The California Court of Appeal has upheld the state’s high school graduation test for the second time. A three-judge panel of the midlevel state appeals court ruled unanimously on Sept. 29 against the Californians for Justice Education Fund. The fund sued the state board of education earlier this year alleging that the state did not explore alternatives to the test in a timely manner.
State schools Superintendent Jack O’Connell, who has stood firm on the test requirement, called the ruling “yet another affirmation that the California High School Exit Exam is here to stay.”
Solomon Rivera, the executive director of the advocacy organization, said in a press release that there were 20,000 students who could have benefited from an alternative assessment and they were being “unfairly punished.”
In August, the state appeals court ruled in a separate case that a trial judge overstepped his authority earlier in the year when he granted an injunction that would have suspended the exam requirement for this year’s seniors as long as they met all other graduation requirements.
