We’ve had doubts about the state Board of Regents’ rewrite of New York’s high school graduation standards for years.

But the more we hear, the less impressed we are – and the more doubts we have that the standards will result in the graduation of high school seniors who are ready for either college or a career.

Let’s start with the state’s plan to adopt the New York State Portrait of a Graduate, an outline of the skills students must demonstrate to graduate. Skills include showing an ability to be a critical thinker, be an innovative problem solver, be literate across all content areas, be culturally competent, meet a social-emotional component, show an ability to be an effective communicator, and be able to be a global citizen. The portrait is long on buzzwords that give many parents headaches but short on the actual skills students must demonstrate to earn a diploma.

There will be more options for students to show they meet the state’s portion of a graduate, but if local school districts don’t create rigorous alternative pathways for students, what has the state done besides water down the value of its diploma? One of the problems, even with the either revered or reviled Regents exams, depending on which side of the debate you agree with, is that the difficult Regents tests have turned out too many students that can’t succeed in even menial jobs, much less the rigors of college.

We can actually understand wanting to augment the Regents exams. We understand that not all high school students are going to college, so creating more ways to get a diploma that show the student’s ability to earn a living with a high school diploma makes sense. But it’s hard to see how the state’s new graduation standards are better than what we’ve used because the alternative measures are so nebulous and undefined.

In our view, we’re not sure much is going to change.A lot of high school graduates seem poised to enter the workforce unprepared for the world that awaits them. Life is hard for many of us – but the state Board of Regents is about to make the preparation for life easier.