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A last test before graduation, or not?

Graduates of Johnson High School
The 2010 graduating class at St. Paul's Johnson High School: Should graduates have to prove their skill at reading, writing and math?
MPR Photo/Tim Post

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Last year, the state Legislature got rid of the exams that Minnesota required high school students to pass before they could graduate. Minnesota saw a 2 percent increase in high school graduation rates last year, and one of our guests says getting rid of the exams was a factor in the higher rate.

But in a recent op-ed in the Star Tribune, two business leaders say that repealing the exam was a mistake. They call for reinstatement of the exams and requiring students to "show what they know."

"[I]n Minnesota, we've adopted a 'just show up for four years' standard for earning a high school diploma," wrote Charlie Weaver of the Minnesota Business Partnership and William Blazar of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.

On The Daily Circuit, we hear the arguments for and against grad tests.