Schools
Private Donors Save January Regents in 2012
Assemblyman Tom Abinanti said today he urges the state to restore funding for mid-year testing.
Every year thousands of New York high school students take Regents exams in January to accrue the credits they need to graduate.
On May 17 this year, the January Regents exams, due to budget cuts. And in June, the New York State Education Department made it official that that they would no long administer the January exams.
But this week, "five donors and Bloomberg Philanthropies, the [New York City] mayor’s private foundation, each donated $250,000 to cover the cost of administering the exams statewide in January 2012," Gotham Schools reports.
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Mayor Michael Bloomberg would not identify the other five donors but said they were not government officials, parents of young children or private companies.
New York State Assemblyman Tom Abinanti (D-92) said today he was appalled by the State's decision to cut funding for these mandatory tests.
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"Once again the State is trying to save its money at the expense of the students and school districts," he said. "Tax breaks to millionaires across the board shouldn’t have to leave a few civic minded millionaires to take over the State’s responsibilities. The generosity of Mayor Bloomberg and the five other anonymous donors...is to be commended."
According to Gotham Schools, about 150,000 Regents exams are taken each January in New York City alone. In Westchester, students take mid-year exams either to get ahead on credits or to improve upon poor scores from the previous year.
If the State decides not to put money back in the budget for mid-year Regents, it is unclear whether they will continue to be administered beyond next year.
"It is time for the State to put students’ interests first and restore funding for January Regents exams," Abinanti said.
Read the full story on GothamSchools.org here.
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