This story's as sad as it is stupid: The state is refusing to validate a makeup English Regents exam taken by a Brooklyn High School senior, because she missed taking the test on the day her family was evicted. Last week Rosa Bracero, a student at Brooklyn's High School for Civil Rights, was stuck at a shelter when the test was administered. Though she insisted she needed to leave to take the 1:15 p.m. exam in order to earn her diploma, staffers at the city's family intake shelter told her they'd be denied shelter if the teen left. Given the choice between sleeping on the streets in January and taking a test, Bracero opted for survival.
But even though the school let her take the test on Friday, the state invalidated the results because regulations forbid makeup Regents exams to discourage cheating. "I'm homeless so I have to be set back in my goals for my life?" Rosa, 17, asked the Daily News. "Isn't it enough that I'm homeless?" State officials say she can take the exam again in June, but she's in academic limbo until then, despite being accepted into Lincoln Technical Institute and acing the entrance exam with a score of 490 out of a possible 500 on the English assessment.
Rosa's mother lost her job as an administrative assistant last April, and they were evicted last month after falling behind on rent. This is just the latest homeless experience for the teen; a decade ago her family was homeless. She moved various between shelters and elementary schools before finally getting accepted into a gifted and talented program in Manhattan. "I'm tired of being without a home," says Rosa. "I love learning ... but I want to further my education so I can get a job. I want to help take care of my family."
