(AP) The state attorney general’s office on Friday appealed to the state Supreme Court to immediately halt an injunction against the high school exit exam and stop thousands of students who haven’t passed the test from graduating.

The attorneys asked the court to stay an Alameda County Superior Court judge’s decision last week in a lawsuit by a group of high school seniors who claim they were denied equal access to education and would be harmed if they are denied a diploma because they failed the exam.

The court requested the plaintiffs’ attorneys to file a response by Monday morning.

The state’s attorneys said they appealed the Alameda County ruling and filed the request for a stay directly to the Supreme Court, rather than a lower court, because the decision is “an urgent issue of tremendous statewide importance,” the brief said.

Waiting for an appeal to be heard also would take too long, making the decision moot because graduation would be over, the brief said.

“The court’s order is impairing the public interest in education already, as it is causing students to question the need to enroll in summer school programs designed to teach the material,” said the appeal, filed on behalf of state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell.

Last week’s injunction from Judge Robert Freedman came just weeks before more than 1,100 school districts are to hold graduation ceremonies. It affects about 47,000 students who had yet to pass both parts of the English and math test as of March – roughly 11 percent of the senior class. The Class of 2006 was supposed to be the first required to pass the exam to receive a diploma.

O’Connell said schools are in limbo as they prepare for graduation.

“It is my sincere hope that the Supreme Court will immediately grant the stay so there will be final resolution for the Class of 2006 before any graduation ceremonies are held,” he said in a statement Friday.

O’Connell added that if the court reverses the trial court’s ruling, it won’t mean the students will be denied a diploma forever, but that they should get further remedial instruction and take the test again later. Students have six chances to take the test, starting during their sophomore year.

The superintendent authored the exit exam legislation while he was a state senator and has been a strong advocate of the requirement. He said the test is the only way for students to demonstrate they have learned California’s curriculum. The exam measures 10th grade English and eighth grade math and algebra.

Friday’s motion said a stay would “further society’s interest in ensuring that students demonstrate minimal academic proficiency in order to receive a high school diploma.”

The plaintiffs’ lead attorney, Arturo Gonzalez, said the state’s filing failed to show how the state will be harmed if the Supreme Court denies the request for a stay and allows the students to graduate.

“There really is no urgency here at all because no one is going to be harmed if our clients obtain their diplomas,” he said. “This is not a situation where we’re about to bulldoze a historic landmark and the Supreme Court needs to step in and stop the bulldozer. Students are going to walk across the stage and receive their high school diplomas.”

In its appeal, the state also argued that Freedman’s remedy was wrong, even if a court ultimately decides in favor of the students, who claim the exit exam discriminates against poor and minority children who do not have the same preparation for the test.

“Rather than compel the state or districts to take remedial actions as might be expected if the allegations of inequality were well-founded, (the judge) excused the named plaintiffs – and every other public school student in the Class of 2006 – from having to satisfy the (exit exam) graduation requirement at all,” the motion said.