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Morinello commends decision to cancel Regents exam

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Tue, Mar 16th 2021 01:45 pm

Assemblyman Angelo Morinello is commending state education officials for their decision to cancel Regents exams that are not federally required. Officials approved the move on Monday following unanimous support from educators, including NYSUT. Morinello vocally opposed the federal government decision to hold any standardized testing this school year due to the multitude of challenges and inconsistencies within school districts during the pandemic.

“I am pleased the State Education Department acted so swiftly and in the best interest of our students and teachers during this arduous year,” he said. “It’s not right to expect schools to administer an onslaught of exams while some students are still not physically in the classroom and are adjusting to a new learning environment. Further, some students still do not have proper broadband access and face a number of obstacles at home that interfere with learning. 

“We should be placing trust in our teachers to responsibly evaluate students – without standardized testing – and communicate directly with parents on any shortcomings that need to be addressed. Our teachers and students have endured so much this school year to facilitate and foster the best learning environment for our students, not the federal government.”

The only federally required Regents exams that will be administered this June are in algebra I, English, living environment and earth science. Similar to last year, students won’t have to pass any Regents exams to earn their diplomas. Instead, students must pass their Regents-based courses by the end of this summer to earn credit.

Earlier this month, New York state officials joined several states, including California, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan and New Jersey, in requesting a waiver from this year’s testing requirements completely. Morinello’s team said many students are still learning from home full-time, and struggling to learn efficiently based on the challenges that arise from that.

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