The following email was sent to all high school members on March 5 by UFT Vice President for Academic High Schools Janella Hinds and UFT Vice President for CTE High Schools Sterling Roberson.

We wanted to give you an update about the State Education Department's plans for this year's Regents exams.

Please know that we are in contact with the State Education Department, the city DOE's Office of Assessment and our state and national unions to advocate for dedicating the remainder of the school year to future planning and addressing student learning loss, rather than administering Regents exams in a year like we've been having.

In early February, the State Education Department requested two assessment waivers  from the U.S. Department of Education for spring 2021 state assessments. The UFT supported these waivers because we believe it is impossible to conduct fair, safe and accurate student assessments under the extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic.

The U.S. Department of Education, however, informed states on Feb. 22 that it would not give blanket waivers for state assessments. In response, the New York State Education Department said it plans to pass regulatory amendments at the Board of Regents meeting on March 15 so Regents exams would not be required to meet graduation requirements and to cancel any Regents exam not required by the federal law.

The State Education Department issued a memo on March 2 that fleshed out its plans. Here are the highlights:

Plans for June 2021

The federal Every Student Succeeds Act requires that students be assessed once in high school in ELA, mathematics and science. Therefore to comply with the federal requirement, if the state does not receive a testing waiver, only the following Regents exams would be administered in June 2021:

• Algebra I
• English Language Arts
• Living Environment
• Earth Science

At the March 12 meeting, the State Education Department will propose cancelling the following Regents exams for June 2021:

• Algebra II
• Geometry
• Chemistry
• Physics
• Global History and Geography
• United States History and Government

These six exams can be cancelled regardless of the outcome of New York's waiver request because they are not federally required.

Plans for August 2021

At the March 12 meeting, the State Education Department will also propose cancelling all August 2021 Regents exams.

Read the state's detailed memo »

The State Education Department says it will continue pursuing its request with the U.S. Department of Education to cancel all the June 2021 Regents exams. The union fully supports New York State's efforts to cancel all the exams.

We will continue to keep you updated on evolving news and policies for high school educators.

Thank you for your continued hard work supporting your students during this challenging time.