Students Sue California Over High School Exit Exam-say it's discriminatory

[The Straight Story]

Students Sue California Over High School Exit Exam
Written for the web by Jason Kobely, Internet News Producer

Students represented by a San Francisco law firm sued the state of California Wednesday, claiming the state's controversial high school exit exam is discriminatory.

Lawyers with Morrison & Foerster filed the suit in San Francisco Superior Court on behalf of ten students who will not graduate with their high school classes after failing a portion of the state's new mandatory exam.

Lead attorney Arturo Gonzalez said the state failed to come up with mandated alternatives for students who had trouble passing the exam, especially non-English-speaking students. "We think that's unfair, we think that's unwise, and we think that's illegal," Gonzalez said.

The lawsuit could potentially include thousands of 2006 California seniors, the first class required to pass the English and math exams necessary to graduate. At the beginning of the school year, about 100,000 seniors statewide had failed at least one of the test sections. The state Department of Education said that number is significantly lower now, although no offical figures have been compiled.

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