The Louisiana House Education Committee held a rare oversight hearing today to consider a rule change championed by education swamp leaders to give graduation diplomas to high school students—even if they failed the required graduation exit exam. After nearly five hours of public testimony from outraged state leaders, parents, teachers, and policy experts, the committee voted 8-3 to overturn it.

Thousands of Louisiana seniors graduated high school this summer. They did so by staying in school and working hard to meet a modest set of graduation standards that have been in place for at least 30 years. Now BESE is considering action that will eviscerate the state’s existing graduation requirements and make those diplomas far less valuable.