EDUCATION WATCH : Failing the Test

Last year the California Education Department introduced new tests for fourth-, eighth- and 10th-graders that it said would better test students’ reasoning ability, rather than just test their luck in guessing at multiple-choice questions. Included for 10th-graders were excerpts from the Alice Walker short story “Roselily.” Now, those excerpts will not be used this spring, thanks to what seems to be the department’s bow to special-interest pressure. That shouldn’t have happened.

In the excerpts Walker, who won a 1983 Pulitzer Prize for her novel “The Color Purple,” presents the thoughts of a black, previously unmarried mother at her wedding.

Enter the Anaheim-based Traditional Values Coalition, which in recent years has become a major lobbyist on conservative and religious issues. The coalition objected to the new tests on the fuzzy grounds that they emphasized emotions over intellect, and it claimed that the “Roselily” excerpts were anti-religious and anti-clergy--a position correctly rejected by the Education Department.

In removing the excerpts, the department was right in pointing out that because of the publicity some students would have advance knowledge of the “Roselily” questions. However, it admitted that pressure also played a part in its decision. And that’s unacceptable.

The department has put all of Walker’s works on its recommended reading list and said it may use “Roselily” on future tests. When it can, it should, as an example of the department’s refusal to surrender to censorship.