A MESSAGE FROM THE NYS EDUCATION DEPT

Over the past week, we’ve seen a wide range of reactions and opinions about NYSED’s NY Inspires initiative.
That kind of discussion is both expected and valuable when considering a transformation of this scale. At the
same time, it is important that the conversation is grounded in an accurate understanding of the policy, the
process that led to it, and what New York is actually proposing.
First, neither Governor Kathy Hochul nor the legislature is directing this process. New York’s education system is
deliberately structured differently from most states. The Board of Regents is responsible for setting statewide
education policy, and it is the Board that authorized the State Education Department to move forward with the
next phase of NY Inspires. Attempts to attribute this work and decisions connected to the implementation of
the Portrait of a Graduate/NY Inspires to the Governor or the Speaker misunderstand and misrepresent both
how this work is developed and how education policy is established in New York.
This work began in 2019, when the Board of Regents and State Education Department launched the Graduation
Measures Initiative and began a comprehensive review of what a New York high school diploma should signify.
That process included extensive public engagement and ultimately the creation of a diverse Blue Ribbon
Commission on Graduation Measures. After years of research, regional meetings, stakeholder discussions, and
public presentations, the Commission presented 12 recommendations to the Board of Regents, including
moving to one diploma and reducing or modifying diploma assessment requirements to provide students with
more ways to demonstrate what they know and can do. NY Inspires was subsequently developed as the
implementation plan for those recommendations. Throughout this process, the Department has repeatedly
presented its work publicly to the Board of Regents, posted materials and presentations, solicited stakeholder
feedback, and provided updates as the proposal evolved.
More importantly, any suggestion that New York is simply eliminating Regents requirements without replacing
them with meaningful measures of student achievement is wrong.
New York is not abandoning statewide assessment. Students will continue to participate in a statewide
assessment system spanning grades 3 through high school, and the State’s school accountability system will
remain firmly in place. These measures will continue to provide comparable information about student
achievement and will remain essential tools for identifying where students and schools are succeeding, where
challenges remain, and where additional support is needed.
Regents Exams are not disappearing, either. They will continue to be administered as rigorous statewide
assessments of New York’s learning standards. What is changing is their role in earning a diploma. Beginning
with students graduating in 2028, passing a prescribed set of Regents Exams will no longer serve as a separate
graduation hurdle.
Changing the role of Regents Exams does not mean eliminating assessment, transparency, standards, or
accountability. New York will continue to measure student achievement statewide. We will continue to publicly
report results. We will continue to identify schools and students that need additional support. And we will
continue to hold our education system accountable for whether students are learning.

As was described during last Monday's Board presentation, New York is developing a broader assessment
system that combines statewide measures with multiple sources of evidence of student learning, while
districts develop local assessment strategies and the State modernizes its high school accountability
assessments. The goal is not to measure less. It is to measure learning more meaningfully and use that
information more effectively.
There may be differing opinions about how New York should measure student achievement and what should
be required to earn a high school diploma. But criticism should begin with the facts. NY Inspires does not
eliminate standards. It does not eliminate Regents Exams. It does not eliminate statewide testing. And it does
not eliminate accountability. Telling New Yorkers otherwise may make for a provocative message, but it is not
an accurate one.
When critics argue against approaches that create real opportunity for students of color, English language
learners, and students with disabilities, they are not defending excellence; they are defending a status quo
that has excluded too many for too long.
As the New York State Education Department leads this transition, we are raising the bar not only for what
counts as achievement but also for how well we prepare young people for the future they will inherit. We refuse
to accept a system where opportunity is rationed. This is about ensuring that every graduate, regardless of zip
code, school, tuition or family income, leaves our schools prepared to contribute, compete, and thrive.