HARRISBURG— Pennsylvania is moving to impose a two-year delay on the use of exams as a high school graduation requirement, after a wave of criticism from educators and advocates for poorer communities that the requirement was unfair, unwieldy and unnecessary.

Gov. Tom Wolf has said he will sign the legislation, which unanimously passed the Senate on Wednesday. The bill already passed the House unanimously.

Under the bill, the requirement to show proficiency in algebra 1, biology and literature would take effect in the 2018-19 academic year, rather than next year. Supporters of the tests say the bill is designed to provide time for the state to develop a better backup option for students who fail the Keystone Exams. The exams are currently used to assess student learning, rather than as a requirement to graduate.

Many lawmakers would simply like to see the exams go away on grounds that they are fatally flawed. Those critics say the exams force educators to spend too much time preparing students for a test, rather than educating them, and give poorer schools that lack a library, computers or up-to-date textbooks an impossible task that will result in waves of failures and dropouts.

The Keystone Exams and their use as a graduation requirement won approval from the State Board of Education in 2013, after about six years of work on the policy. The exams were approved, despite heavy criticism at the time, along with tougher academic standards aligned with the national Common Core standards.