10/6: Richmond High School students organize Press Conference to fight statewide exit exam

Contact: Raul Alcaraz

415.509.5894

vivaraul [at] sfsu.edu



Contact: Richmond City Council Member John E. Marquez

510.612.2604

johnemarquez [at] aol.com



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Richmond High School students organize Press Conference to fight statewide exit exam.

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 hypersegregated (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:

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

SB 385 which would allow Limited English Proficient students to take achievement
tests in their primary language.

Who: Richmond High School's La Fuerza Unida

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 12:15pm (Lunch time)