Saturday, May 13, 2006

California continues to promote English as a 2nd language...

California, once again, is trailing by example in the court system.

Alexandra over at All Things Beautiful talks about how "wonderful" liberal justice is, with tongue planted firmly in cheek...a good read.

From the AP:
A judge Friday suspended California's high school exit exam, finding it discriminatory in a ruling that could allow thousands of students who failed the test to get their diplomas anyway.

Superior Court Judge Robert Freedman also denied the state's request to immediately stay the decision pending an appeal.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell said the state would immediately appeal the ruling, which he said creates "chaos" for more than 1,100 high schools that are completing graduation preparations.

"There are students who are within days of graduation. They are left with uncertainty over whether they will be granted a diploma," O'Connell said in a teleconference. "How are these students and these schools to plan for their futures?"

Mayra Ibanez, one of 10 students who, along with their parents, sued over the exam, said during a San Francisco news conference with her attorneys that she cried when she heard about the ruling.

"It is hard to be poor. It is hard to grow up in a place where there is a lot of crime," said the 18-year-old, a Mexican immigrant who attends school in the working-class San Francisco Bay area city of Richmond. "No one will be hurt if we get our diploma."

The Alameda County judge agreed with the plaintiffs that the exam discriminates against poor students and those who are learning English.

"There is evidence in the record that shows that students in economically challenged communities have not had an equal opportunity to learn the materials tested," Freedman wrote.
The state is appealing, stating that the six students failed the exam because they have poor English skills, not because they were denied a good education. Students have multiple opportunities to take the exam, starting when they are sophomores.

The land of fruits and nuts indeed.

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