Rant #2,043: Teacher, Teacher

On Monday, New York State's Board of Regents, in a unanimous vote, agreed to allow Special Education students who cannot possibly pass Regents exams to earn high school diplomas through an "alternative" route, one that relies on occupational assessments rather than test scores.

These students would no longer be subject to the unfair process for them to receive an actual high school diploma, which includes passing Regents exams in English and Math.

Many of these students cannot pass these tests for one reason or another, and have been denied a real, true diploma under the current rules. When they graduate, instead of diplomas, they receive something called the Career Development and Occupational Studies Commencement Credential (CDOS), which is basically a certificate--note, it is not a diploma--stating that they have passed whatever basic requirements exist for them to actually graduate high school.

This certificate--again, not a diploma--is problematic, as since it is not a diploma, it is completely misunderstood by potential employers looking to hire young adults with an actual high school diploma. it does not give these young adults access to civil service jobs, either, because it is not a formal educational diploma, placing it somewhere between a GED and having no formal credentials of high school graduation.

This new plan, which still has to go before the full Regents Board for full passage, will allow students to gain an actual high school diploma if they meet the new requirements, and they will be able to gain such a diploma as soon as January 2018 if the plan goes through, which it is expected to do.

What about students who have already graduated, those since the 2013-2014 school year who are out of school and need to get a real high school diploma in order to proceed with their after-school careers?

This is where it gets sticky, and this is where my interest in this change comes into play.

When this was announced, I called several New York State educational agencies, as well as my son's alma mater, to find out how he could get his actual high school diploma.

Back in 2013-2014, he was among the first students who could only gain a CDOS, as the regular high school diploma program had changed due to unfair Common Core rules and regulations.

Students were actually coached on how to react to potential employers questioning of why they did not have an actual diploma, but let me tell you, this tactic was like a store brand band aid trying to cover a gaping hole, as the tactic did not work.

My son could not get anything, and for six months, he tried, tried, and tried again, only to be thwarted because he did not have a real, actual high school diploma.

It is only because he was able to get into a program that helps people with mild disabilities like him to find work that he is gainfully employed today.

Back to the slippery slope that has now been created by this new ruling ... how do actual high school graduates who fall into this newly shaped donut hole get their actual high school diplomas now that the new rules are about to be set in place?

It appears that if former students are under 21, they will be able to reapply to their alma maters, and work it out on an individual basis whether they will be granted their high school diplomas unilaterally or will have to return to school to gain the credits needed to attain this diploma.

New York State rules allow for young adults as old as 21 years of age to actually be in the educational system, and many children with disabilities remain in the school system for an extra three years because, quite frankly, there is no other place for them to go.

But what about kids who are past the age of 21--my son is 22--and cannot legally go back into the school system to attain their degrees?

This is a problem that I brought up to those I spoke to, and it is a problem that was not realized and is still to be addressed.

One school administrator I spoke to from my son's old high school said that in certain cases, students in this true donut hole might simply be granted their high school diplomas unilaterally by school districts on a case by case basis, but that this was something that still had to be addressed by the Board of Regents and the school districts.

On a personal basis, when this situation went through a few years ago, myself and probably thousands of other parents were aghast over this decision that did not allow our children to gain full high school diplomas under this then-new law.

It was completely unfair, limited these kids even more in their career choices after high school, and pretty much ghettoized them, in an era of supposed inclusion.

I vowed that when this law was changed--and I knew that eventually it would be changed, because it was so blatantly unfair to these students--that I would be on the horn immediately once I found out that this ruling was out the door.

And I kept my promise to my son to do just that.

Once the full Board of Regents passes this new law, it will be open to public discussion for a period of time, and then the full law will be on the books, and hopefully, will include those from the 2013-2014 school year who are too old to go back to school to attain their high school diplomas, like my son.

What hurts me, personally, about his entire business is that with my son, at least, this situation didn't have to happen.

In our school district, my son's teachers urged me to hold him back a year in I believe sixth grade, because "it would be better for him educationally to take the year over." I hesitated greatly, but finally agreed, and I rue to this day that I did this.

Not only was it completely unnecessary--the urging had to do with the number of kids in his program, and the money a certain number of kids in the program would help the school get from Albany if they reached certain registration levels--but it kept him from graduating with his true class, the last class where high school diplomas were granted to all graduates.

So it was I who unwittingly put my son in this pickle, and I vowed that one day, I would reverse this whole mess, and I will do that, now that the plan is in motion to allow kids like him, now young adults, to get their full high school diplomas.

Look, we both graduated the same high school. I received my Regents diploma without a problem. My son, who probably worked harder than I ever did during his high school years, was saddled with a certificate.

No, that is not going to work, and it is simply not fair.

Now, if everything comes to the fore, he will be able to get his high school diploma--and we will have the real, true graduation party he should have had when he actually graduated, not a party for him obtaining a virtually worthless-in-the-real-world CDOS.

I cannot wait for that day to happen, and I know that it now isn't a dream, it is going to happen soon.