The prospect of a single test determining whether John or Mary graduates from high school is "just a little more than scary," says David Saxe, a former member of the Pennsylvania State Board of Education.

Dr. Saxe and several other speakers figuratively tore to shreds the state board's plan for statewide graduation exams during a public forum last Thursday in the Mars Area High School auditorium. The state board passed proposed regulations for the tests, called Graduation Competency Assessments, in January.

The 10 exams will take effect for the graduating class of 2014 -- students who are now in sixth grade -- and will test them in English, math, science and history.

"Students who do not pass the set of assessment tests will not graduate, regardless of their academic record," said Kim Geyer, a Mars Area school board member who acted as moderator for the forum.

Sponsored by Commonwealth Education Organization, a nonprofit group based in O'Hara, the forum brought together speakers representing administrators, school boards, teachers, parents and advocates for special and gifted education students. All opposed the statewide graduation exams.

"Reasoned and principled resistance to tyranny is an American virtue," Dr. Saxe said. "The state graduation edict is not only a bad idea -- it is really bad policy. It is so elitist in nature, so anti-democratic in practice [that] only a cabal of deluded fools" would favor it.

No representatives of the State Board of Education, which is appointed by the governor, and state Department of Education, a state Cabinet-level department, attended the forum. Their empty chairs were left on the stage.

"Those chairs are empty for a reason," Dr. Saxe said. "They are in the governing position. They do not have to answer to you."

Most speakers cited the same concerns about the exams:

• Too much testing.

"Testing and assessment are multifaceted," said Barbara Supinka, staff representative of the American Federation of Teachers. "It is not done with a paper and pencil test."

Students already take the Pennsylvania State System of Assessment, or PSSA, and the PSAT, SAT, ACT and advanced placement tests in addition to tests in their individual courses, said Shauna D'Allessandro, president of the South Hills Area School Districts Association.

"We are testing the love of learning out of our students," said Mike Crossey, vice president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association and a 34-year teacher in the Keystone Oaks School District.

Mr. Crossey said other states with graduation exit tests have seen a decrease in student achievement on other tests, a decrease in graduation rates among poor and minority students, and lower numbers of those students attending college.

• The effect on special education students. Some students with Individualized Education Plans "struggle with the PSSAs," said Michael Allison, principal of Hopewell High School and president of the Pennsylvania Association of Elementary and Secondary School Principals. "What does this do to their self-esteem and desire to learn? It destroys it."

Mr. Allison said some of his special education students have succeeded in careers as nurses, police officers and other occupations. It is not right to deny these students a diploma because they didn't pass a test, he said.

Judith Mosse, first vice president of the Pennsylvania Association for Gifted Education, said the PSSAs and the federal No Child Left Behind Act are leaving gifted students behind.

"No Child Left Behind has ignored our best and brightest students," she said. "They are ignored in the classroom as teachers continue to dwell on the students who need remediation. More testing will only have gifted students waiting for others to achieve proficiency."

• Cost. The state has allocated $15 million for development of three of the 10 Graduation Competency Assessments, said Beth Winters, director of legislative services for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association. To develop all 10 would cost $50 million to $60 million, Ms. D'Allessandro said.

"Who will absorb the costs necessary to maintain the relevancy of these tests as the rate of information in our world rapidly grows and changes?" asked Ms. D'Allessandro. "Who will pay for the expenses incurred by local school districts in providing the additional remediation services that will be required for students who do not pass one or more of these exams?"

It would make "more sense" to take that money and put it into areas such as smaller class sizes and full-day kindergarten, Ms. Supinka said.

• The loss of local control of education.

"Just the scent of state control over education is odious," Dr. Saxe said. "At no point did our ancestors provide for state or national government to take over local education."

"We understand the needs of our students, and we observe firsthand the effects, both good and not-so-good, that decisions made in Harrisburg have on our students and taxpayers," Ms. D'Allessandro said.

About 32 people attended the forum. One audience member asked what could be done to stop the implementation of the statewide graduation tests.

The best bet, Mr. Crossey said, is to persuade legislators to approve House Bill 2452, which would amend the state Public School Code of 1949 to prohibit the state board from enacting or paying for graduation tests without the permission of the Legislature.

The bill is in the House Education Committee.

"I would try to insist on having a vote on this bill," said state Rep. Randy Vulakovich, a Shaler Republican who attended the forum. "Each one of you had great comments."