State may drop high school exit exam as graduation requirement

In an attempt to trim some of the state's $24-billion deficit, a joint legislative budget committee recommended June 17 that the state eliminate the high school exit exam as a graduation requirement.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell have both said they oppose the move. A supporter of the exit exam, the governor has threatened to veto any budget that eliminates it as a requirement for graduation.

O'Connell said in a written statement that reducing the potency of the exam, the "greatest high school reform effort" made in a generation, will do a "grave injustice" to students.

Under the committee's recommendation, the exit exam, which tests reading, writing and arithmetic, would be given to students in the 10th grade and used to calculate the state's academic performance index (API) and to determine if students are meeting the adequate yearly progress goals set by the federal government's No Child Left Behind requirements.

But there would be no need for students who failed the test to retake it because passing would not be required, at least temporarily, to earn a high school diploma. The exam would essentially be used to identify the help that students need.

O'Connell spokesperson Pam Slater said they figure the proposal will save around $8 million.

Becky Buettner, Oxnard Union High School District's director of assessment and accountability, said although she likes the exit exam, a call for less student testing doesn't surprise her because education accounts for a large portion of the state budget.

Seventyseven percent of Oxnard Union students pass the exit exam in their sophomore year, she said.

"I think the kids take it seriously," Buettner said. "It's better than what we had before."

Before the state instituted the exit exam, school districts developed their own high school minimumproficiency test for wouldbe graduates. The exit exam created a uniform and fair statewide system, Buettner said.

The State Board of Education made passing the exit exam a high school graduation requirement beginning with the class of 2006.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (DLos Angeles) supports a "suspension" of the exit exam. Bass said in a prepared statement that state cuts could lead to a shorter school year, fewer teachers and larger class sizes, and as a consequence it would be unrealistic to expect the same results from students as before the cuts.

Bass said time and learning in the classroom should be spent on key subjects and not testing for the exit exam. Suspending the exit exam would give the state time to fix flaws, particularly the way the test puts girls and minority students at a disadvantage, she said.

The Assembly and the Senate are expected to vote soon on the proposal.