One-Sixth of Md. Seniors Falling Short for Diplomas

After board member Blair G. Ewing proposed delaying enforcement for a year, board member Dunbar Brooks gave a loud, forceful speech.

"I believe the motion is not only disingenuous, it's dishonest," said Brooks, who accused critics of seeking to do away with the exams. "What you're saying to me, which is the height of racial insensitivity, is that I and my kids can go into the world young and dumb, and we'll convince them that it's in their self-interest."

"The motion is intended not to kill the HSAs," Ewing replied. "The intent is for us to see whether we can address the issues of fairness that have arisen. They haven't arisen from superintendents. They have risen from parents, from teachers . . . from members of the community."

At Albert Einstein High School in Kensington, according to state data, nearly 100 of 319 seniors have not met the exit standards. Principal Jim Fernandez said the main barriers are poverty and language needs. Thirteen percent of students are English learners, and nearly two-fifths receive federal meal subsidies, an index of poverty. "I changed the whole schedule so we could have an hour at lunch so we could tutor them at lunchtime," Fernandez said.

Since 2004, Virginia has required students to pass six end-of-course exams to qualify for a standard diploma. Those rules were refined beginning with the Class of 2007, when students were required to pass one exam each in math, science and history, two in English and one more in a subject of their choice. The requirement roused controversy when first imposed but has since become accepted, and officials say it disqualifies relatively few students each year from graduation.

Staff writers Daniel de Vise and Maria Glod contributed to this report.