New state law suspends CAHSEE administration

On Aug. 26, Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 725 into law to temporarily suspend the administration of the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE). As a result, starting in 2016, high schoolers will no longer need to pass the test to graduate, and the class of 2018 will likely not take the exam this spring.

According to assistant principal Brian Safine, the change has to do with aligning CAHSEE with Common Core standards.

Since the introduction of Common Core, students have taken the CAHSEE as sophomores and the Smarter Balanced Assessments as juniors. In addition, many also take the SAT or ACT, as well as multiple SAT Subject Tests.

Both students and parents began to complain that all this testing was excessive.

Consequently, Senate Bill 725 was proposed and then signed into law to help relieve pressure on students by reducing the number of standardized tests they must take to graduate.

“There’s so much duplicitous testing,” Safine said, “I would actually welcome one or two of those tests being removed.”

This year will be the first time in ten years that Saratoga High does not administer the exam. Instead of testing requirements, students will only have required graduation courses as a standard for the diploma.

The decision has delighted sophomores and juniors alike. 

“Who wants to take [another] test?” said sophomore Kedar Abhyankar. “I’m happy overall that the test was suspended.”