Common Core

Governor Jerry Brown is at it again.  In a move that spells disaster for California’s students, Brown’s recently revised state budget retains a proposal he made in February that would reduce the state’s high school graduation requirement in science from two years to one.  When Brown first released this ludicrous proposal, Common Core responded with the following blog entry in protest, and encouraged others to join the fight.  The need for immediate public action is even more pressing this time around given that the proposal survived the latest round of budget revisions.  Our stance remains firm: No matter what the monetary savings may be, California cannot afford to lower its standards in science, and its students deserve better.  We urge you to revisit our previous post on this matter, and check back here for new updates.

Lynne Munson & Emily Dodd

California Dumps Arts, Foreign Language—Now Science

California Governor Jerry Brown is proposing to cut the state’s already minimal high school graduation requirement for science in half.  Currently California students must complete two courses – one in the biological sciences and another in the physical sciences – to graduate.  Brown has released a budget that replaces this with just one class.  That means California high-schoolers could graduate having taken only an earth science class and have no knowledge of the basics of biology, chemistry, or physics and zero exposure to laboratory practice.

Brown’s pitiful proposal is not worthy of the Silicon Valley state, or any state for that matter.  Most states require at least 2 years of science as a minimum graduation requirement.   However, many states, such as Massachusetts, Kentucky, and Virginia (whose 4^th and 8^th graders performed above the national average on the 2009 NAEP science exam) require at least 3 years of science for graduation.  In contrast, California’s fourth graders tied Mississippi’s for the lowest scores on the 2009 NAEP exam.  Based on this evidence, the logical response would be to increase California’s science requirement, not reduce it.

This is not the first time that Governor Brown has endeavored to diminish or eliminate core requirements.  Just last year the Governor put the arts and foreign languages on the chopping block.  In October, Brown signed a bill into law that eliminates the requirement for all students to take either a foreign language or arts course to graduate.  Students can now take vocational education courses instead.  Former Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill containing this same proposal in 2010.

Brown’s curriculum proposal would guarantee that thousands of students graduate high school unqualified for admission to California’s public universities.  CA’s state schools mandate that students take at least two years of a foreign language, and one year of art to qualify for admittance.   The California State University system requires applicants to have two years of science, while the University of California system recommends three science courses and mandates laboratory experience.  Thus, lowering the bar to only one year of science, while also eliminating any coursework in foreign language or the arts, puts California high school students at a terrible disadvantage.  If this trajectory continues, we hate to think what subject could be next on Brown’s hit list.

Senate President Darrell Steinberg indicates he is in no rush to validate the Governor’s budget plan: “We’re not going to rush to make any of these decisions, especially on the cuts side.”  This delay is an opportunity for concerned parents, teachers, and students to voice their opposition.  In fact, some districts, including Vacaville Unified School District and Travis Unifies School District, have taken an immediate stand and announced that they have no plans to reduce the 2-year science requirement.  We hope Governor Brown heeds these warnings and retracts his proposal.

Emily Dodd, Hillary Marder, and Lynne Munson

This entry was posted on Friday, June 15th, 2012 at 1:07 pm and is filed under Curriculum, Math and Science. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.