State panel endorses tougher math, science requirements

BOISE – A panel that advises Idaho’s governor on labor and work force issues unanimously endorsed a plan Monday to raise the state’s high school graduation requirements.

The endorsement from the governor’s Workforce Development Council emboldens the state Board of Education as it gathers support for next year’s legislative session when it will lobby lawmakers to pay for the curriculum changes.

The overhaul, which would increase graduation requirements from two years of math and science to at least three, is a fine-tuned version of a similar proposal that unraveled in the last legislative session.

It also compels all high school seniors to take math, complete a senior project and take a college entrance exam, most likely the ACT.

“This started out good and turned out excellent,” said Dene Thomas, president of Lewis-Clark State College and a member of the governor’s council.

Steve Ahrens, a council member representing the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry, touted the heightened standards as necessary for Idaho students to compete in a workplace where technology and science play an ever-increasing role.

“The traditional debate must now be past tense,” he said. “There are new factors that are going on that will reshape the way we live and learn. To the extent we are slow in reacting to that, we are hurting not only those in this room, but in this state and in this country.”

While the panel unanimously endorsed the proposal, some expressed doubts.

Dave Whaley, president of the Idaho chapter of the AFL-CIO, said the new standards could cause the dropout rate to spike. He worried about a slackening ethic where many young people value computer games over hard work.

“Well, computers aren’t going to get the roads built,” he said. “We’ve got problems out here and the dropout rate is scaring the crap out of us.”

Idaho will face difficulty in recruiting able teachers to handle the increased math and science course load, other council members said. Math specialists often spurn teaching for higher-paying jobs in the private sector.

The council also unanimously endorsed the Board of Education’s call for more college scholarships and community college classes. Boise is the largest metropolitan area in the nation without a stand-alone community college.

Last session, the Legislature balked at several plans to expand community college degree programs, but will revisit the issue next year.