New York’s race to the bottom in education continued apace Monday, as the Board of Regents scrapped the requirement that the state’s high schoolers actually learn something to graduate.

For 30 years, students needed to pass at least four Regents exams — in math, English, science and Global Studies — to earn a diploma. To be clear, this standard was the barest minimum. The governing board kept lowering the score needed to pass the tests, watering down the results. 

But it was something: A tangible requirement — a responsibility — that showed we as a state cared about accountability.

And that’s exactly the word that the Teachers Union hates. It meant parents and politicians would start to question why a whopping 15%-20% of students didn’t meet graduation requirements. Testing highlighted bad instructors and bad schools. As usual, COVID is partly to blame here. The Regents board “temporarily” lifted requirements during the pandemic, and graduation rates rose to 87% in 2022. When the Regents tests returned, the state rate fell to 85%. The city’s: 81%. It was the largest year over year percentage drop in 20 years.

This embarrassment could not stand. And so, under pressure from the unions and Democratic officials, gone are the tests. Beginning with the class of 2028, graduates need only show “critical thinking.” If that sounds vague, that’s because the Regents Board has set no standards yet. They never will. Our schools, already diploma factories that pass students who don’t even attend class, will give a worthless piece of paper to anyone who asks.

This is why families are fleeing to charter schools, to private schools, to home schooling, to schools out of state. Because New York public school officials don’t have the courage to demand achievement. They hold our children in contempt. 

It is the bigotry of low expectations.