Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Liberal Group Joins Fight to Force District to Give CLAS Exams : Education: Judge allows People For the American Way to file brief on behalf of Antelope Valley parents.

The state Department of Education is getting support in its lawsuit against the Antelope Valley Union High School District seeking a court order mandating that the district administer the controversial CLAS exam.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Diane Wayne on Wednesday granted permission for People For the American Way, a liberal, nationwide, constitutional liberties organization, to file a brief on the state’s suit on behalf of a trio of Antelope Valley parents who want their children to take the California Learning Assessment System test.

The news was well-received by the state Department of Education.

“We’re pleased to have them in the litigation,” said Allan Keown, a department attorney.

Los Angeles attorney Robert M. Myers, appearing as local counsel on behalf of Washington-based People For the American Way, said he is unsure what impact the brief will have in the outcome of the case, but said there is a need for it to be filed.

“What is important in this case is for the court to know this is not just some academic power dispute between a state agency and some local school district,” Myers said. “The rights of real people are being adversely affected by the school district’s position.”

The brief, which Myers said will be filed next week, is on behalf of Cheryl and Monte Eslick, parents of a 10th-grader, and Constance Weiss, mother of 10th-grade twins. All three children attend Quartz Hill High School.

“The board is not looking out for the best interests of the students,” Weiss said. “I think they’re being pushed by other people for political reasons.”

Weiss said she contacted People For the American Way because of her concerns.

Myers said that Weiss and the Eslicks “wanted to let the district know that it’s not just the state of California that is alarmed by the defiance to not administer the test, that parents are alarmed that the district is failing to follow laws.”

A conservative majority of the high school district voted last month not to administer CLAS, criticizing its secrecy and saying it violates parents’ rights by asking personal questions.

Test opponents, as well as the Antelope Valley district board members who voted against giving it, admit the law requires a statewide assessment test be administered, but contend there is no mandate that CLAS is that test.

Myers said that he will set the legal arguments as to why the Antelope Valley district’s position violates the law in the brief.

“The district asserts it has the right to control the tests that are given, raising the flag of local control,” he said. “From a legal standpoint, that position is flawed because according to the California Constitution, control of the education system is vested in the state. Local school districts only have as much power as conferred upon them by the state of California.”

He continued: “In this case, it’s real simple. The state says this test must be given, that CLAS is the test that must be given to comply with the legislative mandate. The district’s position it will give some (other) test it chooses is wrong.”

After ordering the district to give the test, the Department of Education last week filed suit against the district. It is the first suit the state has filed over CLAS.

Judge Wayne on Wednesday also scheduled a June 6 hearing on the department’s suit.

District Supt. Robert Girolamo said even if Wayne orders that CLAS be given, there may not be time. The school year ends June 15 and final exams are given June 13-15.

“It takes us five days to give the test,” he said. “Physically, it’s almost going to be impossible to get that test done.”

Keown said the department requested the earliest possible court date and that June 6 was the earliest date.

CLAS has been praised by its supporters as a revolutionary method of testing the critical thinking skills of students. Opponents of the test, however, contend it is invasive, contains literature selections that degrade the family and is inappropriately shrouded in secrecy.

Just six of the more than 1,000 school districts in California have decided not to administer the test, according to the Department of Education.

The department will send notices today to those six districts ordering them to give CLAS and threatening them with legal action if they refuse to do so.