"Each child deserves the opportunity to be judged by his or her individual progress, not by an arbitrary rubric that the state is experimenting with ... Our children deserve a more enriching learning environment." How true! Mrs. Bossong is definitely correct in these statements, which appeared in her letter "Test Scores Do Not Determine Academic Excellence" in last week's Hicksville Illustrated News. She was also correct when she wrote, "Instead of relying on the state to determine how well our children are progressing, we need to establish our own broad-based assessment that incorporates a wide range of factors that affect student learning."

Unfortunately, that approach is a luxury we - as well as all other districts across the state - cannot afford since the state decided (several years ago) that, as of the graduating class of 2005, all students, in order to receive a high school diploma in New York State, must fulfill the requirements for a Regents diploma (i.e. three-year sequences in math, science and a foreign language as well as social studies and English Regents) as well as those for a general education diploma. The reality today is that our students must pass these tests and, however arbitrary, the state is responsible for the writing of these tests and their corresponding scoring rubrics, giving them the upper hand in this situation.

While I'm sure that most of us would agree that for too long many students "fell through the cracks" of the educational system and actually graduated without having mastered the skills required to receive a general education diploma, I feel that the state has reacted in a way that will prove to be to the detriment of us all. It seems as though instead of attempting to seal the "cracks" that existed in the system, they have erected a wall that a comparatively larger percentage of students will not be able to scale. It seems as though the powers that be would rather turn our future graduates into "cookie cutter" images of what they have determined to be "graduate material."

Traditionally, high school was a time for students to begin to focus on their aspirations for post high school days. The opportunity to explore different areas via various electives as well as vocational training through BOCES acknowledged and fostered the individuality and uniqueness of each student, while still holding to the requirements necessary for the core general education diploma. I fear that with the new requirements, we (not only students and their parents) will be faced with many societal dilemmas: the potential for a greater drop-out rate, decreasing numbers of students pursuing specialty vocations, a glut of "academics" steered towards certain professions which our economy potentially cannot employ, etc. Add to that districts spending increasingly larger percentages of their budgets on intervention services, curriculum re-writes, staff development, etc., while vying for (at a time when there is a shortage of) teachers qualified in the required disciplines and, at the same time, increasing their student populations with retentions that will be impossible to avoid. All at what cost to the rest of a district's responsibilities?

Since, at present, 100 percent of those who choose to pursue a Regents diploma do not succeed, how do we insure that 100 percent - or, at least, a vast majority, of the entire student body does? Are we to expect and accept the expendability of anyone's future? Administrations and boards of education will be spending increasing time and effort examining results of Regents, and teachers will be under even greater scrutiny, not only by those that supervise them but by the parents of their students.

The state "report card" will take on even added significance, as districts are compared not only by an arbitrary rubric but by the very black and white picture of how many do not graduate. The "drill and kill" methodology that Ms. Bossong spoke of in her letter may well be the only methodology left to teachers. In my opinion, the best-case scenario is that we end up with an increased number of successful test-takers whose educational experience has been compromised and whose future has been held hostage by the Regents exams.

Consider the fact that New York is the only state to issue Regents exams, and one must wonder what our priorities are here. Perhaps the state would have better served not only the students of the state, but the rest of the residents as well, if it had decided to institute a requirement of community service, instead of the rigid Regents, which undoubtedly would educate these students more as to life outside of high school, and expose them to life lessons that would prove to them how each one of us possesses the capacity to make a difference.

Throughout the years, many Regents exams have been questioned, their validity challenged, and, in some instances, "thrown out". But never before has one's high school diploma been hanging in limbo as it will prove to be when a situation similar to the Math A regents of this year undoubtedly happens again. Boards and administrations can only lobby the state so much. What about the rest of us who are concerned about these issues?

As futile as it may seem, I urge anyone and everyone who has issue with the Regents policies to contact their elected state officials, the Board of Regents, the State Commissioner of Education, and, yes, even the governor, and voice your concerns. Get as involved as possible in your child's education, keeping lines of communication open with teachers. Have your child avail themselves of extra help classes, if need be. Seek out tutors when possible. Also, we must advocate for and support budgets within our districts that enable boards of education and administrations to supply all the needed tools - teachers, textbooks, services, etc. - for our students to graduate. While a Regents diploma may come easily to some, many will be faced with a real battle. We must be willing to give our students whatever support is necessary to fight this battle - on all fronts.

Dolores Garger