California court approves settlement of legal challenge to the California High School Exit Exam
A California state court has approved the settlement of a legal challenge to the California High School Exit Exam ("CaHSEE"). As a result, high school students in the classes of 2006 and 2007 who failed to graduate and earn a diploma because they couldn't pass the exam may have earned a reprieve. A lawsuit filed by a group of parents and students alleged that the state of California failed to provide all students an equal chance to pass the CaHSEE, in violation of the students’ constitutional rights to due process and equal protection. The exam is first given when students are in the 10th grade and is offered again several times. Students who don't pass the exam before graduation are given a chance to take it again once school's out in July. Under the terms of the settlement, all past, present, and future public high school students in California who fail the CaHSEE will be provided "free" intensive instruction for up to two consecutive academic years after completion of grade 12, or until the pupil has passed both parts of the state-mandated test. This instruction is in addition to tutoring and after-school programs that some California school districts already offer. Students may also enroll in adult school or a community college, be redesignated a senior for an additional year of high school, or pass the GED to receive a diploma equivalent.
The approved settlement still faces an uncertain future, as the California legislature has not passed the bill approving the settlement. Some school officials raise other questions such as this one from Chaffey Joint Union High School District Superintendent Barry W. Cadwallader: If a student takes longer than four years to graduate, will that student still be counted in the statistics for the 2006 graduation rate? Education Secretary Margaret Spellings has hinted against that, he says.
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
By Carolyn G. Schatz
[Full story]
[Editor’s Note: The details of the settlement are set forth in the notice from the court, below. Background is provided at the second link.]
[Notice of proposed settlement]
[NSBA School Law pages on exit exam dispute]