The Annoyed Army

One of the current controversies in education has to do with high school exit exams. A high percentage of those not passing this test (and therefore not supposed to receive a high school diploma) are students with limited or no English and Special Education students. Of course, all the special interests groups are pounding on educrats to lose no time and spare no expense to remediate these failing students' academic problems, right? Bu-u-u-uzzzz! Wrong answer! The special interest groups are urging educrats to issue diplomas to these failing students anyway, because the test isn't fai-air (can you hear the whine in their cheese?). It isn't fair to test students with limited or no English with a test written in English! It isn't fair to test special education students on material that they hadn't been taught (because they couldn't handle it)!

While issuing diplomas to these failing students might make the special interest groups feel good and make for good fund-raising brochures, it defrauds almost all concerned. The taxpayers who paid for their education wouldn't getting what they paid for. Employers who consider hiring men and women given high school diplomas despite failing the exit exam would at best have their time wasted as they interview unqualified applicants, and may hire some, only to learn that they don't have the skills their diplomas represent. Students who earned their high school diploma by passing the test would be defrauded of the value of that diploma as potential employers and prospective colleges learn that their diploma may be meaningless. Ultimately, the students who receive high school diplomas despite failing the exit exam would also be defrauded. They would receive a piece of paper that means nothing and would be set up for life-long disappointment, as employer after employer turns down their job application or fires them when their lack of skills is discovered.