State Says High Schoolers Can Graduate Without Showing Proficiency in Math, Reading

This article originally appeared on WND.com

Guest by post by Bob Unruh 

Requirements suspended until at least 2029

High school students in one state have been relieved, by state officials, of the responsibility to document their understanding of math in order to graduate.

Or their understanding of reading.

Or their understanding of writing.

The stunning free-for-all has developed in Oregon, where the state Board of Education has decided – unanimously – that a pause on those “controversial” graduation requirements will be extended at least until 2029, according to a report from Oregon Live.

The vote disregarded the wishes of Oregon voters who submitted dozens of public comments asking that the standards be restored.

The requirements originally were lifted as part of the state’s schemes to deal with COVID-19.

State Department of Education officials claimed that documenting proficiency, such as through a standardized test or other ways, “was a harmful hurdle for historically marginalized students, a misuse of state tests and did not translate to meaningful improvements in students’ post high school success,” the report explained.

The move comes as more and more corporations across America are removing the requirement that job applicants have a college degree, a move that may see an expansion even to high school diplomas at some point.

The report said officials claimed because “students of color, students learning English as a second language and students with disabilities” had been taking supplemental courses during their senior years to attain proficiency, “that denied those students the opportunity to take an elective.”

Board member Vicky Lopez Sanchez told the publication that assessments haven’t been “suspended,” but the board did suspend the “inappropriate use of how those assessments were being used.”

The state still has requirements to graduate that include a certain number of credits and completion of a plan that maps out how students intent to achieve their goals.

Gov. Kate Brown froze the requirements, then the state department suggested those assessments be tossed out permanently. Lawmakers haven’t responded to that demand yet.

Critics of the move charged that the state’s schools now will be viewed as “lowering expectations.”

Copyright 2023 WND News Center

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