president of the Cambridge Education Association — the union representing CPS teachers — wrote in a statement to The Crimson that before the MCAS graduation requirement was introduced, schools were “allowing children to fail.”

“Many – mostly poor children of color – were allowed to float through grades and graduate unprepared for college or work,” Toner wrote.

While out-of-state advocates like Damon and Bloomberg try to tip the scales in different directions, the fate of the ballot question will still rest in the hands of Massachusetts voters when they go to the polls on Tuesday.

—Staff writer Darcy G Lin can be reached at [email protected].

– Staff Writer Emily T. Schwartz can be reached at [email protected].