California Dreaming, Part N+2

[George Sheridan <learn@jps.net>]

Stricter grad rules urged
All students should take rigorous high school classes, says state education 
chief.
By Bill Lindelof and Deb Kollars -- Bee Staff Writers
Published Thursday, February 12, 2004

To graduate, all high school students would have to complete tougher course 
requirements -- now only required of the college-bound -- under a proposal 
to improve high schools outlined Wednesday by state Superintendent of 
Public Instruction Jack O'Connell.

The change would be a huge challenge for public schools. Currently, fewer 
than half the state's high school graduates complete the rigorous "A-G" 
course lineup required to enter state universities.

O'Connell made the proposal during an unprecedented "State of Education" 
address in downtown Sacramento. He staged a major news event -- complete 
with a teleprompter, potted ferns and a Kennedy High string quartet -- to 
criticize high school achievement and announce several ambitious education 
initiatives.

"Sadly, the majority of California's 1.7 million high school students 
simply are not today reaching the academic levels that are needed for us to 
be able to call them a success story," O'Connell said.

It was the first time anyone could recall an elected superintendent of 
public instruction delivering such an address. In attendance: more than 300 
state education employees, politicians, lobbyists and local school leaders.

The speech marked a distinct shift for O'Connell, one in which he used his 
elected position as a bully pulpit to take a tougher approach toward public 
schools, said Sen. Deirdre Alpert, D-Coronado.

O'Connell offered praise for improved test scores but emphasized that 
schools are not doing enough to fully educate children from poor and 
minority backgrounds, as well as those in high schools.

He stressed improvements must be made despite a yawning budget shortfall.

"This is a good thing," Alpert said. "The role of the superintendent should 
be as a person who holds people accountable."

In his speech, O'Connell noted that less than 10 percent of high schools 
have reached optimum levels on state achievement measures. Fewer than half 
the students who enter the California State University system are 
proficient in reading and math.

O'Connell said expectations are too low in high schools. He plans to 
sponsor a legislative package needed to put his proposals into practice, 
designed to improve the quality of teachers and principals, and expand 
programs that push teenagers harder.

It also would give high schools more flexibility in spending the money they 
do have in the budget -- an amount that includes $450 million in block 
grants for specific categorical programs -- in ways that best meet 
O'Connell's goals.

The most dramatic change would involve requiring every high school student 
to complete "A-G" requirements, a strict list of courses that students must 
pass if they want to get into the University of California or California 
State University systems.

The requirements include: four years of English; three years of college 
preparatory math; two years each of laboratory science, a foreign language 
and history/social science; and one year each of art and approved college 
prep electives.

Many districts already require a similar number of courses for graduation, 
but not as many of the classes must be at the tougher college-preparatory 
level.

Russlynn Ali, director of the Education Trust, a nonprofit group dedicated 
to poor and minority students, said in a statement that too few California 
students complete the A-G sequence.

"Students are channeled into low-level classes that don't adequately 
prepare them for entry into more apprentice and vocational programs, or for 
admission to college," Ali said.

O'Connell said he also wants to improve the quality of books and materials 
in high schools. The state Board of Education now adopts standards-based 
textbooks for kindergarten through eighth grade. O'Connell wants to include 
grades nine through 12. Districts would be encouraged, though not required, 
to use instructional materials with a state "seal of approval," he said.

The superintendent also promised to streamline the state's data collection 
and testing systems.

Jenn Oates, a teacher at Elk Grove's Laguna Creek High School, said she 
thinks all students, with some exceptions, such as very low-performing 
special education students, should fulfill the A-G requirements.

"Our district pushes all students to do A-G," Oates said, "and we get a lot 
of flak for it because 'not all kids are going to college.' Perhaps not, 
but all kids will need to be productive adults, and in today's 
technological world, that requires some higher-level knowledge and skills."

Oates polled her students Wednesday about the superintendent's proposals. 
Their opinions, which she supplied to The Bee, were mixed.

Some felt that pushing kids harder was a good idea.

"If you set a challenge such as getting the required credits and the A-G 
requirements, the students will rise to the challenge," said 15-year-old 
freshman Kelley Ting.

Others, however, said it was unrealistic to expect all to complete the 
tough course lineup.

"I think only the ones who strive for a good education and who want to 
learn more that badly, they should take the A-G requirements," said Katie 
Barksdale, a senior. "No use in trying to make the ones who don't want to."

*
About the Writer: The Bee's Bill Lindelof can be reached at (916) 321-1079 
or blindelof@sacbee.com

George Sheridan