California Court Upholds State Exit Exam

In the latest ruling of a closely watched case, a California appeals court has upheld the state’s high school exit exam and has thrown out a lower court ruling that eliminated the testing hurdle for this year’s graduating class.

The Aug. 11 ruling means that the roughly 40,000 seniors in the class of 2006 who were not given diplomas as a result of failing to pass the state-mandated exit exams in mathematics and language arts still must pass those tests in order to get a high school diploma.

California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell called the decision a “clear victory to students, parents, and the entire system of...