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On May 30, 2008, Judge Freedman of Alameda County Superior Court granted final approval to a class action settlement agreement between Plaintiffs Kidd, et al. and the State. The central issue in the case was the use of the CA High School Exit Exam (“CAHSEE”) as a diploma requirement for students with disabilities. Pursuant to the Agreement, the State will put out an RFP to fund a study of the CAHSEE by a neutral expert which will examine its impact on students with disabilities. A report will be issued once the study is completed and the neutral experts’ recommendations for necessary policy changes will be distributed to the legislature.
The settlement represents an effort by the parties to find a long term solution to the problems that have been addressed in this case. DRA believes that the settlement offers a unique and valuable opportunity to gather information on the current failures of the CAHSEE as an evaluating tool. Any recommendations produced in this study will be distributed to policymakers in the education field and in the California State government. We also hope that this study will prompt an important evaluation of why the CAHSEE in its current form is not an appropriate diploma requirement for students with disabilities in future graduating classes.
Unfortunately, the settlement agreement does not provide for an exemption from the CAHSEE graduation requirement for special education students in the class of 2008. However, there is pending legislation, Senate Bill 1446, which would provide such an exemption for these classes. SB 1446 requires approval by Governor Schwarzenegger. DRA encourages students, teachers, parents and other concerned Californians to write to Governor Schwarzenegger asking him to sign SB 1446.
Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), together with co-counsel Chavez & Gertler, LLP, is litigating a class action lawsuit on behalf of California high school students with disabilities, challenging the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) as an invalid and discriminatory exam as applied to these students. As a result of this lawsuit, students with disabilities in the Class of 2007 who meet all other graduation requirements are generally entitled to their diplomas regardless of whether they pass the CAHSEE.
This is because the California Legislature, acting in response to the long standing lawsuit, passed Senate Bill (SB) 267, which ensures that these students can receive their diplomas. SB 267 was sponsored by State Senator Gloria Romero, and it was signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on September 29, 2006. The bill includes certain procedural requirements students must meet in order to graduate.
The underlying class action lawsuit, Chapman/Kidd v. California Department of Education, was first filed in Alameda County Superior Court in 2002. The certified class consists of all students with disabilities in special education throughout the state who must take the CAHSEE to receive a high school diploma. The defendants are the California Department of Education, the State Board of Education and the State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell.
Under SB 267, California students with disabilities in the Class of 2007 are entitled to their diplomas if they meet the following requirements:
This protection under SB 267 for students with disabilities in the Class of 2007 is not affected by various rulings in other lawsuits challenging the exit exam.
DRA encourages students with disabilities in the Class of 2007 to take the necessary steps to ensure that they are entitled to a diploma under the provisions of SB 267 if they have not received a passing score on the exit exam, or to go through the waiver process if they have received a passing score using “modifications.”
