Two Setbacks for State Graduation Tests

[Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>]

TWO SETBACKS FOR EXIT EXAMS TAKEN BY HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS

New York Times -- May 9, 2006
by Jesse McKinley

San Francisco -- In two setbacks for high school exit exams, a judge in 
Oakland said Tuesday that he was inclined to ban such tests as a 
graduation requirement in California and Massachusetts school board 
voted to issue diplomas to students who had failed such tests despite a 
state law prohibiting that.

In California, Judge Robert Freedman of Superior Court in Alameda County 
said in a preliminary ruling on Monday that the exams, standardized math 
and English tests that high school seniors have to pass to graduate, 
discriminated against impoverished students and students learning English.

On Tuesday, as thousands of students took a late round of tests, Judge 
Freedman heard arguments in favor of them, but indicated the state's 
lawyers faced an uphill fight.

"The court is basically resolute in its original decision," the judge 
said. He said he would issue his final decision on Friday.

The tentative ruling shocked the state superintendent of public 
instruction, Jack O'Connell, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Both favor 
the exams as a way to raise standards. California has the largest public 
school system in the country, with 6.3 million students, but mediocre 
rankings.

Mr. O'Connell said the state would immediately appeal any injunction.

"We're prepared for the long haul," he said in a telephone interview. 
"I'm convinced there will be some more turns in the road."

Officials said they had done everything they could to help students 
adjust to the requirement, including delaying the California High School 
Exit Exam for several years. The law was passed in 1999, but the class 
of 2006 is the first to have to pass it to graduate.

A ruling against the exams could allow nearly 47,000 seniors who did not 
pass — more than 10 percent of the class — to graduate next month.

Opponents of the exams, which more than 20 states require, hailed the 
developments.

"It is a major victory, both substantial and symbolic," said Robert A. 
Schaeffer of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, a watchdog 
group in Cambridge, Mass. "It sends a message to other states that they 
should reconsider one-size-fits-all graduation tests."

Such reconsideration is under way in New Bedford, Mass., south of 
Boston. On Monday, the school board there voted to issue diplomas to 
students who had fulfilled academic requirements but had not passed the 
Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, which evaluates math and 
English skills at the 10th-grade level.

Gov. Mitt Romney called the decision a "gross mistake" and illegal.

"New Bedford is going to take corrective action," Mr. Romney said, 
adding that the state could withhold more than $100 million in school 
money earmarked for the city.