California Insider

The California Nurses Assn. and the California Teachers Assn. have teamed up on a new radio ad hitting the gov for describing them as "special interests" even as he raises millions from big business. More here, at the CTA Web site.

This story from the Chronicle suggests that a new research report backs the case of thousands of disabled students who are suing to prevent the state from fully implementing its high school exit exam for the class of 2006. The argument is that students with disabilities cannot pass the test and thus should not be denied a diploma.

I don't doubt that there are students who, no matter what they do, no matter what the schools do, cannot pass the test. But I also note that the disabled category includes, among others, students who are blind, dyslexic or have "emotional problems." I think you can see where this is heading. If we exclude students with emotional problems from the test, students with attention deficit disorder will surely also be excused, and why not just students who simply, for whatever reason, are not able to learn? Soon the whole thing becomes circular: you can't deny a diploma to anybody who hasn't learned the material, thus you have to give a diploma to all. The funny thing is that if you give a diploma to everyone, the diploma means nothing, which means it ought not be a problem to deny it to someone, and around and around we go.

Maybe it would be easier to just hand out diplomas to every student who attends school for 12 years, and add a designation for those students who actually learn the material that we, through our representatives, have decided every student should master before leaving high school.