New Jersey joins the rush to make high school diplomas worthless

It’s not yet a done deal, but New Jersey progressives are well on the road to killing the core high-school graduation requirement, the exam known as the Graduation Proficiency Assessment.

The state Assembly quietly passed an “execution” bill late last year; the drive is on to get the Senate on board and muscle new Gov. Mikie Sherrill into going along with yet another policy far more radical than what she campaigned on.

As ever, the excuse is that the test is somehow biased against the poor and minorities, causes too much stress for the kids and blah-blah-blah.

The Garden State is already far down this path: Gov. Phil Murphy suspended the exam requirement for the classes of 2020 and 2021 after closing schools during the pandemic; the Legislature blocked it again in 2023 although the Senate so far hasn’t gone along with killing it completely.

Tossing such basic academic standards is a nationwide public-education trend: Over the past quarter century, the number of states with a HS exit-test requirement has dwindled from about 30 to 11.

Teachers unions hate anything that suggests the kids aren’t learning what they should, while progressives imagine that just handing out diplomas confers competence: It worked for the Scarecrow, right?

“When policymakers eliminate a uniform metric, they don’t eliminate inequity. They hide it,” warns Chris Cerf, a former Jersey education commissioner in an essay for pro-school-excellence site The 74.

In the name of racial justice, “reformers” are condemning future students to ignorance.

Sherrill could show some spine by rejecting this nonsense, and vetoing the measure when it comes to her desk.

If not, expect more Jersey families to head for the exits.