Bill to exempt special education
students from exit exam advances

By Associated Press

SACRAMENTO - Last Monday the Assembly overwhelmingly approved a measure that would temporarily exempt special education students from having to pass California’s high school exit exam.
    The bill, by Sen. Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles), is intended to settle claims made in a lawsuit that the exam discriminates against the disabled. The bill would give the state one year to craft a longer-term solution for special education students.
    The bill, SB517, passed on a 69-1 vote and moves to the Senate later this week, where it is expected to pass.
    The class of 2006 will be the first in California to be required to pass the exam, which seeks to measure student’s abilities in math and English.
    State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell said he supports the Romero bill. Earlier this year, he declined to offer alternatives for non-special education students who have failed the test.
    An Oakland-based advocacy group filed a lawsuit on behalf of special education students in 2001, and a settlement was reached with the state last August. Democrats, however, altered the bill that was intended to implement the settlement, prompting O’Connell to withdraw his support and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to veto it.
    The bill that passed the Assembly on Monday is the latest attempt to implement the settlement. Schwarzenegger’s Secretary of Education Alan Bersin has said the governor favors the new version and is expected to sign it.