Judge Grants Preliminary Injunction Against High School Exit Exam

Sacramento, CA — An Alameda County superior court judge is granting a preliminary injunction suspending California´s high school exit exam for the class of 2006.

The decision potentially allows thousands of students who have failed the test to graduate. It´s not immediately clear whether Superior Court Judge Robert

Freedman also granted the state attorney general´s request to immediately stay the injunction pending an appeal.

The judge says he is persuaded by the arguments of 10 students who claimed the exit exam discriminates against poor students and those who are learning English.

He says the record shows poor students don´t have an equal opportunity to learn the materials on the tests.

Freedman is rejecting the state´s argument that the decision should apply only to the te students who sued, saying it applies to all seniors who have otherwise met the requirements for graduation but have failed the exit exam.

The ruling affects 47,000 seniors, about 11 percent of the class of 2006, who have yet to pass both the English and math sections of the exam.