District to Vote on Defying Exit Exam Law

[George Sheridan <learn@jps.net>]

The following article was printed above the fold, front
page of Wednesday's San Francisco Chronicle.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/04/05/MNGHSI3N5O1.DTL&type=printable
School board to vote on defying exit exam law
Simone Sebastian, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 5, 2006



Nearly 500 West Contra Costa high school seniors who have
failed the mandatory California Exit Exam could receive
diplomas anyway this June if a majority of the school
board joins a colleague's call to rebel against the
controversial graduation requirement.

Trustee David Brown says the graduation test is unfair
to many students. One of the other four board members
 is willing to consider joining Brown in support of the
plan. Two board members are adamantly opposed, and the
remaining member is undecided.

A vote is scheduled for Monday on the proposal, which
would grant high school diplomas to students who satisfy
all course requirements and either pass the exit exam or
an alternative assessment designed by local officials and
graded subjectively.

"What can we do for our students who have demonstrated they
will have a successful life, yet can't pass the exit exam?"
 Brown asked in proposing the resolution. "There's a work
ethic that's needed (for employment) that our students
demonstrate that may not show up on an exit exam."

Adoption of his plan would make the West Contra Costa
Unified School District -- which covers Richmond, North
Richmond, El Sobrante, El Cerrito, San Pablo, Pinole,
Hercules and Kensington -- the first in California to
reject strict adherence to the exit exam law.

State Department of Education officials said Tuesday they
contacted Cynthia LeBlanc, the district's interim superintendent,
to warn that passing the resolution would violate the law. The
Chronicle could not reach LeBlanc for comment.

But Hilary McLean, a spokeswoman for the state education
department, said her agency "would look at all possibilities,
including enforcement through the courts." She also pointed
out other leverage, noting that "the Department of Education
is the entity that provides funds for schools."

The exit exam was adopted by the Legislature in 1999, but the
penalty for failing the test was not enforced until this year.
State Superintendent Jack O'Connell, who wrote the law when he
was a state senator, has spoken out against locally developed
alternatives to the exam, saying they could defeat the purpose
of state standards.

Of West Contra Costa's 1,986 high school seniors, 498 had not
passed the exit exam as of January, according to a district
spokesman. Statewide, about 350,000 seniors have passed, and
about 48,000 have not. Among those listed as not passing are
students who took the test early this year and are awaiting
results.

The test assesses language arts skills through a 10th grade
level and math skills up to algebra. Students have six
opportunities to pass the exam between the 10th and 12th
grades and can continue taking it in subsequent years to
qualify for a high school diploma.

It is being challenged in the courts as unfair to many
students, especially those whose first language is not
English. About 4,000 special education students have been
exempted from its penalties this year.

The board will meet in closed session today with the
district's lawyer.

School board President Charles Ramsey said he will vote
against Brown's proposal because of its potential legal
and financial ramifications.

"I understand the motivation (for the resolution). It's
well intentioned, but that has to be coupled with the
reality of the law," he said. "We're a part of this state.
We can't secede from California."

He was joined by Trustee Karen Pfeiffer. "We have for a
long time passed along students who are not prepared for
work," she said. "West Contra Costa has not always been
accountable. To continue to pretend that students who
can't pass this relatively simple exam are high school
graduates and should get a diploma is a disservice to
the students and the community."

Colleague Karen Leong Fenton said she wants to review
the plan before deciding her position. But she made one
thing clear: She will not break the law. "I'm sympathetic
to students who have taken this test several times and are
caught in this situation," she said. "The state has
raised the bar in granting a diploma. We can achieve
(state standards) and not settle for something lower."

Trustee Glen Price said he wants to consider Brown's
proposal. "I support the intent," he said. "We have
the potential to handicap people for life. ... I'm
waiting to find out what the impact (of the resolution)
will be, creating financial and legal difficulties for
the district."

Many school districts will allow students who failed
the exit exam to walk across the stage and receive a
"certificate of completion," which indicates that the
student has fulfilled all course requirements but has
not passed the exam.

There is no such provision for students in West Contra
Costa County, and Brown said that the certificates are
not enough.

His resolution would establish an alternative to the
exit exam called the Senior Year Demonstration. It
would provide other ways for students to earn a diploma,
including a research project or creating a portfolio of
their high school work. The Senior Year Demonstrations
would be evaluated by a panel of judges that could include
teachers, local business leaders and college administrators,
he said.

"These are people who will have a better sense of the
students than a computer that grades an exit exam,"
Brown said. "These kids worked hard and they deserve
a diploma."

Wendy Orellana, 16, a junior at Richmond High School,
has taken the exit exam twice and is awaiting the
results of her latest try.

"It's hard," she said of the test. "It had some
difficult words and (English) is not in my first
language. It's not fair to go to school for 12 years
and not receive a diploma because of a test. Life is
not all about a test."



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exit exam numbers
1,986  Seniors in the West Contra Costa Unified School District

498  Seniors in the district who have not passed the exit exam

25  Percentage of seniors in the district who have not passed the exit exam

350,000  Seniors statewide who have passed exam

48,000  Seniors statewide who have not passed

Notes: Numbers are as of the January testing. Also, about 4,000 special
education seniors statewide are exempt this year.

E-mail Simone Sebastian at sisebastian@sfchronicle.com.



George Sheridan