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Students, parents file lawsuit over California exit exam
SF Gate ^ | Wednesday, February 8, 2006 | JULIET WILLIAMS

Posted on 02/08/2006 2:47:18 PM PST by steel_resolve

A group of high school seniors and their parents filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the state Department of Education and school Superintendent Jack O'Connell, claiming the California high school exit exam is illegal and discriminatory.

Lead attorney Arturo Gonzalez said the lawsuit likely will expand to represent tens of thousands of students who have met all local requirements to graduate except passing both parts of the test.

(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government
KEYWORDS: english; language; mexicans
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To: DumpsterDiver

Looks like the fix was in on her high school grades,doesn't it?

I'd be ashamed to admit I couldn't pass the test---I'd lock myself in my room and study harder.

Bet her self esteem and tolerance for diversity is high though---that's what seems to count these days.


21 posted on 02/08/2006 3:21:37 PM PST by Mears (The Killer Queen-caviar and cigarettes.)
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To: steel_resolve

curiouser and curiouser


22 posted on 02/08/2006 3:24:46 PM PST by Supernatural (All the truth in the world adds up to one big lie! bob dylan)
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To: Mears
Demand accountability and get sued.
Fail to demand accountability and get sued.

What to do?

Get goverment out of education.
Make education competitive.
Make education cost something.

23 posted on 02/08/2006 3:27:10 PM PST by Principled
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To: KarlInOhio

"without speaking the language"

But, foreigners are not expected to even understand the language here. Tell me you have not reached a mailbox lately that directed one to press 1 for English or 2 for espanol.


24 posted on 02/08/2006 3:28:05 PM PST by freeangel ( (free speech is only good until someone else doesn't like what you say))
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To: steel_resolve
Image hosting by TinyPic
"We don' need no steenkeeng test."
25 posted on 02/08/2006 3:28:20 PM PST by Old Seadog (Inside every old person is a young person saying "WTF happened?".)
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To: steel_resolve
He said if states want to test students in English, they'll have to do a better job teaching it.

"We'll have to find some way to teach everybody English, including those who just come into the country from another country,"

This is the most outrageous tripe. The taxpayer has no obligation to teach English to the children of immigrants.

The schools should not be blamed for their inability to cope with the overwhelming influx of Spanish-speaking students, many of them illiterate and semi-literate teenagers who need extensive remedial work in order to function at grade level. The taxpayers CANNOT and SHOULD NOT pay for their educational deficiencies. The attempt to do so is degrading and bankrupting our school system.

26 posted on 02/08/2006 3:39:54 PM PST by newsworthy (Culture is the engine of history.)
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To: Condor51
Then again I wouldn't illegally sneak into Armenia, go to their schools for 13 years LIKE YOUR CLIENT admits, you a##hole, and then demand a diploma when I fail Armenian.

I missed the part of the article about the plaintiff being an illegal. Do you have other info on this to confirm your statement?

27 posted on 02/08/2006 4:01:10 PM PST by SolidSupplySide
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To: Ben Mugged

Interesting. Believe it or not, a "standard 8th-grade reading level" is what you'll find in newspapers like the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal.


28 posted on 02/08/2006 4:16:41 PM PST by Alberta's Child (Leave a message with the rain . . . you can find me where the wind blows.)
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To: Victoria Delsoul

Ping.


29 posted on 02/08/2006 4:17:56 PM PST by Alberta's Child (Leave a message with the rain . . . you can find me where the wind blows.)
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To: Condor51

Where does the client admit she snuck into America. I don't see that anywhere in the article.


30 posted on 02/08/2006 4:22:56 PM PST by Jack Black
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To: Alberta's Child

A recent RGL evaluation of the NYT estimated the RGL at grade level 13. I'll point you at the study if you are interested. They market software to do RGL estimation these days.


31 posted on 02/08/2006 4:34:45 PM PST by Ben Mugged ("Television is the most perfect democracy, You sit there with your remote control and vote")
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To: steel_resolve

When you think about it, all exams are discriminatory. They discriminate against dumb students, lazy students, students who didn't study...


32 posted on 02/08/2006 4:42:27 PM PST by Savage Beast (9/11 was never repeated--thanks to President Bush and his surveillance program.)
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To: Ben Mugged

If that's the case, then I stand corrected. When digging that fact out of my memory bank I may have misunderstood "13th grade" to mean "13 years old" (which is about the 8th grade). Thanks for correcting me on that.


33 posted on 02/08/2006 5:01:57 PM PST by Alberta's Child (Leave a message with the rain . . . you can find me where the wind blows.)
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To: Alberta's Child
He said if states want to test students in English, they'll have to do a better job teaching it.

Just by reading this comment, something tells me the students aren't quite interested in learning English.

Carlos Legaspi, a senior at Rio Linda High whose family emigrated from Mexico when he was a child, said he can understand how the test might be hard for students who don't speak English. But he said it's still a reasonable expectation, especially because most schools have tutoring programs available. Legaspi said he passed both sections on his first try.

"I don't know how it discriminates," he said. "It's just a test."


34 posted on 02/08/2006 7:36:03 PM PST by Victoria Delsoul
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To: SolidSupplySide

I was referring to her parents sneaking in.


35 posted on 02/09/2006 4:50:14 AM PST by Condor51 (Better to fight for something than live for nothing - Gen. George S. Patton)
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To: Jack Black
Her parents most Likely snuck in.

Plus what US BORN Citizen can't speak ENGLISH, answer -- none.

36 posted on 02/09/2006 4:52:18 AM PST by Condor51 (Better to fight for something than live for nothing - Gen. George S. Patton)
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To: Condor51

Armenians dont need to sneak into the US...they are let in.


37 posted on 02/09/2006 9:41:34 AM PST by BurbankKarl
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To: Condor51
I was referring to her parents sneaking in.

I still do see any evidence for this assertion in the article. Are you getting more information from somewhere else?

38 posted on 02/09/2006 11:01:03 AM PST by SolidSupplySide
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To: steel_resolve
Lead attorney Arturo Gonzalez said the lawsuit likely will expand to represent tens of thousands of students who have met all local requirements to graduate except passing both parts of the test.

Fine, so give them a diploma that says they spent 13 years in the school system and still can't pass the exit exam.

39 posted on 02/09/2006 11:05:40 AM PST by oldbrowser (We must act today in order to preserve tomorrow......R.R)
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To: steel_resolve

Part of the problem is that these kids are getting passing grades, even good grades, and are still unable to pass the test.

Total break down of the system.


40 posted on 02/10/2006 6:30:52 AM PST by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
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