Hollister – Despite an injunction declaring the California High
School Exit Exam unconstitutional from the Superior Court of
Alameda County mere weeks before San Benito County seniors prepare
to don their cap and gown, local educators don’t anticipate they’ve
seen the last of the CAHSEE.
Hollister – Despite an injunction declaring the California High School Exit Exam unconstitutional from the Superior Court of Alameda County mere weeks before San Benito County seniors prepare to don their cap and gown, local educators don’t anticipate they’ve seen the last of the CAHSEE.
“There is no question in my mind that we will have an exit exam, even if it’s not this Exit Exam,” said San Benito High School Superintendent Jean Burns Slater. “We’re so accountable at the federal, state and local levels that this cannot just go away.”
Superior Court Judge Robert Freedman effectively suspended the CAHSEE for the class of 2006 Friday afternoon, after indicating Monday that he agreed with the plaintiffs of a lawsuit filed on the grounds that the exam discriminates against English-learner and socio-economically disadvantaged students.
“There is evidence in the record that shows that students in economically challenged communities have not had an equal opportunity to learn the materials tested on the (CAHSEE),” Freedman wrote.
He also rejected the California Attorney General’s argument that the injunction should only apply to the six remaining plaintiffs in the case, as opposed to all California seniors. Originally 10 students and their families filed suit, but four passed both portions of the exam afterwards.
“Prospective harm to a student who is otherwise fully qualified to graduate is sufficiently clear,” Freedman wrote. “Remaining for a fifth or subsequent year in an already stressed district or attending community college when the student might otherwise be accepted to a four-year institution all demonstrate significant risk of harm.”
Two hours later, Freedman rejected State Superintendent of Instruction Jack O’Connell’s request for an immediate stay of ruling. The California Department of Education plans to appeal the decision immediately.
“My most immediate concern is the chaos this decision creates in school districts throughout the state,” said O’Connell in a press release. “There are students who are within days of graduation who are left with uncertainty over whether or not they will be granted a diploma, whether or not they should enroll in summer school for remediation courses, and whether or not they should be planning to take the summer remediation of the exit exam … We do no favors to students who have not mastered basic skills by handing them a diploma. We can better serve those students by helping them to complete their education.”
Statewide, this ruling effects 47,000 seniors, or about 11 percent of the class of 2006. At SBHS, 28 students required to complete the CAHSEE have yet to pass one or more portions of the exam but, of those students, SBHS officials have not compiled data as to how many are otherwise on track to graduate. An additional 23 special education students have not passed the Exit Exam, but have an extra year to do so, as was settled in a prior lawsuit.
“I don’t think anyone ever took this test very seriously,” said Allyson Acosta, an SBHS sophomore. Acosta took the exam for the first time this year, but students have not received their results yet. “You can go ahead and say ‘Your entire future depends on this, kids,’ but we already have to worry about STAR tests and SAT tests, and just regular tests in class. I don’t know if they mean anything anymore.”
Many local students were sympathetic of the challenges English-learning students face, and felt that a different version of the exam should be offered in Spanish.
“My mom teaches a bilingual class, and when she gave them their tests they said ‘Do the other students have to take one in Spanish?’ because that’s how hard it makes it for them,” said Stephanie Cuellar, an SBHS sophomore.
Others, however, felt that all students had an equal opportunity to pass the exam, and those who didn’t had no one to blame but themselves.
“The exit exam covered pretty basic stuff,” said Andrew Yacovone, a sophomore. “I just think it’s really sad how low the standards are.”
Many educators echoed Yacavone’s sentiment.
“In my class if you do the work, you pass the class, and you’re usually going to pass it with a B or better because you have to understand the material,” said Jane Gaylord, an SBHS English teacher. “Education used to be a source of social mobility, but I don’t know if we have that kind of culture any more. It’s easier to say ‘I don’t understand, so just tell me the answer.'”
For most educators, one of the more frustrating aspects of the controversy surrounding the CAHSEE is that student responsibility is rarely mentioned, when districts around the state have sunk countless funds, resources and man hours into developing support options for students who have not passed the exit exam and policy as to how to deal with the exam in the future.
“We don’t make decisions any more that aren’t followed by lawsuits. So if something’s too tough or I don’t get my way, it’s easier for me to find an escape hatch and sue than take responsibility for my actions,” said Slater. “…. A school is a partnership. We have to do our job, but our students and families have to do their job as well.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
