In phasing out the Regents exams requirement to earn a New York public high school diploma, the state Board of Regents and Education Department watered down standards while claiming they didn’t and came up with no alternative. Chancellor Lester Young and his fellow board members get an F on this one.

The ring leader here is Education Commissioner Betty Rosa, who was chancellor before Young, and who said: “For years, we looked at what elite private schools provide for their students, and they do not worry about the Regents exam.” Well, we don’t worry about college and career prospects for kids coming out of Dalton or Horace Mann, which have rigorous curriculums. And while everyone knows that Stuyvesant and Bronx Science and Brooklyn Tech diplomas actually mean something, how about all the other high schools in the city and elsewhere in the state?

Having to take and pass the tough Regents exams in subject matters........

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