May 18, 2006
Schools Chief Jack O'Connell Asks California Supreme
Court to Overturn High School Exit Exam Ruling
SAN FRANCISCO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell announced today that he will file an appeal with the California Supreme Court in the case of Valenzuela v. O'Connell. He will also ask the Supreme Court to stay a ruling by the Alameda County Superior Court that halted the California High School Exit Exam as a requirement for graduation for the class of 2006.
O'Connell issued the following statement:
"Last Friday, an Alameda County Superior Court judge ruled against maintaining the California High School Exit Exam as a condition of graduation for the class of 2006. The decision came as more than 1,100 California high schools prepare for graduation ceremonies. It created confusion and uncertainty not only for seniors in the class of 2006 but for juniors in the class of 2007.
"Many students now wonder whether they should enroll in summer school or plan to take a summer administration of the exit exam. Administrators and teachers are left wondering whether students who need the extra assistance will bother to enroll. And students who should be buckling down to learn the skills they need to succeed in college or the workplace have now been told they can get a diploma whether or not they have those skills.
"The lower court may have intended to benefit those students, but the effect of Friday's decision was to eliminate the one mechanism California had in place to make certain students graduate with essential skills.
"We know that some students at some schools need extra attention to overcome challenges brought to the classroom and challenges within the schools they attend. We agree those students must have every option available to them to learn the skills on the exam. But I strongly disagree that the remedy for students still struggling to pass the exam is to simply hand them a diploma whether or not they have learned what they need to know.
"In an effort to seek resolution of this issue as quickly as possible, I have asked my attorneys to appeal directly to the California Supreme Court. They are working around the clock to prepare those papers, and we expect to file within 24 to 30 hours. This is a remarkably fast turnaround for an appeal of a ruling that was made less than a week ago. While, of course, I am advising all school districts to abide by the lower court's order until or unless the order is modified by an appellate court, I am hopeful that our appeal to the state Supreme Court will bring quick resolution to this issue.
"We do not want to give up on students who have not mastered the skills they need. Allowing them to graduate without those skills does just that. Nor do we want to lower the standards for our education system that California has worked so hard to maintain.
"I have consistently said that failure to pass the exit exam merely means that their education is not complete and I have laid out more than a half dozen options for these students to continue their schooling. Programs put in place to help students pass the exam have led to steadily increasing passage rates for English learners, low-income students, and ethnic minorities.
"If allowed to stand, the ruling would effectively eliminate a program of remediation that is working for students because of the pressure of a graduation requirement. It is a program that is leading to improved achievement and better opportunities for the very students the plaintiffs are trying to protect.
"In a rapidly changing global economy that demands higher and higher skill levels, this is exactly the wrong message to send to our students. Simply put, this decision was bad for our schools, bad for our kids, bad for our economy, and bad for our future.
"So I look forward to the opportunity to argue this case and hope for the sake of our students and schools, the exit exam will remain as a cornerstone of California's school accountability system."
