The Issue: The New York State Education Department’s proposal to make Regents exams optional.
Are the people at the State Education Department dumber than stone (“Regents push to make a NY high school diploma worthless,” Editorial, Nov. 14)?
The fact that they want to do away with the Regents exams is shameful.
We have already lowered graduation requirements, and now we don’t want any.
These so-called educators are really terminators, killing the minds of the youth rather than nurturing them.
Dan Ricciardi
Brooklyn
When I graduated from New Utrecht HS in 1969, there was a long-standing diploma system in New York City high schools.
Students bound for college received diplomas requiring numerous Regents exam courses.
Diplomas met the different aspirations and abilities of graduating students.
Now, however, we live in a woke era where academic achievement is looked upon with suspicion.
The response of the state Board of Regents is not to recognize the various levels of aptitude or raise academic standards, but rather to institute a leveling process where all students receive the same type of diploma regardless of achievement.
This “everyone’s a winner” diploma will come to be viewed as worthless among many colleges and prospective employers.
Dennis Middlebrooks
Brooklyn
The new report on graduation measures is an effort to balance excellence and equity.
While public schools have made progress on equity over the last 30 years, the current social cry is that we still have work to do.
Ultimately, the exams’ importance is inflated. The Blue Ribbon panel is seeking greater equity by measuring a student’s body of work, and not just a score on exams.
Richard Jones
Albany
When I graduated from Thomas Jefferson HS in Brooklyn, the Regents exams were a serious benchmark in college admissions.
A high grade might mean advanced placement in college.
Today, the old Regents standards barely exist.
The process of dumbing down all grades to make “passing” easier fools no one.
Better to push home schooling and to destroy the real ill-doer: the teacher’s union.
Rich Klitzberg
Boca Raton, Fla.
The Issue: Mayor Adams’ plan to recruit parents to volunteer to keep schools safe.
The mayor, in his infinite wisdom, wants to enlist volunteer parents to keep schools safe (“Mayor Adams says parents might have to volunteer after new school safety agents are cut,” Nov. 14).
The mayor caused this crisis in security, and this is the best idea he came up with?
Volunteer parents likely do not have training to de-escalate violent situations.
The lawsuits that will arise out of this decision will offset any savings.
Dan Gardner
Staten Island
Mayor Adams wants parents to volunteer as safety agents, yet budget cuts did not prevent him from spending thousands of dollars on international travel.
Thousands more could be saved by eliminating the security detail for City Council members.
Take away their SUVs and give them MetroCards. Let them ride the subways.
Mike Lapinga
Staten Island
It seems like every day, Adams proposes another dumb idea.
His latest is for parents to volunteer as security officers in public schools.
Why would any parent want to do this dangerous work for free?
It’s obvious that Adams has become desperate.
The budget problems only show that Adams had no plan when he declared New York a sanctuary city.
New York is on the brink of collapse because of his misguided generosity.
Nicholas Maffei
Yonkers
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