Posted on 05/12/2006 2:28:51 PM PDT by SmithL
An Alameda County judge granted the wish of 47,000 high school seniors Friday after abolishing the exit exam as a graduation requirement this year.
Superior Court Judge Robert Freedman ruled that students who earn enough credits may receive a diploma, regardless of their performance on the test.
State Superintendent of Schools Jack O'Connell is expected to appeal the injunction immediately. The state will seek a reversal that would become effective before the end of the school year, according to a request for a stay on the decision filed today.
The decision deals a significant blow to the future of the exit exam, which faces three lawsuits in all. By granting a reprieve to this year's seniors, Freedman set the stage for similar decisions on any injunctions filed in successive years, essentially nullifying the law.
The Legislature approved the law creating the test, which measures sophomore English and middle-school math skills, in 1999. O'Connell wrote the legislation as a state senator with the intention of evening out differences in graduation standards among high schools statewide, thereby giving meaning to the diploma.
At last count, 89 percent of the state's seniors, or 390,000 out of 437,000, had passed. A remaining 47,000 seniors, not including special education students, have not.
(Excerpt) Read more at contracostatimes.com ...
I am not gonna bother reading his ruling.
So I'll ask someone who has ... WHAT was his rationale?????
Public education is a joke. What's the point?
California was,after all,the birthplace of "if it feels good,do it".
Thereby devaluing the diploma for all graduates.
I can't take much more of this!
WHAT EVA HAPIN TO LIL BILLIE?
That poor students were not given the same resources and educational opportunities as richer ones, and they were therefore discriminated against.
What that overlooks is that the test is so dumbed-down (it's said to be at the level an 8th grader would ordinarily attain) that no matter how dismal your educational conditions, you should be able to pass it. Maybe your school didn't have a Nobel laureate teaching math like some school in Palo Alto, but even you, matriculating at a campus where the teachers are all drunks and time-servers, ought to be able to get through it.
I'm waiting for some parents to sue the State of South Carolina over their PACT test (given to 3-8 graders to gauge skill level, progress, etc), but not because of the discrepancy between schools from poor districts and wealthy ones. The State of SC in its' infinite wisdom decreed that children with severe learning disabilities and various degrees of mental retardation have to take this test and pass on grade level. That may not sound like much to most people, but try getting a child who has mental retardation and is just realizing the link between letters and sounds to read a passage written on a 3rd grade level and then answer questions about what they just read. Or requiring them to write a composition when they have just mastered the art of writing their names (first only).
From what I've read this is a dumbed-down exam which can be repeatedly taken and requires only a 50% passing score!
There will be two immediate consequences: (1) the diploma will be virtually worthless and mean nothing to prospective employers and (2) it will assure that these academic "fakers" will never succeed in the competitive jobs and employment marketplaces.
These people are apparently too obtuse to realize they're doing these pupils NO favor by eliminating all standards. I've also heard that this is another result of the illegal invasion that's swamping and bankrupting many school districts.
The article did not say but from what I read at other sites the rationale was "All schools are not created equal...".
My son is a sophmore and passed the exit exam last fall with 89%. it is not that tough, the parents need to get involved with there kids.
Bloody hell! This state needs to be taken out to the wood shed!
It doesn't mean anything now. We only interview high school graduates. We give them a basic skills test. About one out of every five can not pass it.
Being the parent of two Mentally Handicapped children, as well as two "Gifted" children, "Mainlining", putting Mentally Handicapped children in regular classes, was/is a stupid "feel good" idea. The only useful classes, are the ones designed specifically to help them.
But, then I am so bigoted, I also believe in "Gifted and Talented" programs.
Homogeneity, Putting smart kids in one class, slower in another, is often self policing, since the grapevine tells the pupils which teachers are tough, and which are easy.
...And helps expand the Democrat base.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.