After all, if you are going to waive a requirement for all those who do not meet it, how can you keep a straight face by labeling it a requirement?

Many Maryland high school seniors at risk of not graduating may be able to earn diplomas through a waiver of the state's new exit-exam requirements under a policy approved yesterday. The waiver process, approved unanimously by the Maryland State Board of Education, provides another path to a diploma for some of the 4,000 seniors who have not passed or not taken one or more of the High School Assessments, a set of four exams in algebra, English, biology and government.

The estimate of 4,000 at-risk seniors is sharply reduced from an earlier statewide estimate of 9,000 because, state officials said, thousands of students have met graduation standards in recent months.

State Superintendent of Schools Nancy S. Grasmick said the waiver was likely to affect "a small cohort" of students who have not completed courses or remedial work. Many of those affected would be students learning English as a second language or others in special education programs, she said.

"It's very hard to predict. The determination literally has to be made at the school level," Grasmick said. "I could say several hundred, and I'd probably be somewhat safe."

In other words, the state of Maryland has said you must pass a test to graduate, and if you can’t there are other options – unless you can’t fulfill any of them, in which case you don’t have to bother with any of it at all. All I can say in response is that instead of raising the value of a Maryland diploma, they have managed to lower it.