The problem leads you to wonder if the state's sacrosanct Regents god is really the best way to judge student learning and raise educational standards.

In June, so many students flunked the Math A Regents exam that the state was forced to throw the results out or face a march on Albany by those whose graduation plans were dashed. Last year it was the physics test. Before that, biology.

New York has always considered the Regents exam the icing on a public education system thought to be superior to that of other states. The idea was that high school graduates armed with a Regents diploma would be a step ahead of youths from other states, whether in college or the work force.

I don't know. When I was in high school, I used the Regents system to my advantage quite well, but I wasn't a better-educated student because of it.

I didn't like high school and wasn't a good student. It was the 1960s, and I just wanted to get out and move on with my life. So the idea of taking an all-or-nothing exam at the end of year suited me fine because I wouldn't have to be bogged down with all the classroom work.

My first experience with a Regents course was in Math 10, or geometry. Miss Marilla VanGelder was a good teacher and certainly prepared her students for the Regents by insisting they complete corrections on homework proofs. But what a pain! Why be bothered, I figured, since all I had to do was pass the Regents exam.

We wanted relevance, and circles, squares and rectangles just didn't make it. But because of the Regents system, I was able to do virtually nothing during the school year and walk away with an 84 for the course — my Regents test score.

I think I set a school record for the biggest spread between class average and Regents score.

The same strategy was employed in a few other Regents courses, such as Math 11 (trigonometry) and Latin II. I didn't have quite the success that I achieved in geometry, but willfully failed them both horribly during the school year only to pass the June Regents exam.

Of course, I have never recommended that other students do what I did. In fact, I don't believe I ever told my daughters about my high school Regents experience. But it remains hard to believe that the state placed the Regents exams on such a pedestal that they were the only deciding factor for such courses.

The situation is different today but seems just as questionable. Nowadays students have to pass during the school year and pass the Regents exam to get credit. But the reality remains that a student could conceivably have a 90 average all year but get just a 64 on the Regents exam and, too bad, no Regents credit and no diploma.

That's because the state in its desire to raise standards has decided that its Regents tests in basic courses such as math, English, science and history be the end-all for a high school diploma. If we're going to do that, however, we have to make sure the exams are fair, reflect curriculum and, indeed, elevate the level knowledge required to get out of high school.

Obviously, based on the problems in the past few years, that goal has not been achieved. How does an exam found to be flawed and invalid, such as June's Math A Regents, get through the cracks to be administered at all? I guess now they've named a panel to answer that question.

Many experts agree that standardized do-or-die tests are the best way to increase academic standards. But because of the possibility — and now history — of flawed exams, perhaps the state should consider slaying that Regents exam sacred cow. The state shouldn't expect higher standards from students than it can achieve itself in producing the tests.

There must be a way to translate academic standards to the local level. We're doing it now with curriculums that are supposed to reflect the Regents exams. Clearly most do, and if they don't then the exam gets declared unfair and thrown out anyway.

Teams of state educators could help local teachers and administrators with testing tools that reflect the desired higher standards. I bet Miss VanGelder would say that she was a better judge of my knowledge of geometry than was the Regents exam I somehow passed.

Cary Brunswick is managing editor of The Daily Star. He can be reached at cary@thedailystar.com or (607) 441-7217.