California Supreme Court Reinstates Exit Exam

High School seniors who failed California's proficiency exam will be disappointed to learn that they probably are not going to graduate.

That seems almost impossible because earning a passing grade on the proficiency exam only requires slightly more than half the right answers on a test that is geared to 8th grade math and 10th grade English.

Right now I'm just really scared, said Mansi Goshi, a Magnolia High School (Anaheim) senior who has a 3.4 GPA but hasn't passed the exit exam. Last week, she thought she might get a diploma.

I think the appropriate question is not whether or not a student should be given (yes, given) a high school diploma for keeping a seat warm. Instead we should ask our public high schools how any student can finish 12th grade with a 3.4 GPA and not have proficiency in English at the 10th grade level and math at the 8th grade level.

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