Friday, May 12, 2006

CA Judge blocks high school exit exam for this year

CA High School Exit Exam blocked!
SF CHRONICLE ARTICLE
Education reporter Anette Asimov just posted her story -
California's high school exit exam is officially dead for this year -- unless state educators can persuade an appeals court to overturn the final ruling issued today by an Alameda County Superior Court judge.
Asimov didn't mention that the judge's order relies on the historic Williams case [2000-2004] which highlights the unequal conditions and lack of equal opportunities to learn for many low income immigrant and students of color throughtout California. More on the Williams Case

It's an 11th-hour upset victory for thousands of low-income students and English learners who sued the state on February 8, claiming that many students have not had the opportunity to learn the material on the exit exam because they went to substandard schools with unqualified teachers, insufficient textbooks, and squalid conditions.
This is a tremendous victory for the courageous Bay Area students Liliana Valenzuela, Ahmed Osama Abd El Rahman, Noemi Cervantes, Mayra Ibanez, Mayela Barragan and her parents and Laura Echavarria and the many other plaintiffs, but also for the parent, teacher and student organizations like Californians for Justice, Teachers for Social Justice, and Coalition for Educational Justice that have been challenging the race and class biased CAHSEE and other high stakes tests in California. Arturo Gonzalez and Morrison and Forster did tremendous work on this case. For more on opposing the harm of high stakes testing in CA or other areas see -
http://www.calcare.org
http://www.calcare.org/links/
http://www.fairtest.org/
MORE ON CFJ/Public Advocates CAHSEE Lawsuit
MORE ON the Valenzuela Case

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