Brooklyn Mother’s Fights To Help Disabled Son Graduate High School.

The New York Times (10/19, Harris, Subscription Publication) reports that the mother of an 18-year-old with a disability is fighting for her son to graduate high school. Laurie De Vito said her son, Dylan Cunningham, “has had difficulty with speech and language” throughout his life. New York students are required to pass five Regents exams with a score of 65 or greater to graduate high school, although students with a disability can pass with a score of 55. Dylan passed four of his exams, but only managed to score a 54 on his algebra exam. De Vito, upset her son wouldn’t graduate high school over one point, “looked up phone numbers for the state’s Education Department and started dialing.” Her persistence led to meetings with “several high-ranking education officials,” which led to a new rule allowing for an appeal for special education students who score at least a 52 on a Regents exam.