As a school board member, I always try to attend a number of graduation ceremonies at Elementary, Middle and High Schools and continuation schools throughout our City. My kindergartener Jade also has a advancement ceremony for her class as well! :-)
On one sour note though - this year marks the first when the racist and class-biased California high school exit exam or CAHSEE will bar tens of thousands of students from receiving the diplomas they have earned, including hundreds of high school seniors in San Francisco. Hundreds more of our students have also just simply given up and dropped out as a result 0f the high stakes testing system and a lack of an equal opportunity to learn which impacts them and millions of other of low income, immigrant, special education and students of color up and down the state.
See the student stories from San Jose and Ventura County Schools -
From the Just Schools Education Roundup site from IDEA at UCLA - A daily compilation of education news coverage of statewide interest provided by UCLA/IDEA •Institute for Democracy, Education and Access.
Exit Exams Mar Graduations By Luis Zaragoza/San Jose Mercury News
James Lick High senior Cesar Sanchez was determined to attend graduation this week even though he wouldn't be allowed to walk across the stage. And so on Wednesday night, Sanchez sat quietly among friends and relatives of the kids wearing caps and gowns, occasionally catching glimpses of other seniors who, like him, did not qualify for a diploma because they failed the state's high school exit exam.Lack of diploma may close doors to careers By Jean Cowden Moore/Ventura County Star
What a difference a diploma makes. Without a high school diploma, young adults won't get past the first step in applying for many entry-level jobs. And they won't be able to enlist in the military until six months after they would have graduated. That's the plight facing about 41,750 high school seniors this year _ roughly 10 percent of the Class of 2006.
2 comments:
Eric, when you mention that hundreds of SF seniors are being denied diplomas, do you have specific figures on how many SF seniors did not pass CASHEE that otherwise met their graducation requirements? Or are you referring to the number of seniors that did not pass CASHEE? It's hard to know how onerous the exit exam requirement is without knowing the breakdown of how many kids fail to graduate due to CAHSEE and how many are stymied by other requirements.
Eric, you mention that hundreds of SF seniors are being denied diplomas because of CAHSEE. Do you have specific figures on how many SF seniors did not pass CASHEE that otherwise met their graducation requirements? Or are you referring to the number of seniors that did not pass CASHEE? It's hard to know how onerous the CASHEE requirement is without knowing the breakdown of how many kids fail to graduate due to CAHSEE and how many are stymied by other requirements.
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