To NYC Board of Education
To NYC Board of Education: I have just graduated from the International High School in Queens, New York City last year, and recently have become a freshman at Lafayette College. About three years ago the New York City Board of Education (BOE) established a policy which stated all high schools in New York City that receive money from the federal government are required to give Regent exams to their students. This act is not fair to many students in New York City high schools, especially the charter schools. The International High School is considered as a charter school, although it receives money from the federal government. The educational system is different from the regular public high schools. On account of the students in this high school are not native born. The classes are focused more on how to develop students’ skills to read and write in English, and to teach them how to do experiments and research. They also do not have very strong backgrounds in history, or in the different fields of science, reason being, this was not the focus of the school.