Dan Panico: New York Is Lowering The Bar On Education

Regents exams have long served as a statewide academic benchmark for New York high school students. But beginning with the Class of 2028, students will no longer be required to pass Regents exams to graduate, part of a broader overhaul of state diploma requirements.

Critics argue eliminating the Regents requirement could weaken accountability, lower academic standards and diminish the value of a New York diploma.

The debate is now reaching Long Island, where many communities pride themselves on high-performing schools. In this special commentary, Brookhaven Town Supervisor Dan Panico weighs in on the Regents changes and his concerns about lowering the academic bar:

While other states and nations are working to raise educational standards and better prepare students to compete, New York seems determined to remind us that the participation-trophy mentality is alive and well.

Consider this statement from Board of Regents Chancellor Lester W. Young Jr.:

“Advancing this work moves us closer to a more equitable system, one that upholds high expectations for all while ensuring that a student’s zip code, background, or circumstance never determines their opportunities for success.”

No one should disagree with providing every child an opportunity to succeed. But equality of opportunity should never become an excuse for lowering standards, diminishing achievement or redefining success simply to produce more “equitable” outcomes.

Long Island taxpayers already shoulder an enormous property-tax burden, with school taxes often representing the overwhelming 70+% majority of that bill. They have every right to ask whether they are receiving value for that investment and, more importantly, whether Albany remains committed to educational excellence. At what point does our increasingly city-centric State government’s relentless pursuit of “equity” begin to come at the expense of already high-performing school districts on Long Island?

The answer to educational inequality should be to lift struggling schools and students up — not lower the bar for everyone else.

Excellence is not inequitable. Achievement is not something government should apologize for. New York should be raising expectations for every student, not redefining them downward until everyone can claim the same result.

Dan Panico is the Town of Brookhaven Supervisor