Alan Ray, a spokesman for the department, said officials there had preliminary discussions with Board of Education officials about the proposal.

"The facts show this is completely wrong in every respect," said Alan Ray, a spokesman for the State Education Department.

There is no rule against offering more days, and some districts do, said Alan Ray, a spokesman for the State Education Department.

"We were encouraging schools to have students take the test, and pass," Alan Ray, a spokesman for the Department of Education, said.

About half the state's teaching force is expected to retire in the next decade, according to a State Education Department spokesman, Alan Ray.

They are likely to start in the summer or fall, said Alan Ray, a State Education Department spokesman.

Mr. Mills's spokesman, Alan Ray, said the move would make the tests more expensive, since questions could not be reused.

Alan Ray, a State Education Department spokesman, said the agency did not require scores to be changed unless errors were found within one year.

Alan Ray, a spokesman for the department, said the problem arose in the annual state English tests that were administered last May.

Alan Ray, a spokesman at the State Education Department, said each local school board had the authority to decide its own busing policy.