State Considers Dropping Some Regents Exams

The State Department of Education will meet today to discuss the future of the New York State Regents Exams. The state's $8 billion budget deficit has led education officials to contemplate eliminating 13 of the 17 tests to save money.

The eliminated exams could include tests for math, social studies, geography and foreign languages. Eliminating the translation of exams to other languages, excluding Spanish, and only offering the exams in June are other ideas being considered. Officials say the cuts could save more than $13 million.

The State Education Board says eliminating tests is a worst case scenario. Currently, all New York State high school students are required to take the exam to complete their diploma.