Just as parents were showing increased trust in state educational assessments of their children, computer glitches have delivered a setback. High Achievement New York found increased participation in most parts of the state for last week's grades 3-8 English Language Arts assessments, countering the recent "opt-out" testing protest movement. Unfortunately, many of the thousands of students who took the tests on computers encountered serious connectivity and related problems. Board of Regents Chancellor Betty Rosa and Education Commissioner Maryellen Elia called the tech glitches unacceptable, and want an explanation from the vendor, Questar Assessment, Inc. Accountability and changes are needed to ensure this episode doesn't jeopardize the renewed trust that came after state officials listened and responded to legitimate concerns of parents. Smart open government bill should become law As attorney general, Gov. Andrew Cuomo made government more open with Project Sunlight, a website that tracked legislation, grants, contracts, lobbying and campaign donations. He can now further that effort by signing legislation making it easier for citizens to obtain information. Under the bill, each state agency would have to offer an online Freedom of Information Law request form. The FOIL law predates the internet, but New York's adherence to it should not. Taking these placards down, though, won't fix the blight. The real solution is to develop and implement solid plans to deal with these dilapidated structures, hopefully through renovation, but when necessary, demolition.