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1) Re: 2009 House Bill 5142 (Lower high school graduation standards ) [by FreeSpeaker on July 10, 2009][quote user="good0614"]
... I believe what's going to happen is these kids are just going to give up, why should they even try to do well if the end result will be a Certificate of Completion no matter how well they do in all their other classes, but just don't get math. I applaud our legislatures who are finally realizing that not every kid is the same. Let's do something good for the kids who aren't great at academics, but will succeed in life anyway.
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Academics is what school is all about, really. The quote above reads to me like something from someone who has given up on kids who struggle with academics. We really should be encouraging those youngsters to succeed and finding ways to help them do it, rather than abandoning academically rigorous requirements to make high school "easier" or more palatable for them.
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Maybe there could be some revision to this bill, but i do agree with Good0614's statement. I think it is a good idea to require a foreign language or at least a linguistics class. These help with all aspects of a person's life regardless if they are "college material" or not.
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I'm happy to hear that something is being done with these graduation requirements. I can tell you I have two children in high school a soon to be sophomore and junior. My sophomore has always done extremely well in school. These new requirements will be no problem for her to accomplish. My junior on the other hand has always struggled in school, especially in math. There is no way that the math requirements will be accomplished by her. She is on the road to getting a "Certificate of Completion" at the end of her senior year because she will not be able to get the 4 required credits in math that include Algebra1, Geometry and Algebra 2. All this certificate will say is that she attended high school all four years, but she will have nothing to show for it. How sad is that. I think the mandated requirements are great for the kids that CAN do it, but what about all the kids that can't. There has to be another answer for these kids to enable them to acquire a high school diploma at the end of the four year. Not every kid is college material and we need to quit thinking that they all are. Each child needs to be able to accomplish in high school what they are capable of doing instead of stressing them out and telling them "if you don't get all these required credits, you will not graduate." I believe what's going to happen is these kids are just going to give up, why should they even try to do well if the end result will be a Certificate of Completion no matter how well they do in all their other classes, but just don't get math. I applaud our legislatures who are finally realizing that not every kid is the same. Let's do something good for the kids who aren't great at academics, but will succeed in life anyway.
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