New York– Today, State Senator Daniel Squadron and Assemblymember Nily Rozic urged State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia to expand language options for the high school equivalency exam to include Chinese and Korean (letter attached). The exam is currently offered in Spanish.

“Individuals should be given the opportunity to show their proficiency on the high school equivalency exam without being penalized for potentially limited proficiency in English,” wrote Senator Squadron and Assemblymember Rozic. “NYC’s Asian American population grew by 110% from 1990 to 2010 and represents more than 13% of the total NYC population. Because of the growth of the Asian American population in New York, it also makes sense to offer the exam in Chinese and Korean.”

Squadron and Rozic have long pushed legislation (S.582/A.241) in the State Legislature that would require the state’s high school equivalency exam to be offered in Chinese and Korean. The State Education Department’s contract for the exam expires at the end of 2016. In addition to their ongoing legislative push, Squadron and Rozic are urging that this policy be adopted administratively during the equivalency exam contracting process.