Appeals Court Upholds California Graduation Test

[Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>]

APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS CALIFORNIA HIGH SCHOOL EXIT EXAM

      Associated Press-  August 11, 2006
             by Juliet Williams

Sacramento -- A state appeals court on Friday upheld California's high 
school exit exam, rejecting claims by a group of students who argued the 
test discriminates against poor students and those who are learning English.

The three-judge panel said that although all California students don't 
have access to equal education, eliminating the test as a graduation 
requirement would harm disadvantaged students more than it would help them.

"Granting diplomas to students who have not proven this proficiency 
debases the value of the diplomas earned by the overwhelming majority of 
disadvantaged students who have passed the exit exam," Presiding Judge 
Ignazio J. Ruvolo wrote in the unanimous opinion.

A group of high school seniors who couldn't pass the exam sued the state 
in February, arguing the test of basic math and English is unfair to 
students who don't have access to the same quality of education as other 
public school students.

Until the exam became a graduation requirement this year, districts set 
their own standards, which varied widely. State legislators created the 
exit exam law in 1999, but its implementation was delayed by politics 
and litigation for several years.

In San Francisco last month, state attorneys told the appeals court the 
Legislature made the test mandatory precisely to address inequalities in 
education. They said the state needed a uniform way to measure whether 
all students were learning California's required curriculum.

"The exit exam is a key piece of this effort, and retaining it will 
enable us to continue on the path of improving all schools," said 
Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell, who was in Phoenix 
Friday for a campaign fundraiser at an Arizona Diamondbacks baseball game.

Friday's ruling overturned an Alameda County Superior Court judge's 
decision in May to issue a temporary injunction against the exam, just 
as school districts statewide were preparing for graduation ceremonies.

The appeals court said that judge, Robert Freedman, abused his 
discretion when he weighed the legal merits of the plaintiffs' case. The 
judges concluded that Freedman gave too much weight to the potential 
harm to students who would be denied diplomas and did not give enough 
consideration to the potential public harm of halting the exam.

The plaintiffs' attorney, Arturo Gonzalez, was reviewing the decision 
and did not immediately comment Friday afternoon.

Also at issue in the case was the state's distribution of $20 million in 
remedial funding this year for students who couldn't pass.

Legislators ordered $600 per student to be distributed to the most needy 
students, but the amount turned out to be not nearly enough. Only high 
schools in which at least 28 percent of students failed ended up 
receiving money.

For the 2006-07 school year, state legislators and Gov. Arnold 
Schwarzenegger included $75 million in remedial exit exam assistance for 
seniors, and another $5 million to add more administrations of the test.

The state offered a summer administration of the exit exam in July for 
the first time, but it was not offered in all school districts. The 
state Department of Education said Friday that it had received July 
exams from 251 of the 629 districts with high schools.

The department of education said 91 percent of the Class of 2006 passed 
the exit exam through the May administration of the test. Students can 
take the test an unlimited number of times, starting in 10th grade.

But pass rates for minorities and economically disadvantaged students 
have lagged their white peers throughout the state, a gap O'Connell said 
the state is working to close.

Although the appeals court sided with the state, the judges said there 
is still considerable doubt about whether California's 
school-improvement efforts have been sufficient.

"A practical solution should be found, and quickly, in order to avoid a 
repeat of this litigation next year and thereafter, with the attendant 
confusion and hardship involved for all concerned," Ruvolo wrote.

To accomplish that, the Department of Education needs to more quickly 
process test results and pinpoint areas of problems and success around 
the state, said Jim Lanich, president of California Business for 
Education Excellence, which has lobbied for a more rigorous exit exam.

"A lot of districts are doing really unique things to help kids," he said.

The case is Valenzuela v. O'Connell.