Placing value on a high school diploma
Re “20% of Seniors Flunk High School Graduation Exam,” Oct. 1
Anyone opposed to the state law requirement that all students pass the exit exam should consider the options available to people without a high school diploma. They should consider the drain on society that is created when too few are educated enough to support themselves and their children.
Lowering the bar because it is considered unfair to some who can’t or don’t want to learn would make a California high school diploma the most notorious diploma ever issued anywhere. If students can’t pass a math test designed to reflect an eighth-grade level when they are already 17 years old, then Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has a valid point about shaking up education in California and fixing it.
WILLIAM BLACKBURN
Sherman Oaks
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