Governor Gray Davis
300 South Spring Street
South Tower, Suite 16701
Los Angeles, CA 90013

Dear Governor Davis,

Hello. My name is Rachel Lacy. I am 14 years old and in the 9th grade. I am just one of the many 9th graders that have to take the High School Exit Exam. I have a few things to say about it and I hope you will listen. If you are thinking about throwing this letter away and ignoring it, please don’t. Just remember that in about 4 years, I will be able to vote, and if you want to run for office, my vote will definitely count. I don’t think we should have to take and pass the High School Exit Exam in order to get a diploma.

Some kids have disabilities or are learning English as a second language. What will happen to them? There are no special privileges for students with disabilities. They might learn slower and they still won’t get any help to complete the test. There are also kids for whom English is not their first language. The test is only printed in one language, so some kids will fail simply because they don’t read and write enough English. I think this is extremely unfair.

This test is a complete waste of money. We could be using this money for something much more important. You said that you are going to spend $221 million on state tests this year. We could use this money to air condition our hot classrooms, get more teachers and smaller classes, more books and more extra-curricular activities. It’s pointless to spend that much money on a test that causes so much trouble.

I understand that some people say that threatening students with a really hard test will make them work harder and learn more. However, I believe that threatening students with a hard test will only disrupt a student’s concentration and make them perform poorly in their classes. Tests like these lower a student’s self-esteem. If you keep enforcing this test, students will begin to just drop out of school. All that these tests do is cause stress.

I realize that you might think that this test would help students in the real world. The truth is, this test proves nothing. There have been studies that show that this test has nothing to do with what we are learning in school. Exactly how is knowing about hummingbirds going to help us in the real world? This test is pointless.

I n conclusion, I would like to restate that the High School Exit Exam is unfair and teaches us nothing. I really hope that my letter convinces you to change your mind about the High School Exit Exam. Thank you so much for your time. Please write back. I would appreciate it.

Sincerely,

Rachel Lacy