Which Way, L.A.?

Lawsuit Filed over Public-School Exit Exams

This is the first year that graduation from high school in California depends on passing the High School Exit Exam, which requires twelfth graders to master eighth-grade math and tenth-grade English. While the Department of Education calls the exam a vital tool to motivate teachers and substandard schools as well as the kids themselves, a lawsuit claims the test discriminates against minority students and English learners. So, throughout California, students, teachers and school administrators are waiting on pins and needles to see if a judge rules that some of the 47,000 seniors who fail the exam will be able to graduate anyway. Are some children being left behind after all? Warren Olney hears from both sides of the case.Reporter's Notebook: It's Hikers versus Homeowners in the Santa Monica MountainsExpensive houses and gated communities have encroached on the Santa Monica Mountains for many years, but hikers, bikers and horseback riders insist that trails passing near homes and through developments should remain open--even if they're on private land. The latest court battle began last week over what plaintiffs call the Mount St. Mary's Trail on the hills above the Getty Center, as Jessica Garrison reports in the Los Angeles Times.