New York City may be home to an estimated 800 languages but when it comes to the New York State Regents exams, the only one that counts is English. Next week New York students will take Regents exams in Spanish, French and Italian for the last time. Why? The better to save $700,000, of course. Thank goodness the city is getting ready to replace the tests with new ones to better grade teachers! more ›

Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg signed Executive Order 120, which requires all city services to offer their services in Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Korean, Italian and French Creole--the top languages spoke in the city aside from English. The agencies and services must hire coordinators to developer a "Language Access policy" and provide interpretation services and translations of essential public documents. Mayor Bloomberg told reporters yesterday, noting 25% of residents do not speak English as their primary language, "No other place on earth can claim such incredible diversity. It is New York City's greatest historic strength. " more ›