Exit Exam Passes Court Test, for Now

By Ann K. Williams
Staff Writer

May 31 -- Santa Monica and Malibu High seniors who haven’t yet passed the new California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) won’t be getting their diplomas when they walk the stage this month.

That’s because last week the California Supreme Court blocked a lower court ruling that banned the test.

On May 12, Oakland Superior Court Judge Robert Freedman ruled that the CAHSEE is unfair because it discriminates against low-income students and students who don’t speak English, according to news affiliate CBS5 in Oakland.

California Superintendent of Education Jack O’Connell appealed the ruling, asking the state’s highest court to reinstate the exam in time for this year’s graduation ceremonies.

O’Connell drafted the legislation that created the exam in 1999 when he was a state senator. On the California Department of Education website, O’Connell calls the CAHSEE “one of the cornerstones of California’s accountability system.”

A press release from the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Thursday quoted O’Connell saying he is “extremely pleased that the Supreme Court has reinstated the California High School Exit Exam as a condition for graduation. As a result, school districts can continue their graduation exercises as planned before this litigation began.

“Students who have worked hard to pass this exam will be given a diploma that signifies their mastery of essential skills in reading and math. I hope that this decision will give students in the class of 2006, their parents, and their schools certainty.”

Last week, 95 per cent of Santa Monica-Malibu seniors had passed the test, according to the district press release. After reviewing a new wave of test results that came in this week, district officials now estimate 98 per cent of local seniors have passed it.

Seniors throughout the state have had five chances to pass the CAHSEE, beginning in tenth grade. The students are tested in tenth grade language arts and math through middle school, including Algebra 1.

Students who haven’t passed the test in Santa Monica and Malibu will be given a “Certificate of Completion” and will be able to walk the stage, as long as they have completed all the other district requirements for graduation.

O’Connell is pushing for legislation to give this year’s seniors who haven’t passed the test another shot at it this summer, he said in a letter on the Department of Education’s website.

According to news affiliate CBS5, there are 47,000 seniors in the state who haven’t passed the CAHSEE, or 11 percent of the senior class.

This is the first year California’s high school graduates have to pass the test to get their diplomas.

Special education students won a one-year reprieve in a separate lawsuit earlier this year. Members of the class of 2007 who have Individual Education Plans (IEPs) will receive their diplomas this June if they have everything else in place to graduate, according to district officials.

Graduation ceremonies are scheduled for June 22 at Santa Monica High School and Malibu High School.