School Board Delays Vote on State Tests

The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District board has postponed voting on a resolution critical of the California Learning Assessment System tests because several members said the document does not go far enough in denouncing portions of the test they said were inappropriate.

The resolution, written by district Supt. James O. Fleming at the board’s behest, cites the state’s slow delivery of test materials, inaccurate scoring and the practice of scoring only some of the completed tests.

The only reference to the test’s content is an assertion that the public needs to be better informed about the material included in the exam.

Craig Olson, vice president of the board, said the resolution also should document “a lack of sensitivity to the concerns and beliefs of many parents, teachers and children by selecting a few reading passages which depict conduct or attitudes which are contrary to some of the very behaviors which we teach and encourage in our schools.”

Olson and board member Jerry Brakebill were the board’s most outspoken critics of the controversial test, which many parents say includes includes passages that are offensive and inappropriate.

Brakebill and board member Karin Freeman supported Olson’s recommendation that the resolution reflect parental concerns about the disputed reading material.

Board President Judy Miner and member Bill Kielty said the proposed amendments were not necessary. At previous meetings, Miner supported the tests and called the reading material “inspirational.”

The board will consider a revised resolution at its June 14 meeting.