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Judge strikes down exit exam
Contra Costa Times ^ | 5/12/6 | Shirley Dang

Posted on 05/12/2006 2:28:51 PM PDT by SmithL

An Alameda County judge granted the wish of 47,000 high school seniors Friday after abolishing the exit exam as a graduation requirement this year.

Superior Court Judge Robert Freedman ruled that students who earn enough credits may receive a diploma, regardless of their performance on the test.

State Superintendent of Schools Jack O'Connell is expected to appeal the injunction immediately. The state will seek a reversal that would become effective before the end of the school year, according to a request for a stay on the decision filed today.

The decision deals a significant blow to the future of the exit exam, which faces three lawsuits in all. By granting a reprieve to this year's seniors, Freedman set the stage for similar decisions on any injunctions filed in successive years, essentially nullifying the law.

The Legislature approved the law creating the test, which measures sophomore English and middle-school math skills, in 1999. O'Connell wrote the legislation as a state senator with the intention of evening out differences in graduation standards among high schools statewide, thereby giving meaning to the diploma.

At last count, 89 percent of the state's seniors, or 390,000 out of 437,000, had passed. A remaining 47,000 seniors, not including special education students, have not.

(Excerpt) Read more at contracostatimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: activistjudge; badjudge; badteachers; graduation; incompetencewins; lousyschools; robertfreedman; ruling; stupid
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The teacher's union will be happy, this judge just reinforced California's institutionalized stupidity.
1 posted on 05/12/2006 2:28:53 PM PDT by SmithL
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To: SmithL

I am not gonna bother reading his ruling.

So I'll ask someone who has ... WHAT was his rationale?????


2 posted on 05/12/2006 2:30:48 PM PDT by Blueflag (Res ipsa loquitor)
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To: SmithL

Public education is a joke. What's the point?


3 posted on 05/12/2006 2:31:03 PM PDT by RedBeaconNY (If you want to know what God thinks of money, look at the people He gave it to.)
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To: SmithL

California was,after all,the birthplace of "if it feels good,do it".


4 posted on 05/12/2006 2:31:48 PM PDT by Gay State Conservative
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To: SmithL

Thereby devaluing the diploma for all graduates.


5 posted on 05/12/2006 2:32:52 PM PDT by sunset212
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To: SmithL
Heard this on the radio. One of the complaints was that the English test discriminated against those who had poor English skills.

I can't take much more of this!

6 posted on 05/12/2006 2:35:26 PM PDT by Semper Paratus
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To: Semper Paratus

WHAT EVA HAPIN TO LIL BILLIE?


7 posted on 05/12/2006 2:39:28 PM PDT by al baby (Father of the Beeber)
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To: RedBeaconNY
To raise a bunch of docile sheep that will vote Democrat and keep the enlightened in power.
8 posted on 05/12/2006 2:40:38 PM PDT by PogySailor (Unleash Jack Bauer on the CIA leakers!)
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To: Blueflag
So I'll ask someone who has ... WHAT was his rationale?????

That poor students were not given the same resources and educational opportunities as richer ones, and they were therefore discriminated against.

What that overlooks is that the test is so dumbed-down (it's said to be at the level an 8th grader would ordinarily attain) that no matter how dismal your educational conditions, you should be able to pass it. Maybe your school didn't have a Nobel laureate teaching math like some school in Palo Alto, but even you, matriculating at a campus where the teachers are all drunks and time-servers, ought to be able to get through it.

9 posted on 05/12/2006 2:42:56 PM PDT by John Jorsett (scam never sleeps)
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To: SmithL

I'm waiting for some parents to sue the State of South Carolina over their PACT test (given to 3-8 graders to gauge skill level, progress, etc), but not because of the discrepancy between schools from poor districts and wealthy ones. The State of SC in its' infinite wisdom decreed that children with severe learning disabilities and various degrees of mental retardation have to take this test and pass on grade level. That may not sound like much to most people, but try getting a child who has mental retardation and is just realizing the link between letters and sounds to read a passage written on a 3rd grade level and then answer questions about what they just read. Or requiring them to write a composition when they have just mastered the art of writing their names (first only).


10 posted on 05/12/2006 2:50:51 PM PDT by MissEdie
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To: SmithL

From what I've read this is a dumbed-down exam which can be repeatedly taken and requires only a 50% passing score!

There will be two immediate consequences: (1) the diploma will be virtually worthless and mean nothing to prospective employers and (2) it will assure that these academic "fakers" will never succeed in the competitive jobs and employment marketplaces.

These people are apparently too obtuse to realize they're doing these pupils NO favor by eliminating all standards. I've also heard that this is another result of the illegal invasion that's swamping and bankrupting many school districts.


11 posted on 05/12/2006 2:53:17 PM PDT by T.L.Sink (stopew)
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To: Blueflag
So I'll ask someone who has ... WHAT was his rationale?????

The article did not say but from what I read at other sites the rationale was "All schools are not created equal...".

12 posted on 05/12/2006 2:53:45 PM PDT by trashcanbred (Anti-social and anti-socialist)
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To: John Jorsett

My son is a sophmore and passed the exit exam last fall with 89%. it is not that tough, the parents need to get involved with there kids.


13 posted on 05/12/2006 2:54:02 PM PDT by mmyers
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To: SmithL
Democracy requires an educated populace -- apparently California courts disagree. When you combine this with the lies and disinformation propagated by the MSM; one has to wonder whether the U.S. will continue to be capable of self-determination.

{Flame away, I meant to be provocative -- just remember that, if the U.S. government doesn't get things right, the world is headed for the toilet.}
14 posted on 05/12/2006 2:56:24 PM PDT by USFRIENDINVICTORIA
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To: Semper Paratus
Honest Judges and courts will soon be abolished, inasmuch as they discriminate against the ethically impaired.
Ethically challenged Judges are safe since most of them belong to the Democrat Party.
15 posted on 05/12/2006 3:02:51 PM PDT by rock58seg (Twin problems, a tin ear and a tin drum, establishes myths such as "ROP" and "guest worker".)
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To: SmithL

Bloody hell! This state needs to be taken out to the wood shed!


16 posted on 05/12/2006 3:08:30 PM PDT by newzjunkey (Don't use illegals: HIREPATRIOTS.COM)
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To: T.L.Sink
(1) the diploma will be virtually worthless and mean nothing to prospective employers

It doesn't mean anything now. We only interview high school graduates. We give them a basic skills test. About one out of every five can not pass it.

17 posted on 05/12/2006 3:12:36 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (I am only an evil INTERN. I am still learning.)
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To: MissEdie

Being the parent of two Mentally Handicapped children, as well as two "Gifted" children, "Mainlining", putting Mentally Handicapped children in regular classes, was/is a stupid "feel good" idea. The only useful classes, are the ones designed specifically to help them.

But, then I am so bigoted, I also believe in "Gifted and Talented" programs.

Homogeneity, Putting smart kids in one class, slower in another, is often self policing, since the grapevine tells the pupils which teachers are tough, and which are easy.


18 posted on 05/12/2006 3:18:41 PM PDT by rock58seg (Twin problems, a tin ear and a tin drum, establishes myths such as "ROP" and "guest worker".)
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To: Semper Paratus
One of the complaints was that the English test discriminated against those who had poor English skills.

You've got to be kidding? Who in their right mind would take that seriously? (I know, the NEA, etc.) Geez.
19 posted on 05/12/2006 3:26:49 PM PDT by Ivana Denisovich (Middle-class Americans: Paying the taxes and doing the work the illegals won't.)
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To: SmithL
Judge strikes down exit exam ...

...And helps expand the Democrat base.

20 posted on 05/12/2006 3:31:05 PM PDT by Right_in_Virginia
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