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NEW YORK, NY June 27, 2006 —The category "other" will now be an option for mixed-race students when they fill out school forms. WNYC's Beth Fertig has more.

REPORTER: States are allowed to use as many racial designations as they want on student forms. But New York's education department says the No Child Left Behind Law required test scores to be reported by standard racial categories. A spokesman says the federal government recently indicated it was planning to revise this policy next year so parents can check "other," prompting New York to do the same. Some New York parents had complained about having to choose one race or another. Recently, congressman Vito Fossella wrote a letter to the U.S. Education Department inquiring about its rules after a mixed-race couple on Staten Island objected to choosing one racial identify for their young child. For WNYC, I'm Beth Fertig.