WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER 3,374,995 VISITS IN ONE YEAR—65,000 VISITS A WEEK BY 985,281 VISITORS

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. From NYS Education Department. June 25, 2003 UPDATED 1:30 P.M. E.D.T.: The handful of White Plains seniors who failed to pass the Math A Regents will not need to pass the exam in order to receive a Regents diploma because NYS Education Department Commissioner Richard Mills has declared the recent Math A test flawed, allowing seniors needing a passing grade on that test to graduate, to graduate without officially passing the test. Therefore the seniors affected, estimated at “5 to 8” Monday evening by White Plains Superintendent of Schools, Timothy Connors will graduate as planned.

Superintendent Connors told WPCNR this morning at approximately 11 A.M. that the seniors in question were having their grades “recalculated” without their Math A test result, and if they have a passing math grade without the test they would graduate.

Seniors failing the June test had numerous opportunities to pass the test the last three years but apparently did not. The test is usually taken in the sophomore year. A copy of the suspect exam may be viewed on the Education Department website at www.nysed.gov.

Asked why the students had not taken the test or failed to pass it before this June, Superintendent Connors explained that it was the students’ option as to when they took the Math A test. He said some choose to take it in their freshman and sophomore years, others delay it until they feel they have mastered the skills.

Here is Commissioner Richard Mills’ announcement jettisoning the results of the June 2003 Math A test, stating his plans for designing future tests:

Children are our first concern. We express that concern by providing the very best education we can. Fair exams are part of that education. This exam doesn’t seem fair. I think we made some mistakes with this exam and it’s up to us to identify and correct them. This situation is unacceptable and we are taking action now to protect the children. That done, we will turn immediately to the most rigorous, independent, public accounting of the test itself.

Some students are preparing to graduate this year and go on to college or work. Others will begin their senior year in September and are considering whether to go to summer school or to retake math in the fall. Still others are nearer the beginning of high school and are taking the test for the first or second time. We are concerned about all of these students and their special circumstances.

At my request, during the past few days experts have reviewed the exam and the results available so far. Here is what we have concluded at this point:

Preliminary data indicate a very low success rate on the June Math A Regents Exam. Yet this exam should have been comparable in difficulty with the January exam and previous Math A exams. Therefore, success rates should have been generally consistent, but they were not.

It will take some time to get enough data and do a complete analysis, but we have enough information to say one thing clearly: Performance on the June Math A exam is not consistent with performance on previous Math A exams. The inconsistency indicates there was a problem in the process of creating this exam. Finding that problem and fixing it will take time and study. Students cannot wait while we do that, and they must not be penalized.

We must and will always take steps that are in the best interests of the students. Therefore, we will:

Give districts the option to use the local course grade in place of an exam score for juniors and seniors to determine achievement of the mathematics standards.

Freshmen and sophomores (that is, students who entered 9th grade in 2001 or later) already are required to take at least another year of math (for a total of three years of math during high school), and they can take a Regents math exam again after another year of study. In addition, our analysis may result in adjustments to the scoring on this current exam.

Assemble an independent panel of mathematicians, educators, testing experts and citizens to review all information on this exam to determine what happened and why. They will also advise whether or not an adjustment should be made to scores of the freshmen and sophomores. Their work will help us prepare future Regents Math exams without the problems we see in this one. The results of that independent panel will be public, and will advise the Regents and the State Education Department. We will also continue to conduct our own internal review and make the analysis public.

Suspend the administration of the August Math A exam to provide time for any adjustments to the test content or scoring that may be indicated by the review. The next administration will be in January.

We already ask schools for extensive information on each student, and we have speeded up that effort. We are taking several major steps to determine exactly what has happened with the June Math A exam:

Gather data and analyze the difficulty of individual test questions and the cumulative difficulty of the questions. This includes how well students performed on each question, to see if some questions were harder than they appeared in the field-testing that was done in creating this test. Field-testing involves giving all test questions first to a representative sample of students across the State; this helps us determine their level of difficulty and therefore the scoring.
Gather and analyze data on:

How many times each student in each grade has taken a Regents Math exam.

How much preparation in math each student has had.

Each student’s score, to find out several things, including how close each student is to passing.
Gather and analyze data to compare student performance on the June 2003 exam with previous Math A exams.

During the past few days we have heard from lots of people. I have called as many as I could myself. Whenever we make a mistake, criticism and suggestions can help in arriving at a solution to the problem. I have discussed this with Chancellor Bennett and together we have consulted the members of the Board of Regents. I am especially grateful for the different perspectives of Tom Rogers of the New York State Council of Superintendents, Toni Cortese of New York State United Teachers, New York City Chancellor Joel Klein, Randi Weingarten of the United Federation of Teachers, Tim Kremer of the New York School Boards Association and many others.

Standards and good tests are indispensable to any effort to improve student achievement. They help protect the educational welfare of children. New York has high standards and highly regarded exams to measure achievement of those standards. Student achievement has improved in recent years in part because the Regents linked standards and assessments and the schools responded. We will find and fix whatever problems exist in this June math exam so that New York can continue to improve the education of all its children.

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WPCNR’S KING KOMMENTS. By Councilman William King. June 24, 2003:Thanks for those pictures of Silver Lake on your website. I printed them out for my office. I was there with my daughter yesterday (Sunday), checking out the scene, teaching her how to skip stones – we’re not there yet.I noticed the ubiquitous litter coming back to the White Plains shoreline and emailed Bud Nicoletti and Arne Abramowitz this morning (Monday) that someone had better hop back in the drink with some chest waders on and clean up the shoreline once again before the grand opening.

LIBERTY PARK, MARCH 2, 2002: Councilman William King cleaning up Silver Lake in the Spring of 2002. King’s dramatization of the neglect of Silver Lake lead to the creation of Liberty Park, opening next week.
Photo from The WPCNR News Archive

The Harrison shoreline across the way does not look good and it’s where fishermen were that used to fish on the WP side. With them and Harrison’s Passidomo Park, the lake will still get littered and needs constant cleaning up, not just for the Grand Opening. Thanks again. You are a regular Ansel
Adams only in color.

Councilman William King

LIBERTY PARK TODAY
Photo by WPCNR News

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. June 23, 2003: The Board of Education meeting in Executive Session for 45 minutes Monday evening approved a new one-year contract with the White Plains Teachers Union stipulating a 3% increase in salaries from beginner to veteran. The increase was accounted for in the recently approved $134.6 Million 2003-2004 City School District Budget.

In a separate action, the Board also behind closed doors, approved a return to a 9-period day at White Plains High School which will be reconstituted after an absence of three years while the high school was being renovated.

EXEC SESSION AT ED HOUSE:
Superintendent of Schools Timothy P. Connors emerging from the just concluded Executive Session Monday evening (taking place in the Education House Board Room (lower left) told WPCNR the 3% increase had been approved by the White Plains Teachers Union in May, and the Board was ratifying it in an effort to remain competitive with other school districts in the county which averaged 3% and sometimes more, he said. Connors called it “A fair contract, and it keeps the district attractive.” He said the teachers union had voted to return to the 9-period day.
Photo by WPCNR News
According to the latest news release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, during the first five months of 2003, the CPI-U rose at a 2.3 percent seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR). This compares with an increase of 2.4 percent for all of 2002, in which the White Plains teachers also received a 3% raise.

The index for energy, which rose 10.7 percent in 2002, advanced at a 16.5 percent SAAR in the first five months of 2003. Petroleum-based energy costs increased at an 11.5 percent annual rate and charges for energy services rose at a 21.2 percent annual rate.

The food index has increased at a 2.2 percent SAAR thus far this year, following a 1.5 percent rise for all of 2002. Excluding food and energy,
the CPI-U advanced at a 1.1 percent SAAR in the first five months, following a 1.9 percent rise in all of 2002.

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WPCNR POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE. June 23, 2003: City Hall has announced the annual free July 4th fireworks extravaganza at White Plains High School will be held Wednesday, July 2 from 6 to 10 PM. If you would like to “dj” the fireworks display by selecting the recorded music, you are invited to submit a 20-minute tape to the Department of Recreation and Parks.

The rain date is the next night, July 3, also from 6 to 10.

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WPCNR GRASS ROOTS REPORTER. From Bill of Rights Defense Campaign. June 22, 2003: About forty people sat in a discussion circle at the White PlainsPublic Library Wednesday night, expressing their concerns about the loss of civil liberties
since 9-11 under the USA PATRIOT Act. Representatives from 14 communities and several cosponsoring organizations attended the organizing meeting of the Westchester Bill of Rights Defense Campaign (BORDC) under the sponsorship of the Westchester Chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union.

Wesley Stromberg, head of the local effort, recounted how it got started. At the Chapter’s annual meeting in March, Attorney Udi Ofer, project director of the BORDC for New York State, spoke about how the USA PATRIOT Act curtails a number of civil liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.

Nationally, 127 cities and towns and three states have passed resolutions opposing the infringement of rights in the name of national security. The decision was then made to launch a petition drive to persuade the County and local governments to pass similar resolutions.

Provisions allowing for searches without notification, indefinite detention, and holding immigration hearings in secret were among those raising concern. The issue creating the most comment was section 215, which authorizes federal agents to demand library and bookstore records and prohibits librarians and booksellers from informing anyone whose records had been searched.

Attendees were urged to support Hr 1157, the Freedom to Read Protection Act sponsored by Congressman Sanders of Vermont.

Several people spoke on the need to reach out and educate the public on the content and deleterious effect of the act, as well as its possible successor, the Domestic Security Enhancement Act, also known as Patriot Act II.

Other committee actions included setting goals for the number of signatures and a time for completion of the petition drive and establishing a number of sub-committees to work on particular phases of the campaign. Further information is available from the NYCLU Westchester Chapter office at 2 William St.,Room 200, White Plains 10601, or by calling the Chapter at (914) 997-7479.