Amid yet another round of budget negotiations, Democrats made a surprising and controversial proposal this week: Suspend the state's high school exit exam. The move was largely inspired by philosophical worries: Democrats on the influential budget conference committee say they cannot in good conscience mandate the exam for students while at the same time propose to slash education funding by millions of dollars more. "When the state is making cuts that could lead to a shorter school year, fewer teachers and larger class sizes, it doesn't seem realistic to expect the same results as before the cuts," said Assembly Speaker...
