STATE POSTPONES SCHOOL EXIT EXAM TEST OPPONENTS CHEER BOARD'S DECISION.

Byline: Helen Gao Staff Writer

The state Board of Education voted unanimously Wednesday to postpone the high school exit exam requirement for two years, saying students were inadequately prepared to meet the 2004 deadline.

Just 81 percent of California's Class of 2004 has passed the English portion and 62 percent the math, according to the latest available results. Following tests administered in March, 78.2 percent of students in the Los Angeles Unified School District had passed the English portion and 49.1 percent the math.

``I think we have been overly optimistic in the 2004 date,'' state Superintendent Jack O'Connell, who authored the 1999 legislation that created the test, said in a teleconference following the vote.

``While I support the delay for two years, I do so to ensure students have the opportunities to learn and to help ensure their maximum opportunity for success.''

State education officials said many schools still lack up-to-date textbooks that reflect the rigorous academic standards California adopted in the past several years.

``Let's make it very clear, we should not let up, slow down or ease off on efforts to help students pass the exam,'' said state Education Secretary Kerry Mazzoni.

Opponents of the test cheered the board's decision, but some felt it didn't go far enough. Alex Caputo-Pearl, who heads the Coalition for Educational Justice in Los Angeles, argued the test should be scrapped altogether.

``It needs to be an outright cancellation of the diploma penalty or a much longer moratorium to take care of racial and class inequities that are deeply embedded in the system,'' he said.

According to state statistics, just 28 percent of black students and 30 percent of Latino students have passed the test, while the success rate for white and Asian students are 65 and 70 percent, respectively.

Noting the disproportionate impact of the test on minority immigrant students who attend the most overcrowded schools in Los Angeles, the LAUSD board voted in April to lobby against the exit exam.

LAUSD board President Jose Huizar applauded the state board's decision.

``One single exam should not determine someone's future,'' he said. ``I don't think we have fully thought out the unintended consequences of having hundreds of thousands of kids without diplomas. We are going to see large problems in crime and unemployment.''

Students were conflicted about the state board's decision.

Debbie Sklut, who will be a sophomore next year at Cleveland High School in Reseda, said the test is easy and should be required.

``If people aren't passing such an easy test - I could take it and pass it in middle school - then they shouldn't graduate,'' she said.

Spread over three days, the exit exam covers reading and writing standards up to 10th grade and math concepts through sixth and seventh grades, as well as algebra.

Although Misty Murray, an incoming senior at Cleveland High passed the test on her first try, she thinks the exam is ``pointless,'' saying it doesn't fully capture what students learn in school.

``Graduation should be based on your grades and what you learn,'' she said.

Helen Gao, [phone]

helen.gao(at)dailynews.com

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LAUSD EXIT EXAM RESULTS

SOURCE: Los Angeles Unified School District