HARRISBURG -- State Board of Education members face an important one-question exam next week.

Should Pennsylvania students be required to pass a series of standardized tests to get a high-school diploma?

If they answer yes, they'll get an A from Pittsburgh Superintendent Mark Roosevelt.

The same answer, though, will get them a much lower mark from plan opponents such as Larry Martin, of the Bucks County Intermediate Unit, and Tom Gentzel, executive director of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.

Parents, educators, teachers union leaders and advocacy groups sounded off yesterday during a six-hour hearing in Harrisburg. They were evenly divided over the proposal, which calls for the state to develop 10 subject-area tests. Starting with the 2013-14 school year, students would be required to pass at least half of them to graduate.

"For far too long, local education agencies or school districts have been permitted to issue diplomas to students that are not worthy of the paper on which they are printed," Mr. Roosevelt said in a letter read into the record at yesterday's hearing. "The only way to end this practice is for the commonwealth to adopt graduation requirements."

Opponents say the proposal isn't flexible enough, would reduce local control, isn't fair to smart students who are bad test-takers, would be costly to implement and would encourage schools to teach to the test instead of provide diverse learning opportunities.

"We can all agree that a high-school diploma should mean that a student coming from a public high school in Pennsylvania is well-rounded, can apply his or her knowledge to real-life situations and can solve problems with that knowledge," said Mr. Gentzel. "Simply requiring more tests and using them to determine graduation ability is not the answer to what our students need."

Other opponents argued that the proposal puts a higher value on rote knowledge than critical thinking, teamwork, creativity and other skills employers and colleges want.

Michael Race, spokesman for the state Department of Education, defended the proposal.

"The tests are not meant to keep kids from graduating. They are meant to ensure that diplomas mean something," he told reporters during a break in the hearing.

"When we give you a piece of paper at the end of senior year, it's going to mean something," Mr. Race said. "We're cheating our kids if we just give them a diploma, give them a false hope that they're ready for the world when they're not."

That's important to Daniel W. Fogarty, co-chairman of the Governor's Commission on College and Career Success and a human resources manager for Peirce-Phelps electronics distributor in Philadelphia.

"As a human resources professional, I need to know that the high school graduate whose application is on my desk grasps the core content needed to succeed in the world of work," he said.

The department has not yet calculated the annual cost of the testing program, but estimates it to be in the millions.

Twenty-two other states already have similar high-school exit exam requirements.

In Pennsylvania, the tests would be given as early as eighth grade, and students who fail could try again up to three times a year through high school. Results would be used to pinpoint weaknesses so schools can properly target tutoring and remedial help.

The state would provide the tests, which could be taken in lieu of final exams currently given in courses. Alternatively, school districts could develop their own exit exams subject to state approval.

The Board of Education is expected to vote on the proposal during a two-day meeting Jan. 16-17. Approval would trigger public hearings before the Intergovernmental Regulatory Agency, which ensures regulations are clear and that they don't conflict with other state laws and regulations.