March 8, 2010 by JOHN HILDEBRAND / john.hildebrand@newsday.com
ALBANY - In the face of teachers' shocked reaction to suggestions that Regents exams might be eliminated, the head of the state Board of Regents insisted Monday there was no intent to scrap an historic testing system still used to enforce minimum academic standards for hundreds of thousands of students.
"I can't see the state at this juncture backing away from a testing system like the Regents that has been a factor in the state's success," said Merryl Tisch of Manhattan, chairman of the state Board of Regents.
Tisch spoke to a reporter following a standing-room-only Regents meeting, where the exams' fate was a prime topic of discussion. Her comment echoed remarks made publicly earlier in the session.
Still, neither Regents nor their appointees in the State Education Department issued any assurances Monday that all of the state's 16 high school exams would survive the state's latest round of budget cuts. To the contrary, several officials continued to hint that some exams might indeed be eliminated if the department does not obtain more money from state or federal sources.
Eliminating the exams and their accompanying curriculum guides - considered by many a political long shot - would change the shape of high school courses and almost certainly lower high-school graduation requirements.
Cutting 13 exams, if enacted, could save $13.7 million in the state's $40-million testing program.
Teachers and others say the changes would gut the state's 145-year-old Regents exam program - for example, by eliminating two of three math exams, three of four science exams, and exams in both American history and global history.
College-level Advanced Placement exams are gaining increased importance in most Island high schools. Still, Regents exams are used to determine whether high school graduates meet basic requirements.
State education officials say they are seeking new sources of cash to avoid cuts, but that dwindling state financial support may leave them no choice. According to the State Budget Division, money provided by the general fund to the Education Department has dropped from $61 million last year to about $50 million this year. Gov. David Paterson has proposed a further cut to about $43 million next year.
