NYC donors pay for January Regents exams

Thousands of high school students on Long Island and across the state will get a chance, thanks to six private New York City donors, to take Regents exams in January that had been canceled.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Wednesday he and five other contributors had raised $1.5 million to restore the state's January administration of Regents exams and competency tests, which are diploma requirements. State school officials decided in May to cancel the January round of tests, citing lack of money.

The other donors wish to remain anonymous, the mayor said.

The decision to revive January testing was generally welcomed on the Island, where many school officials had feared that students might not graduate on time or earn Regents diplomas with advanced designation. About 300,000 students statewide take Regents tests in January; the largest administration of the tests is in June.

"It's fair to say that everybody is breathing a collective sigh of relief," said Lorna R. Lewis, superintendent of East Williston schools and curriculum co-chair for the New York State Council of School Superintendents.

Lewis and other local officials noted, however, that private donations will cover only the January round of tests, and that cash-strapped state officials face the challenge of funding winter testing in future years.

Restoration of the January option means less pressure for Katrina Gilberg, 18, a student at Bishop McGann-Mercy Diocesan High School in Riverhead. She has been working with a tutor this summer -- three times a week at $75 an hour -- to prepare for a Regents competency test in math on Aug. 18.

Gilberg had worried she might fail and disappoint her grandmother, who has been paying her tuition at the Catholic school. Without a January test, she would have had to wait until June for a final chance to pass.

"I have been crying every night," said a relieved Gilberg. "I feel like if I pass this test and get my diploma, I will be giving her a gift for paying for me to go to school all of these years."

Details of the January testing still must be settled. Tom Dunn, spokesman for the state Education Department, said Wednesday the $1.5 million should be enough to cover 16 exams and tests in English, history, math and science.The only Regents exams certain to be excluded are in French and Spanish, Dunn added. The state in May decided to eliminate those tests entirely as part of broader efforts to erase a budget deficit.

State Education Commissioner John B. King Jr. expressed gratitude for Bloomberg's rescue package. "This will provide many students the opportunity to graduate high school earlier," he said.

January testing allows not only a second chance for students who failed tests earlier, but also an opportunity for many to engage in more advanced work. On the Island, for example, 11th-graders can take a Regents English exam in the winter to better prepare for college-level Advanced Placement tests in the spring.

Nonetheless, many local officials voiced misgivings over the substitution of private donations for public tax dollars. Roger Tilles of Great Neck, who represents the Island on the state's Board of Regents, said restoration of January tests would relieve hardship, but added, "It's too bad that private people have to come in and do what is truly a state responsibility."

Bloomberg insisted that action had to be taken. "When the state announced it didn't have the money for January exams, I knew we had to do something, or we would be letting our kids down," the mayor said.

With Jo Napolitano