Update on High School Graduation Requirements

One news story that we have so far neglected to track here is the ongoing lawsuit to block requirement that all students pass the the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) in order to earn a high school diploma. This is clearly an important issue for many San Francisco families, so let's catch up with the story.

Last week a Superior Court Judge stuck down the exit exam requirement on the grounds that "Students in economically challenged communities have not had an equal opportunity to learn the materials tested." The state is preparing an appeal. Today we learn that Superintendent O'Connell plans to take the appeal directly to the California Supreme Court to get a final ruling quickly. In a separate but related case alleging that the state failed to consider alternatives to CAHSEE the same judge ruled in favor of the state. But this judgement does not have any effect on his ruling on the CAHSEE graduation requirement. It's worth noting that the CAHSEE requirement has already been waived, at least for this year, for special education students.

Eric Mar provides a sympathetic report on the judges ruling which places the plaintiff's case in the context of the struggle for equity and civil rights. There is no doubt that the CAHSEE requirement would have a pronounced negative impact on minority students, who have disproportionately studied in inferior schools. According to statistics cited by KPFA a majority of those who have not passed the test are students of color. 2% of whites taking the test have not passed while %20 of African Americans and %13 of Latino students have not passed.

On the other hand, proponents of the test argue that we need to set standards and demand that students achieve a minimum competency in order to earn a diploma. Superintendent O'Connell, an obvious supporter of the exit exam, has been making some odd arguments to support the test. In a report aired on KPFA O'Connell claims that striking down the requirement lowers California's standards, lowers expectations, and somehow signals to struggling student that the state is giving up on them. and that "allowing students to graduate with high school diplomas that have not mastered this minimum skillset is really doing a disservice to those very students." I think there are many reasons for supporting an exit exam, but this argument is pretty tortured.

TMAO, teacher / author of Teaching in the 408 offers a nicely grounded, nuanced view in his post Obligatory Blogging About CAHSEE:

There is much to the coverage that feels sloppy and inaccurate. Do not report the total number of students failing without also reporting the total number of students failing who also lack the GPA and credits to graduate.

Almost all articles about the CAHSEE suit talk about the 47,000 seniors who have so far failed to pass the exam as if they would all get a diploma if not for the CAHSEE requirement. Clearly this cannot be the case. The real number of affected students is probably unknowable, but it is the only number that counts.

Stay tuned for lots more turbulence ahead as this case works its way through the courts.