The New York State Board of Regents voted to approve two sets of strategies to
achieve cost reductions in the state assessment program at its full Board
meeting in Albany today.
Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch said, "These were tough decisions made in light
of the State’s difficult financial situation. Foremost in our
consideration was the concern we heard from stakeholders across the State that
the cuts to the assessment program made to achieve savings should not have an
impact on high school graduation."
Education Commissioner David Steiner said, "While none of us wants to see these
cuts made, the Board of Regents today approved responsible and appropriate
measures -- measures that will permit the core elements of our testing program
to continue, while we increase the rigor of those remaining exams. The Regents
and I are committed to giving tests that are better aligned to national
standards and that measure the skills and knowledge necessary for success in
school, college and the workplace."
Senior Deputy Commissioner for P-12 Education, John King, said, "The Regents
decision today was necessary in order to allow school districts the time
necessary to plan and prepare for these assessment changes in the coming
academic year."
In their meeting today the full Board voted to approve two strategies for cost
reductions contingent upon enactment of the State budget:
- If the State budget includes the $7 million that the Regents have requested for
the assessment program, the Board approved a cost reduction of $4.25 million to
be achieved through reduced reliance on educational specialists in developing
tests ($1.25 million), discontinuance of paper-based scoring materials for
examinations ($.60 million), elimination of component retesting for high school
Math and English exams ($1.6 million), and elimination of 5th and 8th grade
Social Studies examinations ($.80 million).
- If the State budget does not include the $7 million that the Regents have
requested, or a final State Budget is not in place by August 1, 2010, the Board
approved additional reductions of $6.1 million to further offset the deficit.
These reductions would be achieved by eliminating Grade 8 second language
proficiency exams ($2.0 million), eliminating August administration of Algebra
II/Trigonometry and Chemistry high school Regents exams ($.8 million),
eliminating all high school Foreign Language exams except for Spanish and
French($1.2 million), an immediate end to translation of state assessments into
Chinese, Haitian-Creole, Korean, and Russian while continuing translation into
Spanish ($.75 million), and eliminating January high school Regents exams ($1.4
million).
The reductions approved by the Board today are contingent upon final allocations
made in the enacted State budget. Should additional funds be included in
the P-12 budget the reductions listed last in the priority order above would be
the first to be restored.
Background on these decisions:
The State Education Department’s expense to operate the assessment program
continues to rise in light of the State’s fiscal crisis as a result of several
factors including: inflation, the addition of examinations, increased cost of
testing vendor contracts, and the need for more test security. Based on
the Executive Budget, SED projects a deficit of approximately $11.5 million in
available funding in 2010-11 for P-12 programs, including the assessment
program. The Regents have requested $7 million in additional State funds for the
assessment program from the Legislature. The State Education Department has
limited ability to address the P-12 deficit by redirecting federal or state
funds dedicated to specific purposes by title or statute. SED will explore
further internal cost reduction strategies to eliminate the remaining deficit of
$1.1 million in the P-12 budget.
Full details of the cost reduction strategies the Board of Regents approved are
on the web:
http://www.regents.nysed.gov/meetings/2010Meetings/June2010/0610emsca5.htm