Complaints about the consequences of high-stakes testing have provoked efforts that could lower standards for public school students. That would be a step backward.

Many school districts are struggling to get the majority of their students up to standards. African-American and Hispanic students in particular are underachievers. Some legislators and Gov. Minner are considering changes to the tests and the three-tiered high school diploma system too.

The governor wants outside arbiters to gauge the value of the untried diploma system. There is public consternation over the likelihood that many students judged to have done well in classes might only qualify for the lowest level "basic" diploma because of poor test scores.

We think one uniform diploma should be given to all who meet the standards for high school graduation. We also think it is a bad idea to bend academic standards when teachers' grade inflation makes some students appear to have learned subjects when they have not.

There may be some anomalies that need to be wrung out of the standards system. However, improvements should be made with an eye to academic quality, not appeasing parents, students or educators.

Nobody should expect an instant remedy to the education gap between minority students and their white peers. Closing that gap will be strenuous and painful. The work should not be abandoned because it seems politically incorrect.

Nevertheless, there is legitimate concern about what happens to students caught in the middle, unlikely to achieve standards soon enough in this early wave of classroom reform. That raises the question about whether there should be alternative ways to acknowledge their efforts.

Schools should strive to raise all children's academic achievement. Standards should not be watered down for the sake of making that easier.