State News Roundup

The number of New York State residents taking the General Educational Development test was cut nearly in half after the state began charging a $25 fee, according to figures from the state education department.

Citing budget problems, the state began charging the fee on Sept. 1, 1991. During the last four months of 1991, a total of 11,300 people took the high-school-equivalency test. During the same period in 1990, 21,612 people took the test.

The decrease in test-takers began immediately after the fee was imposed, Commissioner of Education Thomas Sobol announced this month. Only 880 people took the 71/2-hour series of examinations in September, compared with...