EDITORIAL TEST FOR SUCCESS EXIT EXAM BRINGS ACCOUNTABILITY TO HIGH SCHOOLS AND STUDENTS.

FOR some 7,500 seniors in the Los Angeles Unified School District, it's cram time. And that's a good thing.

Many of these students are cracking the books, taking extra classes and doing whatever they can to prepare for the statewide High School exit exam, which will be offered Feb. 7. If they can't pass both the math and English sections of the exam, they can't graduate.

Thus the sense of urgency, on the part of students, schools and the LAUSD, which are doing all they can to get the kids ready.

For years, members of the education establishment have protested the exam, saying it unfairly punishes kids for the failings of their schools. But the ongoing, mad rush to master basic material proves the naysayers wrong. The exam has provided exactly the motivation needed to get schools, teachers and students alike serious about making sure that kids graduate with not just a diploma, but a basic education.

The exit exam is not hard. The material is something that all 10th-graders should be able to handle. Test-takers need get only 60 percent of the English portion and 55 percent of the math portion correct. They also have multiple chances over their final three years in high school to pass, and the overwhelming majority of this year's seniors already have.

But for the rest, those who have managed to get by without learning, the test forces accountability. It makes sure that students learn the material, and that schools - better late than never - teach it.

It does our students no favors to grant them diplomas without making sure they know the basics needed to function in a competitive marketplace. Better they cram now than fail later.