New York State Wants to Cut Regents Exams
For students, taking tests are memories of high school one tries to forget. So, when New York State declared that they were thinking about cutting Regents exams, students should have jumped with joy. After thinking about the consequences of cutting these tests, however, students think otherwise. According to the Syracuse News, the New York State Board of Regents started discussing cutting the Regents when they saw that they could save money.
They realized that by cutting many of the tests, millions of dollars would be saved. If New York State decides to do this, most of the exams will be cut. This includes global history, American history, high school foreign language, and three of the four science exams. These exams should definitely not be cut. While it is true that the Regents exams are a pain and teachers are pressured for time while teaching for a Regents, there are many ways in which the Regents are helpful.
First, they provide a basis for teaching by giving the curriculum in which the teacher should teach. It helps the teacher plan out their lessons and helps them set goals. It also provides a deadline for when teachers must be done teaching all the topics. This way, class does not sidetrack and everything the students learn is for a reason. Students should be well-rounded in every subject. However, by cutting some regents exams and not others, it shows that some subjects are more important than others.
This may cause students to give less effort into the subjects that seem less important, resulting in students not getting a thorough education or being as well-rounded as they can be. It is wrong that New York State wants to deny students the best education they can get, simply to save money. The Regents Exams provide a basis for comparison among students from New York State. In many schools, Regents serve as finals for students. If instead of a standardized test, teachers made up their own, there would be no way to compare school districts and student ability.
New York is not only looking into cutting most of the exams, but the state also wants to stop the translation of exams into other languages (except for Spanish). This is extremely unfair to students who may be brilliant but cannot read English as well as their native language. Overall, cutting most of the Regents exams would deny students of a better education. As a high school student, I believe that nothing should change in terms of the Regents. Students should be well-rounded and should receive the absolute best education they can get.
The fact that New York State is doing this to save money is very unfair to the students. Education benefits should not be taken away due to lack of money. In the end, current students are the future leaders of America.
