LI senator hopes for more Regents funding

A key Long Island lawmaker voiced hope Tuesday that the state will find an extra $2.2 million to restore makeup Regents exams that were canceled to save money.

"I'm hoping this will get a much longer look, now that other issues have been decided," said state Sen. John Flanagan (R-East Northport), chairman of the Senate Education Committee.

Flanagan added he hopes for restoration of all January Regents exams, as well as August Regents exams in trigonometry and chemistry.

Decisions by the state Education Department since spring 2010 to economize by canceling the tests have produced widespread protests from school administrators and others. Seventy Long Island high-school principals signed a letter earlier this month deploring cancellation of the January Regents tests and outlining the various ways students' education and future could be harmed as a result.

A restoration agreement could be reached among Albany political leaders within the next several weeks, Flanagan said.

Representatives of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and the state Assembly, which must agree to such an arrangement, had no immediate comment.