Published on June 5, 2003
By Helen Gao -- Bee Staff Writer
Alarmed by the large number of students failing the California High School Exit Exam, the state Assembly has passed a bill that would delay making the test a graduation requirement by two years.
Launched in 2001 as a cornerstone of Gov. Gray Davis' school accountability package, the exit exam is due to take effect as a graduation requirement starting with the class of 2004.
Under AB 356, passed 44-32 late Tuesday, the exam requirement would be pushed back to the 2005-2006 school year.
The bill, authored by Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, will go next to the Senate Education Committee and then later the Senate floor for a vote, probably in August. Gov. Gray Davis must also sign it into law.
"There is still a lot of discussion on should this happen, should it not," said Teri Burns, deputy superintendent for governmental affairs at the California Department of Education. "The Senate Education Committee is not known for rubber-stamping what the Assembly does."
Passage of the bill comes just as the state Board of Education is preparing to reconsider the exit exam. It could trump the board's pending vote.
Since the test was first given in 2001, only 49 percent of the students in the Los Angeles Unified School District have passed the English part and just 30 percent have passed the math portion.
Statewide, 73 percent of the students have passed the English portion and 53 percent the math portion. l=8s=8 Helen Gao, (818) 713-3741 helen.gao@dailynews.com