New York state’s largest teachers’ union claims in a federal suit filed last week that the state education department is violating the free-speech rights of teachers by barring them from speaking about questions and answers on state tests after students take them.
Officials of New York State United Teachers say the ban on talking about the content of the tests has been accompanied by “threats of discipline, including dismissal, license revocation, and criminal prosecution.”
State officials have said that the way the tests are developed—some questions are field-tested and reused—prohibits them from releasing more questions. The state board of regents has sought more money from the legislature to change the way the assessments are developed so that the entire tests can be publicly released.
