GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

Earning the most rigorous of the state’s diplomas just became a little bit harder for thousands of students.

To get a Regents diploma with advanced distinction, the gold standard of New York State high school diplomas, a student must pass eight Regents exams, including one in a foreign language. But earlier this month state officials decided to cut costs by slimming down its testing program. Among the casualties: the exams in Latin, German, and Hebrew, taken last year by nearly 4,500 public school students statewide.

Nearly 17 percent of last year’s city graduates, or 7,857 students, earned the advanced diploma, and the vast majority studied French or Spanish. But more than 11,000 city students took Latin (3,409), German (4,698), or Hebrew (4,287) classes last year.

They can still get credit toward the advanced diploma, but they’ll have to demonstrate proficiency another way, according to Jane Briggs, a State Department of Education spokeswoman.

“They’d follow the same procedures already in place for students who study other languages not tested by the Regents, such as Chinese,” she said. (more…)