State proposal increases math, science requirements
Newly proposed high school graduation requirements won’t cause many changes at Post Falls High School should the Legislature approve them next year. But high schools in Coeur d’Alene and in the Lakeland School District will need to make curriculum adjustments that will likely include hiring more math and science teachers.
Current state requirements call for at least two years of math and two of science to graduate from an Idaho public high school. Recently the state Board of Education unanimously approved adding another year of each subject to the requirements and will send its proposal to the Legislature in January. The plan also calls for graduates to take a standardized test, such as the ACT or SAT.
If approved, the requirements likely won’t go into effect for a couple of years, giving school districts time to hire more teachers and restructure their curricula.
“We were very seriously looking at increasing our math and science requirements regardless,” said Hazel Bauman, assistant superintendent of the Coeur d’Alene School District.
The district now requires two years of math and two of science, though Bauman said many students opt to take more.
“It’s not like every kid stops taking math their sophomore year,” she said, estimating that more than half the district’s high school students take at least three years of math.
The state Board of Education tried to increase high school graduation requirements last year, but the plan died in the Legislature. Opponents cited the need for local control and the possible effect on elective classes if academic requirements increased.
The last proposal called for three years of science and four of math. The new proposal keeps both subjects at three years but will include incentives for districts to require more. It’s not known what the incentives may be, but Bauman said it should be cash, given what it will cost to hire more teachers.
Jerry Keane, superintendent of the Post Falls School District, said the only changes the proposal would cause at Post Falls High School would be the requirement that all seniors take a math course and everyone take algebra and geometry. Post Falls students already must take three years of math and science to graduate.
The district probably will look closely at current math class offerings to see if some can be tailored to specific areas, such as professional-technical trades, he said.
“We just need to look at different ways to present it so different kinds of learners will be able to grasp subjects,” he said.
Keane praised the plan as being more flexible than the previous proposal, as did Bauman and Lakeland School District Superintendent Chuck Kinsey.
Kinsey’s district requires three years of math and two of science to graduate.
The fact that it won’t be implemented for a few years “provides us some time,” Kinsey said, “but it does mean that we would need additional math and science teachers, there’s no question.”
Like Bauman, Kinsey emphasized the need to find better ways to attract math and science teachers. The board’s proposal to the Legislature will include an implementation plan that will include, among other things, funding recommendations and strategies for attracting more teachers.