Federal Class Action Law Suit Filed In Memphis,tn

[Cherise]

latriciawilsonworthy@yahoo.com


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Unconstitutional Gateway Exam driving some to crime, drugs
By Latricia Wilson | Published Yesterday | Commentaries | Unrated

Unconstitutional Gateway Exam driving some to crime, drugs


Latricia Wilson

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I have some serious concerns about the high school graduation requirement (Gateway Exam) that has been administered within the state of Tennessee.
The Gateway Exams are course-level exams for students enrolled in Algebra1, English 10 and Biology. Passing all three course-level exams before exiting the twelfth grade is a mandatory requirement for students that planned to receive a Regular Diploma in the 2004-05 school year and thereafter.

I feel that a test-for-diploma system is not fair to students that are taught year after year by teachers unqualified to teach in core subjects such as English, science and math. The No Child Left Behind Law requires that teachers be qualified to teach these core subjects. Because many teachers are not qualified to the extent they should be, many students have not been properly prepared to pass these exams equally throughout the state of Tennessee.

Another concern that I have is that many school systems suffer from being poorly under-funded. Under-funded schools are unable to obtain high-stake curriculum for high-stake exams. Economic inequalities within the school systems has played a huge role in student’s pass and fail rates of the Gateway Exam.

Thousands of students were unsuccessful at passing the Gateway Exam, and consequently were unable to participate in their graduation ceremony. Being issued Special Diplomas and Certificates of Attendance penalized these students. That’s why I am utterly disgusted and outraged to know that students were being excluded from participating in the graduation ceremony. They were excluded after persevering through thirteen years of school, and passing all other required courses.

Many former students of the Memphis City Schools system in particular turned to drugs, crime and were subjected to longer periods of unemployment. These former students had taken the Gateway exams over a three-year period. Numerous students attended schools that were classified as failing schools according to the No Child Left Behind data.

In Memphis at least half of the high schools have been on the failing list for having low graduation rates and poor test scores six years in a row. I cannot begin to understand how it is that these students have been scapegoated, penalized and tossed aside for the school system’s failures.

I have reviewed the NCLB law several times. I have been unable to locate any such wording that states, “ For the student to be penalized when the system has failed that student.” But somehow the state board officials often say that they are just trying to comply with the No Child Left Behind Law by taking diplomas away from students for failing a test. This state so-called compliance with the No Child Left Behind Law has left thousands of youth behind. I wonder when will the state board of education take responsibility for their actions and stop punishing students for its failures.

Therefore, the state board of education test-for-diploma system should be deemed unconstitutional. In many ways due to the state noncompliance of federal laws, the requirement deprives students of life, liberty and property. The state board of education has overlooked federal laws to uphold a standard. The fourteenth amendment states, “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.” The state board of education should be held accountable for enforcing a law that has systematically denied many students the right to their ownership of a regular high school diploma.

Any child that passes all required subjects k-12 has a right to (his or her) high school diploma. That student has a right to participate in this society. If a child was taught by unqualified teachers, and learned reading and math skills through a second-class curriculum, whose fault is it when they fail to pass the Gateway Exam?

How dare the policymakers play god by depriving these children from higher education by any means when they have failed to meet the standards they have mandated themselves.

(Latricia Wilson is a former Memphis City Schools student who received a specialized diploma after falling short of Gateway Exam math standards. A lawsuit has been filed in federal court on her behalf.)
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Home / The Fly-By / City Reporter

Barred at the Gate
State sued over Gateway exams.

BY BIANCA PHILLIPS | AUGUST 23, 2007
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Latricia Wilson should have graduated from Westside High School in 2002. Though she completed all of her coursework, Wilson did not receive her high school diploma because she failed the state's Algebra I Gateway exam.
Last month, Wilson filed a federal class-action lawsuit against the State Board of Education to discontinue the use of the Gateway as a graduation requirement. Wilson was diagnosed with a learning disability and would like to see alternative testing that takes learning disabilities into consideration.
"We filed on behalf of the students of Tennessee who are similarly situated," says Javier Bailey, Wilson's attorney. "I believe it's unconstitutional to have a standardized test of this nature without recognizing the fact that some students have disabilities."
Since the 2001-2002 school year, passing standardized end-of-course Gateway tests has been a state requirement for graduating high school. Students must pass the algebra Gateway exam, as well as exams in English and biology.
In 1999, Wilson was diagnosed with a math disability and issued an Individual Education Plan (IEP), a list of accommodations required for students with special education needs. However, Wilson contends that the Gateway exam did not take her special accommodations into account.
"I was taking a math resource class, but the rest of my classes were normal," Wilson says. "On the Gateway, I was tested at a higher level in math while I was taking classes at a lower level."
Rachel Woods, a spokesperson for the state Department of Education, says special education needs are taken into consideration with Gateway exams.
"I think the lawsuit is less about the Gateway and more about Memphis City Schools (MCS) not providing accommodations that are in an IEP for particular students," Woods says.
Shawn Pachucki, a spokesperson for MCS, says the school system has no comment.
Because she failed the exam, Wilson received a special education diploma, a certificate that is not accepted for entrance at most colleges and technical schools.
Wilson had planned on attending cosmetology school to become a television makeup artist. But three weeks into her training at the New Wave Hair Academy, Wilson was told the school's corporate office would not accept her special education diploma. Other schools, like Southwest Tennessee Community College and ITT Tech, would not accept her either.
In the 2004-2005 school year, 576 MCS students received special education diplomas. That's roughly 10 percent of the students who finished their high school coursework. "The Gateway exams create an even playing field across the state for all students," Woods says. "It ensures that the Tennessee diploma means something. If you take away that requirement, some students may pass courses just because they have an easy teacher who wants to get them out the door."
But for Wilson, the test has created a major hurdle.
"This is something that's holding students back from moving forward," Wilson says. "It's holding me back from getting a job, and I can't get into college. Yet I need college to make a decent living."
The court is currently awaiting a response from the state.











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[Helix42]

A child with disabilities has the full weight of the American's with Disabilities Act behind them. Why not simply petition based on that?

The parents of a child are responsible for ensuring that their child(ren) receive and education. It is NOT the responsibility of the State. If these kids cannot pass this exam, then it is the parents who failed them not some contrived school system. Also, these are high school age kids, not toddlers, if they can't pass the exam a hefty load of the responsibility lies with them, barring some disability.

[WaltScamehorn]

Washington State has a similar problem.

[bookgirl]

The no child left behind law has screwed up a lot of things. It is making teachers teach students only for testing. Not to learn, but just to pass a test. That isn't the way it was when I was a kid and I retained more than my daughter has in the last few years of school. First of all they teach her one way of learning math, then the next year change up on her, two years later change again, two yrs later it go back to how it was two yrs prior and stays that way for the next four yrs. Why confuse the kids? That doesn't make any sense. When I have brought that to their attention, all I get is, that is the way we do things now. I have told them all they are doing is confusing the kids and making them hate going to school, but they don't seem to care. What is a parent to do? As far as the disabled child, my oldest and I went through all that when he was in kindergarden and the Handicaped Act does protect those children, a suit based on that alone would win. She wasn't taught and given the tools in which to learn and pass the test from that school and it is on that school not her. It is, by law, their responsability to give her a fair and just education. And it sounds to me as if they are dropping balls all over the place. But it is sad to say, so are quite a few of the schools around the states and no one seems to do anything about it, I mean the ones that really can do something about it.