Why impose a level of academic achievement that will keep out many talented students and decrease the diversity of the student population if the school has an historic graduation rate of 96%? The goal of our petition is to urge the Dept. of Education to re-evaluate the current admission criteria so that they confirm to the standards provided by in the Hecht Calandra Act* and give ALL talented children the opportunities they deserve. We are not advocating for a decrease in academic rigor. Our goal is to make sure there is a fair and balanced approach to admissions. According to the “High School Academic Policy Guide,” (updated April 2015) "satisfactory" is defined as a grade of between 73 and 78. However, the principal has defined “satisfactory” as a minimum grade of 80 in EACH of the core academic subjects. This is a discriminatory practice that will eliminate talented students who did not have the privilege of going to high-performing schools or could not afford supplemental help. It puts the most disadvantaged students at an even greater disadvantage. LaGuardia has always had a high graduation rate, even with more flexible academic requirements*. There is no need for such a restrictive policy. Please continue to post and tweet others to sign the petition. We have also set up a Facebook page (LAGUARDIA HIGH) and will be posting more information shortly. If you like our page, you'll receive this information as its posted. *According to Hecht Calandra: “Candidates for admission to the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and the Arts and other schools which may be established with similar programs in the arts, shall be required to pass competitive examinations in music and/or the arts in addition to presenting evidence of satisfactory achievement.” ** The 4-year graduation rates for LaGuardia between 2005 and 2015 averaged 96.2% (compared with 58% for all schools).