Time Change: Richmond students organize Press Conference to fight statewide exit exam.

Who: Richmond High School's La Fuerza Unida and Youth Together

What: PRESS CONFERENCE supporting AB 1531 and SB 385

Where: Richmond High School, 1250 23rd Street. Richmond, CA 94804

When: Thursday October 6, 2005 at 3:30pm (AFTER SCHOOL)


Richmond High School students take action against Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and State Superintendent of Education Jack O'Connell. For the past few weeks, high school students in Richmond have launched a campaign calling for alternative assessments to the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE). Beginning with the class of 2006, up to 30% of Latino, 37% of Black, 40% of English Language Learners, and 63% of students with special needs may be denied diplomas. (Source: Applied Research Center).
California has failed to provide equal opportunities to learn for students of color. Schools with the lowest pass rate on the exit exam are 6 times more likely to be in a critically overcrowded school and 11 times more likely to be in a school with critical shortages of credentialed teachers. These same schools are 30 times more likely to be hyper segregated (90% or more non-white) and 37 times more likely to have a third or more English Language Learners.
Given these conditions in our public educational system, the Richmond High School club La Fuerza Unida is organizing a Press Conference calling for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign:
o AB 1531 which would allow districts to offer alternative assessments to the California High School Exit Exam in determining whether a student should graduate, and
o SB 385 which would allow Limited English Proficient students to take achievement tests in their primary language.