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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The state Board of Education has advanced to a final vote a proposal to require students take four years of English and three years each of math and science to graduate from high school.
A final vote is expected in August. If the new rules are approved, the Class of 2011 would be the first one that would have to meet the requirements.
"This is huge," board member Teresa Theurer, who leads the board's curriculum committee, said Thursday. "It's huge for schools, it's huge for released time, it's huge for districts to find additional math and science teachers. We've got to find a way to deal with that."
The rules also set up criteria for which courses can count for English, math and science requirements.
It also would require students pass or demonstrate competency in at least geometry or applied math II. Currently, only elementary algebra is required.
A committee is working to create a statewide list of approved classes, though districts could seek state board permission to add to it, Theurer said.
The state board has wanted for years to boost graduation requirements, but it backed off in the wake of community outcry about lost opportunities in the electives and fears that the arts would go by the wayside.
Theurer said those community concerns remain.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
