No I don’t think Regents are necessary. Teachers tend to teach for the regent rather than teach the subject matter for the sake of the subject matter. It causes too much tension and pressure on the kids since they are also taking final exams on other subjects. I would much prefer a “credit system” in each school to make sure that the child learns the necessary basics.
Every student should have to pass the course and final exam in order to get the credit for the course. No child should be advanced to the next level if they didn’t master the previous level. So if they don’t get credit for the course they would have to repeat the course (not the grade) or do work on their own to pass the school exam for the course and credit.
If kids knew that they would not advance without the current class credit or they would have to go to summer school, work on their own, etc in order to get the course credit before getting a diploma, they would take their classes more seriously. That would mean for instance, that if a sophomore didn’t pass math, when he/she is in the junior year, they would be in soph math and maybe even junior math instead of an elective. In this way the onus of responsibility is on the child. If they don’t take it seriously now they will next term or next semester when they have to make it up. If they are graduating and need another science or math credit, they would have to retake the course or make-up the work before getting their H.S. diploma. But that would be up to the teacher/principal to work through.
In addition, the regents don’t necessarily ask questions on the material every teacher has covered. Internal testing and credit systems would be more reasonable because it would address the covered materials.
Currently you can get a non-regents diploma, so what exactly is the point?