Special Ed Students Required to Pass CAHSEE

[George Sheridan <learn@jps.net>]

Disabled students required to pass exit exam
Nanette Asimov, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/04/02/MNMRVTENI.DTL&type=printable

High school seniors in special-education classes will be required for the first
time this year to pass California's exit exam to qualify for a diploma after
lawyers for the disabled failed to get them an exemption.

A legal settlement, expected to be filed today in Alameda County Superior Court,
will end a 7-year-old lawsuit that challenged a state law requiring all students
- including those with mental or physical disabilities - to pass the test of
basic math and English skills to graduate.

Passing the exit exam became a requirement for all seniors in 2006, but lawyers
from Disability Rights Advocates in Berkeley won exemptions for special-education
students in 2006 and 2007.

Both sides said today's settlement includes no exemptions.

That means Shaneka "Precious" Washington and other seniors in special education
who have met all other graduation requirements will not get diplomas on
graduation day unless they pass the test in time.

"I would be heartbroken," said Washington, 18, a senior with learning
disabilities at Balboa High School in San Francisco. "I don't like to cry in
front of people, but that would be the day I would."

Students have six chances to pass the test between grades 10 and 12. Washington
has passed the math portion, but not the English.

It's not clear how many students face a similar challenge. Although 47,000
seniors attend special education this year, not all are on a diploma track like
Washington and classmate Darinell Collier, 18.

Collier said he has worked hard for 12 years despite a learning disability that
hampers his ability to read and write.

"If I did all this to get this far, and I don't get a diploma, I'm going to be
mad," he said.

All diploma-track students in special education are considered part of Chapman
vs. California, the class-action lawsuit against the state Department of
Education and state Board of Education filed in 2001.

Back then, having to pass the exit exam was either a threat or a welcome
improvement, depending on who was asked.

"The exit exam is in the students' best interest," said state Superintendent Jack
O'Connell, who wrote the exit exam law in 1999 while serving as a Democratic
state senator from Santa Barbara. "To me, this is all about helping students
succeed."

O'Connell has argued that the exit exam represents the minimal level of academic
skills students need to function in an increasingly competitive economy. He says
the exam lends meaning to a high school diploma, and he is quick to remind
critics that those who fail can try to pass indefinitely beyond graduation day.

He said the anticipated settlement will provide tutoring for each senior in
special education for two years after graduation day at a cost to the state of
$525 per pupil each year.

The courts have generally agreed with O'Connell, whose law has withstood efforts
to derail it.

While ultimately unsuccessful, the Chapman case handed some interim victories to
the students. The case influenced state lawmakers in 2004 to delay the exit exam
as a diploma requirement for two years, giving schools time to establish better
programs to help students pass the high-stakes test. And when the courts gave the
go-ahead in 2006, the Chapman lawyers won exemptions for disabled students that
year and in 2007.

"We've been successful for several years in a row about getting kids exempted,
but we were not able to do so this year," said attorney Sid Wolinsky, the founder
of Disability Rights Advocates. "The exit exam is a disaster for kids with
disabilities."

About half of all special-education students who take the exit exam fail it.
That's worse than the rate for English learners, whose failure rate is 23
percent. By contrast, 7 percent of students in regular education fail.

Attorney Roger Heller at Disability Rights Advocates would not disclose the
specifics of the anticipated settlement but said it will establish a panel of
neutral experts to study the exam's impact on special-education students and make
recommendations.

"The idea here is to try to find a long-term solution to benefit kids going
forward," Heller said.

Among those who want to shield special-education students from the exit exam is
state Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, whose bill exempting
them was vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in October on grounds that it
conflicted with the wishes of Superintendent O'Connell and the state Board of
Education.

Now Romero is trying again with SB1446, an emergency bill that would exempt this
year's special-education students and those in the Class of 2009.

But even the students' lawyers aren't counting on it.

"Without the support of the Department of Education, I don't think it has much of
a chance," Heller said.

At Balboa High, meanwhile, Washington said she'd like to become a lawyer and work
for a firm like Disability Rights Advocates.

"I will get a diploma, I promise you," she said. "I will make sure that Shaneka
Regina 'Precious' Washington will cross that stage."

E-mail Nanette Asimov at nasimov@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle


George Sheridan