Most Blacks and Hispanics graduate with a local, not a Regents diploma

Tanangachi Mfuni:

Tens of thousands of Black and Hispanic students will likely graduate from city high schools this year ill-equipped for the future.

The Department of Education (DOE) has revealed that in years past, 90 percent of Black and Hispanic students have received diplomas without meeting state requirements.

Instead of receiving Regents diplomas, which require students to pass a number of state-administered exams, most Black and Hispanic students graduate with the lesser local diplomas, issued by the city, that minimally require them to pass their classes.

“Most people don’t know that there are, in essence, two different diplomas,” said Council Member Eva Moskowitz (D-Manhattan), who heads the Education Committee, which released a report last month disclosing the department’s figures.

The report states that in 2004, while only 10 percent of Black and Hispanic students graduated fulfilling the state’s requirements, more than three times that number, or over 35 percent of their white and Asian peers, graduated having met the standards, which ask students to pass an English, Science, Math, Global Studies and U.S. History Regents exam with a score of 55 or better.

The gap between white and Asian students and Black and Hispanic students receiving Regents diplomas—which have come to signify college and work preparedness—raises serious questions as to whether city schools are adequately preparing these students for life after graduation.

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