An estimated 25,000 special education students would be allowed to graduate next year without having to pass the state's new high school exit exam under a legal settlement announced Friday.
The settlement applies only to special education students in next year's senior class who are on track to get their diplomas in 2006.
It would take effect only if legislation is passed to amend current law, which requires that all students take the exam. State officials said they were confident of getting legislation passed.
Disability rights advocates said a one-year delay was needed because the exam covering English and math skills penalizes special education students who have otherwise passed all of their classes and earned the right to graduate.
Many of these students, the activists said, have not been adequately prepared for the exam.
"Without a diploma, they are facing a lifetime of lower expectations," said Stephen Tollafield, an attorney with the Oakland-based Disability Rights Advocates, which filed the lawsuit against the state two years ago. "By ensuring access to diplomas, it's preventing a tragedy."
California Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell, who was one of the defendants in the case, said he supported the settlement because he too had concerns about whether schools were adequately preparing special education students for the test.
"Students with disabilities clearly need a little additional time to prepare to take this test, but I know that with extra time and assistance, those special education students on a diploma track can and will achieve to our high expectations," he said in a statement.
Special education covers a broad range of disabilities, ranging from relatively mild to severe. State officials said they did not know what percentage of special education students overall were on a diploma track.
The exit exam, geared to an eighth-grade level in math and to ninth- and 10th-grade levels in English, was originally slated as a graduation requirement for the class of 2004. State education officials delayed implementation for two years after initial results showed low passing rates for minority students and those with disabilities.
In addition to delaying the test, the state also shortened it from three days to two by eliminating an essay and multiple-choice English questions.
