Fernanda Carrillo News Today

The group, called the ‘performance standards consortium,’ launched 25 years ago with a few schools. It now has 38 schools that get waivers to forgo Regents exams, except the English test.

"We're hoping to be able to roll out a program next year where we can pay these students the hourly wage that we would pay an actual para educator to be in that classroom."

After four years of being labeled a "priority improvement" school by the state's department of education, Mitchell High School is incentivizing graduating students with a promise for the future.