EDITORIAL STUDY NOW, OR PAY LATER EXIT EXAMS AREN'T AS HARD AS FAILING REAL LIFE.

The California Board of Education has reaffirmed a basic educational principle that ought to go without saying: To graduate from high school, students must show some mastery of high-school material.

That this bit of common sense doesn't go without saying says volumes about the state of California public education.

Members of the education establishment have fought the High School Exit Exam ever since the Legislature passed it into law in 1999. They have sought to derail the exam at every opportunity, and tried most recently to water it down by letting some students bypass the test via "alternative" assessments.

But the board would have nothing to do with it. It voted unanimously to require passing the test for all students - except those with learning disabilities - to get a diploma in the class of 2006.

Passing the test isn't hard. Students have multiple chances, starting in their sophomore year and going all the way through senior year. To pass, they need to have mastered eighth- grade math and 10th-grade English.

For many, that is a daunting challenge - which is a sad commentary on the education and grade inflation in our schools. But those who fail can get tutoring, or repeat their senior year, or even get remedial education at a community college, then take the test again later.

That may be tough, but it beats the alternative - going out into the job world or to college underprepared and set up for failure. Issuing meaningless diplomas may protect failing schools, but it does no favors for the kids who receive them.