An open letter to New York State Board of Regents

The Italian American Committee on Education (IACE) learned with dismay about the “Assessment Cost Reduction Strategies” approved by the Board of Regents.  The move is in general a poorly conceived educational recommendation that goes counter to the need for Americans to become more literate in world languages.  More to the point, the elimination of HS Foreign Language Regents exams with the sole exception of Spanish and French discriminates against Italians, their language, their work, their culture, their sacrifices, their genius.
If the true purpose of the change is to curtail unnecessary testing to save money, there are better ways to do so. The testing program in New York State needs to be carefully and judiciously reduced. Choosing to eliminate testing in some languages to the advantage of others is not the way to do it.  
Italian, by all accounts, is the fastest growing European language in New York State.  Its value as a cultural vehicle is indisputable. Among other things, Italy has given to the world the roots of modern western poetry (its origins in Dante and Petrarca eventually passed to other prominent writers including Shakespeare) and it has provided the template for what we call Modernity (the philosophy and art of the Italian Renaissance) and the matrix for our own modern-day legal philosophy (conceived by Cesare Beccaria).
The teaching of Italian in the schools of New York State has been fostered by the hard work of teachers and administrators of Italian ancestry, who had to struggle against institutional prejudice to introduce the Italian language in American schools.  The struggle continues to this day. The Regents’ decision is evidence that prejudice is hard to eradicate.  The very limited representation of Italian Americans in high positions in Colleges, Universities, Think Tanks, and on the very Board of Regents is an example of the exclusion or limited influence of Italian Americans in the educational establishment. In spite of the prejudice endured, Italian Americans have distinguished themselves in all fields of endeavor. Their achievements should be respected and acknowledged by showing appreciation for their cultural and linguistic heritage. 
Higher levels of linguistic sophistication have been promoted more recently by Italian researchers and practitioners (in areas such as science, engineering, management, law, as shown by Supreme Court Justices Antonin G. Scalia and Samuel A. Alito, just to cite an example), who are in increasing numbers settling in the State of New York.  The elimination of the Italian Regents examination lowers the level at which Italian is taught, fostering regression rather than promoting progress and excellence.
Fair minded decision makers, when confronted with difficult decisions, select those that hurt students the least. They do not favor one group over another. By keeping Regents’ examinations in Spanish and French at the exclusion of other languages, the Board of Regents is saying to our students: Do not study Italian; you should study French or Spanish instead.  Sadly this is what Italian Americans have heard for generations.
Italian institutions (including the Italian Government) and Italian American associations are working incessantly to maintain and advance the study of Italian.  They are doing so with their own resources. An example of such efforts is the work being done to re-establish Italian AP testing.  IACE, thanks to Italian Government funding, has been promoting the study of Italian in elementary and middle school for over thirty years.  As a result, each year thousands of students of a variety of ethnic and racial backgrounds are introduced to Italian before high school.  These students would normally select Italian as a foreign language in high school and college.  If your decision stands, you will have undone with a single action years of work and deprived students of the opportunity to continue studying the language they love.
Italian Americans represent nearly twenty percent of the citizenry of New York State. We request on their behalf that you revisit your decision and, if compelled to make budgetary cuts, proceed with objectivity and on the basis of sound educational considerations.

Angelo Gimondo
Chairman
Consiglio di Amministrazione, Italian American Committee on Education

CC: Governor Patterson

Members of the New York State Senate

Members of the New York State Assembly

Hon. Anthony Di Napoli, Comptroller

Hon. Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General

Italian American Organizations

Media