High school students in Oregon will not need to demonstrate basic proficiency in reading, writing or math to graduate for at least five more years because education officials say such requirements are unnecessary and disproportionately harm students of color.
“At some point… our diploma will end up looking more like a participation award than an actual certificate that shows someone is truly prepared to pursue their best future,” former Oregon gubernatorial candidate Christine Drazan told Fox News. .
The essential skills requirement has been on pause since the coronavirus pandemic, and last week the Oregon State Board of Education voted unanimously to continue to suspend the graduation requirement during the 2027-2028 school year.
Under the requirement, 11th graders had to demonstrate proficiency in core subjects through a standardized test or work samples.
Students who did not meet expectations were required to take additional math and writing classes their senior year (thus missing out on an elective class) in order to graduate.
Christine Drazan says that at some point diplomas will look like a “participation award and not an actual certificate that shows that someone is truly prepared to pursue their best future.”
Board members said the standards were unnecessary and harmed marginalized students, as higher rates of students of color, students with disabilities and students who learn English as a second language ended up having to take an extra step to prove they deserved a diploma, The Oregonian reported.
Hundreds of people submitted public comments opposing the measure and urging the board to restore the standards.
Many of the comments were sparked by a call to action from Drazan’s advocacy group, A New Direction Oregon.
High school students in Oregon will not have to demonstrate proficiency in math, reading or writing to graduate until at least 2029, after the state board of education extended the suspension of the essential skills requirement. Fox News
Board president Guadalupe Martínez Zapata previously described the opposition as a “misinformation campaign” and “mental acrobatics of artistic quality.”
“If only they were not automatically discredited by the myopic analysis and intolerance that follows them,” Martínez Zapata said at a meeting in late September, adding that “the rhetoric about cultural and social norms being the underlying reason for the poor performance on assessments by systemically marginalized students” was reminiscent of “arguments of racial superiority.”
“It’s not bigoted, it’s not racist to want your student to actually be able to learn,” said Drazan, who ran for Republican governor in Oregon last year, losing to Democrat Tina Kotek by less than 4% of the vote. .
Board President Guadalupe Martínez Zapata described the opposition as a “disinformation campaign.” Oregon.gov
Oregon has one of the lowest graduation rates compared to other states, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting, but it also has one of the most rigorous credit requirements.
“I think the assumption here is that professors are just graduate students, that they don’t have the necessary skills, and I don’t know what the rationale is for that,” state Sen. Michael Dembrow told the Oregon Capital Chronicle. Dembrow was on the Board of Education in 2008 when the essential skills requirement was initially approved.
But Drazan argued that Oregon is undermining standards across the board, and state education officials are considering an “equity grade” instead of the traditional A to F scale.
“Now they are moving forward with an agenda that says if you cheat, you can’t fail. If you don’t show up, you don’t get a zero,” she said. “They’re not going to have homework to grade because somehow they think having it is unfair.”
Drazan encouraged concerned parents to bring their case to Kotek’s office, which appoints board of education members.
“You need to make the board more responsive to the concerns of families, students and stakeholders than they are right now,” Drazan said.
Kotek’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn