New York to stop editing literature on tests
By The Associated Press
06.05.02
ALBANY, N.Y. — A day after the state was criticized for the politically correct editing of literary passages in tests, Education Commissioner Richard Mills said yesterday that exams will no longer be changed to delete potentially offensive words and phrases.
"We must ensure that the state tests are fair for all students," Mills said. "I also believe it is important that we use literature on the tests without changes in the passages."
The decision came a day after educators and civil rights watchdogs called the practice "foolish and intellectually dishonest." They called for legislative hearings and suggested legal challenges to force Mills to end the "censoring" of literature chosen for the Board of Regents English exam.
"This is too little too late," said Donna Lieberman, the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, in a statement yesterday.
Lieberman said an independent investigation is needed to determine how the passages got edited and to ensure that it would not happen again.
Yesterday, Mills, state schools Chancellor Robert Bennett and members of the Board of Regents had several discussions by telephone about the issue. Bennett said he didn't know literary passages were edited for "political correctness." The state uses about 150 literary passages in tests each year.
"I think it will take some work, but so what?" said Bennett. "This is the right thing to do. It's important for students to have the literary passages without changes in the author's words."
Bennett, who has been on the Board of Regents since 1995 and its head since March, hadn't heard of the editing practice before June 3. Mills received a complaint in late April about one change on the tests but didn't realize the full extent of the changes until over the weekend, department spokesman Tom Dunn said.
The June exams scheduled to be used later this month didn't contain any edited passages, Dunn said.
On June 3, revelations that editors excise references to race, religion, sexuality and other sensitive topics from literary passages used in the Regents test triggered the protests and ridicule.
Arthur Eisenberg, legal director of the NYCLU, which sponsored the news conference, called the practice "political correctness run amok."
In one example, censors substituted the word "heck" for "hell" in a quotation in Frank Conroy's memoir, Stop-Time.
State Education Department officials on June 3 defended the practice and said the practice was required under "sensitivity guidelines" on age, gender, race and ethnicity, religion, disability, socio-economic status, sex and other subjects.