Who takes the graduation stroll?

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Last week, the school district proposed allowing all seniors who have completed their course work to attend graduation ceremonies, even if they haven’t passed the state-mandated exit exam. The students would get a certificate but still have to return and pass the exam before earning their diplomas. What do you think of this idea?

This is how things get tricky when applying broad mandates to a population as diverse as California high school students. I am definitely in favor of the high school exit exam. I’ve seen the tests. They’re not hard. I know kids who easily passed it as freshman. If a kid goes through four years of regular high school and can’t pass that test, they don’t deserve to be awarded a diploma. A high school diploma needs to have some value, both to the person who earns it and society in general. If a kid can stumble through four years of high school, learn almost nothing and still graduate, then one of the key first-level measurements of ability and accomplishment is essentially useless to employers and colleges. The exit exam just barely raises the bar, but at least there is a bar.

That works for the large majority of high school students, but it is a problem for many special education students. Special education is different. While I generally agree with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s concern that it would send a message of low expectations to students with disabilities, I think his veto of the bill that would have granted an exemption to special education students was the wrong decision. Special education kids who successfully complete a high school curriculum designed to accommodate their special requirements deserve to graduate and receive a diploma. When it comes to special education, it doesn’t have to be as black or white as the governor makes it out to be.

For the rest of the student population, it is pretty black or white to me. Passing the exit exam is a requirement for high school graduation. If “English learners” need to learn English to pass the test, then so be it. If you don’t graduate, you don’t get a diploma and you don’t get to walk with the class in a graduation ceremony. Allowing nongraduates to walk with graduates tarnishes the accomplishments of those who actually did graduate. It is called a “graduation” ceremony after all, not “certificate of completion recognition” ceremony. With the single exception of special education students, we need to stick to the policy.

* MARK GLEASON is a Costa Mesa resident and parent.

There is time and money for the students and district to do whatever it takes to help students pass the high school exit exam. To allow students who have not passed the exam to attend graduation ceremonies would be wrong, simply because it would tell other students that when the going gets tough, exceptions will always be made, and that this exam is not important.

It’s not like the state just announced the exam. It was created in 2001 because Californians were clamoring for minimum achievement standards from high school graduates. The legislature approved the exam to require students, including special education and Englishlanguage learners, to master minimum standards. The test rules allow broad flexibility through “accommodations” and “modifications.” Some may need more time, extra breaks, interpreters or the option to give oral answers. In some cases, students may be eligible for a waiver.

A total of $70 million was authorized this year to give “intensive instruction and services” for all students in the class of 2006. That’s about $500 per 12th-grader. Students have three tries before graduation to take the test -- in February, March and May.

Recently the governor vetoed a bill to exempt special education students from the exam. He said delay of the requirement would send the wrong message to the majority of special education students who have the ability to pass the exam. I agree.

Initially, administrators said the dropout rate would increase with the exam requirement; however, state records show the dropout rate has decreased and each year scores go up. Some administrators don’t like the exam because it means they must focus on why some students, especially special education and English language learners, don’t succeed.

The district and most of these students have known for four years about the exam deadlines. Students don’t need to hear excuses. With perseverance, all students can pass. They should not be coddled and rewarded with a certificate. Some may never go back to take the test once graduation is over. What they need is tough love, encouragement and teachers to tell them not to give up.

* WENDY LEECE is a Costa Mesa parent, former school board member and member of the city’s parks and recreation commission.

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