With all the brouhaha over Cathie Black and the Department of Education, it can be easy to forget that the DoE isn't the only education authority in New York, there is also the State Education Department (SED) which, among other things, has administered New York's Regents exams since 1865. And while that isn't likely to stop anytime soon, lots of things about the tests just might. Thanks to the yet another budget shortfall, school districts might actually have to pay for the standardized tests.
Earlier this year, faced with earlier budget cuts the Board of Regents cut many tests—including many foreign language exams, August math and science exams and social studies exams for fifth and eighth graders—but not nearly all of what they threatened to. Now a $15 million budget gap has prompted new ideas (outlined here) in case the state doesn't pony up the money.
Those suggestions include either cutting a number of exams not required for federal accountability (think Spanish, French, Italian, U.S. history and government) or charging districts a "chargeback" based on either the number of exams given, the cost of all regents exams or on a "census" method that "would calculate a per student amount by dividing the total cost of all Regents exams by the total number of students statewide, then charge districts based on their enrollment." In 2008-09 that would have meant $5.93 per student. Which isn't that much, sure, until you remember there are more than a million kids in New York City's schools alone. On the other hand, charging for the SATs certainly hasn't hurt the College Board...
