Exit Exam hearing Tuesday

[George Sheridan <learn@jps.net>]

Exit exam: Is it fair to all?
State appeals court to hear challenge from kids who failed
By Laurel Rosenhall -- Bee Staff Writer
Published Monday, July 24, 2006
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/v-print/story/14281274p-15089461c.html

The impassioned fight over the California High School Exit Exam will 
re-ignite Tuesday when lawyers for the state and students who failed the 
test are set to argue its fairness before the 1st District Court of Appeal 
in San Francisco.

The hearing comes more than a month after the first group of California 
students were blocked from graduating because they failed a two-part test 
of basic math and English skills.

If lawyers challenging the exam have their way, thousands of students in 
the class of 2006 would receive diplomas retroactively.

"That would make me really happy to get my diploma," said Karen Aguilera, 
18, who failed the math part of the exam but passed all other requirements 
necessary to graduate from Luther Burbank High School. "It doesn't matter 
if it's a few months later."

But if this spring's topsy-turvy legal battle over the exit exam is any 
indication of what's to come, Aguilera's wish may be premature. No matter 
which way the state appeals court decides, the losing party likely will ask 
the state Supreme Court for review.

There's no end in sight for the lawsuit known as Valenzuela v. O'Connell, 
which has taken many dramatic turns:

The legal challenge to the exam started in February, when lawyers from the 
Morrison & Foerster firm of San Francisco sued the state, alleging the test 
is unfair because education quality varies tremendously from school to 
school. The test punishes the poor, nonwhite, and students learning 
English, attorneys argued, because they are more likely to attend schools 
with fewer resources and a lack of credentialed teachers.

State education officials responded that the test creates more equality in 
California's high schools by requiring all students to learn the same basic 
skills. Because of the exit exam, they argue, the state has poured more 
money into schools to ensure that more students of all backgrounds pass.

That argument failed before Alameda Superior Court Judge Robert Freedman. 
In early May, he agreed with those challenging the exam and issued an 
injunction blocking the state from using the test as a graduation 
requirement for the class of 2006, as had been planned since 2003.

State education officials appealed the case to the state Supreme Court, 
which at the end of May ordered a stay of the lower court's injunction. 
That meant the test was back on, and schools could grant diplomas only to 
students who passed the exam.

But the state Supreme Court also sent the case to the state appeals court 
for more detailed review -- which prompts Tuesday's hearing in San 
Francisco, where the parties will rehash their arguments before a panel of 
three judges.

The three justices from the 1st District Court of Appeal will have 90 days 
to decide whether Judge Freedman of Alameda Superior Court was correct in 
blocking the exit exam.

At the heart of the debate are tough questions about the test that 
education officials consider the cornerstone of California's school 
accountability system:

Does the exit exam punish students who are victims of an inequitable 
education system?

Or does it create more equality among schools by demanding a uniform 
standard for graduation?

Arturo Gonzalez, who represents California students in the class of 2006 
who failed the exit exam but passed all other graduation requirements, says 
the exam is unconstitutional.

"Many students in the class of 2006 failed the exit exam, despite their own 
diligent efforts, because the quality of the education the state provided 
for them was inferior," Gonzalez wrote in legal briefs.

As examples, he cites the shortage of teachers who are credentialed in the 
subjects they teach; the formula the state used for distributing money for 
exam preparation, which left many schools without these funds; and surveys 
showing that less than half of high schools taught all the material on the 
exit exam.

"Before harshening the consequences of failure, the state must ensure that 
the failure is that of the students, and not that of the state," the suit 
states.

California education officials say that the state has not failed. They 
accuse Gonzalez of trying to "return the state to a time when it was 
considered acceptable to promote and graduate students who lacked basic 
skills," according to court documents.

They counter his arguments by saying there is no evidence that a teacher's 
credential affects a student's performance on the exit exam. The funds for 
exam preparation went to schools with the greatest need, they argued.

And Gonzalez misconstrued the survey findings, they say, because 92 percent 
of schools reported covering all or most of the exit exam material.

The exam has improved education at California's low-performing schools, 
because students who fall behind now get more attention, state officials argue.

"We think it's absolutely fair to create a system where students are given 
more opportunity to receive more education," said Marsha Bedwell, chief 
counsel for the state Department of Education.

Gonzalez said he hopes the appellate court judges will issue a ruling 
within a month, so students can get diplomas and begin college by the end 
of August.

One of the students Gonzalez represents -- Ahmed Osama Abd El Rahman of 
Newark Memorial High School in the Bay Area -- was admitted to California 
State University, East Bay, but can't attend without a high school diploma.

If the courts overturn the exit exam and Rahman receives a diploma, he 
would be allowed to enroll in the college, said Claudia Keith, a 
spokeswoman for the California State University system.

But it is unknown how many of the roughly 40,000 students who haven't 
passed the test are in similar situations. Educators say it probably 
doesn't amount to many.

Because the exit exam tests a low level of knowledge -- middle school math 
plus algebra and ninth- and 10th-grade reading and writing -- most students 
who fail the exam may not be ready for college.

Even so, Gonzalez says, a diploma is crucial to landing a decent job.

*

To read The Bee series "Put to the Test," please go to www.sacbee.com/projects

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

*

George Sheridan