2nd CA Exit Exam Lawsuit

[George Sheridan <learn@jps.net>]

Even Russlyn Ali of Ed Trust West appears to be trying to create a little 
distance between herself and Jack O'Connell on this one.

Second suit challenges state exit exam
By Laurel Rosenhall -- Bee Staff Writer
Published Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Story appeared on Page A3 of The Bee
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/14244973p-15063326c.html


Opponents of the California High School Exit Exam have filed a second 
lawsuit trying to stop the state from withholding diplomas from 
12th-graders who don't pass the test by graduation in June.

While the lawsuit filed in February by the San Francisco firm Morrison & 
Foerster alleges a wide array of wrongdoing by the state, the lawsuit filed 
this week by a public-interest law firm focuses on just one issue: the 
state's consideration of alternatives to the test that is a graduation 
requirement this year for the first time.

The suit was filed in Alameda Superior Court by the Public Advocates law 
firm and Californians for Justice, an advocacy group that has fought the 
exit exam. The suit alleges that state Superintendent of Public Instruction 
Jack O'Connell and the State Board of Education broke the law by waiting 
until this school year to study alternatives to the test.

O'Connell and the board "dragged their feet until it was too late to 
implement any alternatives for this first class facing" the exam's 
consequences, the lawsuit states.

"The reason there's not time to implement it is because (they) are four 
years late in doing the study," said John Affeldt, a Public Advocates 
lawyer. Students in the class of 2006 should not suffer because the state 
was "late in doing (its) homework," he said.

The suit asks the court to block the state from withholding diplomas from 
students who flunk the exit exam until the Legislature examines proposed 
test alternatives. Affeldt said he thought that would take at least a year.

About 48,000 California high school seniors had not passed the test by the 
start of this year. Advocates, scholars and lawyers have argued that some 
of those who flunked the exit exam's test of basic math and English skills 
might know the material but be bad test-takers. They have urged the state 
to approve alternatives - such as a portfolio of coursework, or tests that 
are not in a multiple-choice format - that would allow such students to 
demonstrate their knowledge in different ways.

O'Connell and other supporters of the exit exam say alternatives would 
dilute the purpose of the exit exam - to make sure all schools in the state 
require students to learn basic reading, writing and math in order to earn 
a diploma. In the past, O'Connell has said, too many poor, African American 
and Latino students have been allowed to graduate without those skills. He 
said the exit exam is forcing schools to expect more from disadvantaged 
students.

One piece of the law that created the exit exam calls for the state 
superintendent and the Board of Education to study possible alternatives to 
the exit exam after "the initial administrations" of the test. The new 
lawsuit focuses on that paragraph of the law.

The test first was given to students in the spring of 2001, but the state 
did not conduct a study of alternatives until December 2005, the suit 
claims. By then, the test had been administered at least 20 times, 
according to the suit, violating the required study of alternatives after 
"initial administrations" of the test.

O'Connell's spokeswoman Hilary McLean said she couldn't comment about the 
details of the suit.

"These are all arguments we will have before the judge," she said.

But McLean said the second lawsuit came as little surprise, given the legal 
challenges other states have faced as they have rolled out their own exit 
exams.

"When (California's) exit exam law was created there was certainly 
awareness that there would be legal challenges," she said.

Arturo Gonzalez, the Morrison & Foerster attorney who filed the first 
lawsuit, said he's not collaborating with the Public Advocates lawyers but 
welcomes additional challenges to the test.

"We have no problem with other concerned individuals joining the 
litigation," he said.

Affeldt said he has asked the court to rule on his case the same day it 
rules on Gonzalez's suit, which is scheduled for May 9. The state has asked 
the court for more time to respond to the second suit.

Russlynn Ali, director of Education Trust West, an Oakland group that 
advocates academic achievement for disadvantaged students, has been a 
staunch supporter of the exit exam. She said it would be a "real injustice" 
if the exit exam collapsed because of a technicality in the law.

"On one hand, it's really unfortunate that it sounds like process could 
detract from the great headway the state is making" in improving the 
achievement of high school students, Ali said.

"On the other hand, if they're right and there was a lack of study, then it 
just shows a glaring lack of stewardship over this issue. If the statute 
required a study, how could (they) not do the study?"

About the writer: The Bee's Laurel Rosenhall can be reached at (916) 
321-1083 or lrosenhall@sacbee.com.



George Sheridan