Education Board Adjusts After Core Changes Rejected

The state Board of Education has adopted temporary rules in response to the Legislature’s rejection of changes to core high school graduation requirements.

The board earlier recommended changing the core requirements as part of a dramatic overhaul of regulations governing public schools.

The rules lawmakers rejected would have reduced the basic classes in the minimum 42 courses required for graduation from 30 to 25 so students would have at least 17, rather than just 12, additional courses they could tailor to their strengths or needs.

In doing so, however, the board eliminated four humanities courses from the basic list, along with two physical education classes, a reading course and one of six social studies courses.

It then expanded the minimum mathematics-science classes from eight to 10 and added a health course.

The board’s temporary rule still drops two physical education classes and a reading class. However, it restores two credits of humanities and drops the recommendation to expand math and science requirements by two credits.