‘It used to be that when a kid decided to drop out of school after the 11th grade, he was called a loser, a dropout. But in Florida, there is a different term for it now: graduate.” So went the opening of a report from ABC Action News in Florida this August, and we couldn’t put it better ourselves in describing that state’s decision to make 12th grade optional. That’s right. The president’s brother, Governor Jeb Bush of Florida, has signed onto a program that may not leave children behind, but does ask them to get out of the way. The policy — of which Mr. Bush, who signed the bill into law, says, “It wasn’t my idea” — was put in place in service of a goal that might sound familiar to New Yorkers: smaller class sizes.

As ABC recounts, “Florida lawmakers thought optional 12th grade would be a great way to reduce class size. If 10,000 kids decide to graduate with 18 credits instead of 24, that frees up 400 classrooms.” The question, however, is what it does to education. Florida is the only state in the country with an optional 12th grade. Most educators would agree that children need the fourth year of high school to help them mature and prepare for college or the working world. And many Florida universities, not to mention virtually every college in the country, require four years of high school or its equivalent. It says something for the wisdom of Florida’s parents and students that few seem to be taking advantage of the offer.

But the political implications of such an idea coming to fruition on the president’s brother’s watch seem obvious. Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe was out just this weekend making fun of it all. In New York, Democrat Carl McCall gained traction on few issues in his failed gubernatorial bid, but his “Eight Is Not Enough” campaign was an exception. It was aimed at Governor Pataki’s position, taken of legal necessity, that the state is only required to provide children in public schools with an eighth-grade education. Failing our children, and failing to hold them to high standards, is not something the voters take lightly. Mr. Pataki is tempting the fates in presiding over a lowering of Regents standards for high-school graduation here in New York, and the president’s brother is now making a similar mistake in the Sunshine State.