Sorry- I wasn’t registered and I still got it, so I dunno what’s up.
"The vast majority of Illinois school districts fall short of tough, new high school graduation requirements proposed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich, according to a new state survey.
The survey of 443 districts with high schools, released this week by the Illinois State Board of Education, shows that 83 percent do not require the three years of math, two years of science and four years of language arts proposed for freshmen entering in 2008-09.
Only 77 districts, including Chicago Public Schools, already meet these standards.
Currently, the state requires 16 credits to graduate, which includes two years of math, one year of science and three years of language arts. Those are some of the lowest graduation standards nationwide, prompting Blagojevich to propose the reforms.
For example, in Harvard School District 50, high school students never have to take Algebra I–lower-level consumer math and pre-algebra classes suffice for graduation.
Even powerhouse New Trier Township High School District 203 doesn’t require three years of math, though most students take that and more.
The legislation, which passed the state Senate last month and is expected to be considered by the state House this week, is a key initiative for the governor this legislative session.
For decades, lawmakers and school officials resisted changing graduation requirements, he said, in part because districts said they didn’t have the money to increase staff and add courses. Some educators also thought the move would force all students into a college preparatory curriculum that some wouldn’t want or need.
“But those arguments have changed,” del Valle said, as competition for college and workplace demands have increased. “We want to make sure that no matter what part of the state a kid comes from, they will have access to curriculum that will prepare them to compete in the higher-education arena as well as in a career.”
Nationwide, only six states, including Illinois, require three rather than four years of English to graduate. Only 13 states, including Illinois, require two years of math, rather than three, to get a diploma, according to a recent study by the non-profit Achieve Inc., in Washington, D.C. In addition, Illinois requires only one year of science to graduate, the lowest of the 42 states that set graduation standards.
Overall, state education officials expect the reforms to cost local districts about $50 million, for extra teachers, training and textbooks. The governor’s office is working on a plan to funnel the money to districts over a five-year period, although education funding is in limbo because of the state’s financial troubles.
To appease some lawmakers and school officials, the governor’s office also has moved away from a proposal that students pass both Algebra I and geometry to graduate. Instead, the legislation now requires Algebra I and a course that must “include geometry content.”
That type of course would likely exclude more difficult formal “proof” problems that colleges expect students to be able to do.
The Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics has cautioned state educators about setting only general requirements, such as three years of math. “You just don’t want to say three years, because that could be three years of garbage,” said Robert Urbain, president of the mathematics council.
Also in 2006-07, two years of “writing-intensive” courses would be added as a graduation requirement. Other graduation requirements would not change, including two years of social studies.
Figures released Tuesday show that of the 131,816 Illinois high school graduates in 2001-02, more than 51,000 enrolled in four-year universities, indicating they took more than the minimum to meet entrance requirements.
In New Trier District 203, “we require two years [of math] but almost everybody takes four years of math,” said Assistant Supt. Linda Yonke. The lowest-level math class offered is Algebra I. The district already requires four years of English for students to graduate.
“I think that people’s biggest reluctance to changing graduation requirements is that the top students are already exceeding and the kids negatively affected are kids that barely make it through high school,” Yonke said.
Chicago already requires students to take four years of English, three years of math–including algebra and geometry–and three years of science.
Those requirements took effect in 1997, but on average, Chicago high school students still fare poorly on state tests and college entrance exams.
Only 32 percent of Chicago 11th graders passed the state’s Prairie State Achievement Examination in 2003-04, and the class of 2004 averaged 16.9 out of a maximum of 36 on the ACT college entrance test.
“Is that where we want to be? Of course not,” said Edward Klunk, a top administrator in Chicago’s Office of High School Programs. However, the scores on both of those tests have been rising over the last few years, Klunk noted, which he attributes in part to higher graduation requirements.
The Illinois State Board of Education survey showed that the biggest problem in meeting the new requirements would be in math. Overall, 59 percent of school districts said they do not require three years of math to graduate, and 74 percent do not specify that Algebra I and geometry be taken.
Eighty-five percent of districts already require two years of science for graduation, but 49 percent of districts do not offer four years of English. Fifty-nine districts that have high schools did not respond to the survey."
I think your districts’ standards are pretty reasonable, Charlene. (Of course, I think that arts should be make up 1/2 of the credits, but that’s just my opinion. 
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