hs exit exam reinstated

as a followup to the story on the stay of the injunction against the exit exam, i post this excerpt from an article in the chron. the story of this girl who "speaks almost no english" is more proof that the exit exam is badly needed. what makes people think that someone who speaks almost no english is deserving of a high school diploma? if someone who speaks almost no english can get a diploma, then that document is worthless. the last quoted paragraph below is also very telling. the girl is going to undertake extra studies in hopes of passing. that's exactly what is supposed to happen! good for her, she's doing the right thing. she'll learn more, pass the exam, and when she does, she'll have really earned it. her diploma will be a true accomplishment rather than a meaningless piece of paper.

``...
Iris Padilla, a senior at Richmond High School who speaks almost no English and hasn't passed the exit exam, was in class Wednesday when another student received a phone call with news that the exit exam had been reinstated.

"Several girls started to cry," Iris said, acknowledging she was one of them.

Iris has passed all her classes and otherwise would graduate if not for the exam. Her spirits were high earlier this month after an Alameda County Superior Court judge struck down the exit exam, saying it was unfair to penalize students who attended poorly performing schools and hadn't been given an equal opportunity to learn the materials on the test.

Iris was so happy, she even went to the prom with her friends last weekend -- a rite of passage she had planned to skip when she thought she wouldn't receive a diploma.

Now, though, Iris is planning to attend summer school and take another stab at the test this summer.
...''