Got a budget crisis? Cancel high school!
Utah State Senator Chris Buttars (R-West Jordan) has come up with a novel approach to filling the state’s growing budget deficit.
Cancel the 12th grade.
Seriously. He really wants to do that.
According to Buttars –
You’re spending a whole lot of money for a whole bunch of kids who aren’t getting anything out of that grade. It comes down to the best use of money.
Via Salt Lake Deseret News
While it has, admittedly, been a while since I experienced my own senior year of high school, I seem to recall that the first semester of 12th grade is included in the grades that go to colleges during the application process. It is also a crucial year for anyone hoping to accomplish an academic or athletic scholarship.
No matter. According to GOP legislator, Francis Gibson, “Dramatic times call for dramatic measures.”
Many Utah parents agree – however they suggest that getting rid of the senior year of the term of office for politicians who come up with such ideas would be a far more beneficial cost saving measure.
Rep. Marie Poulson, D-Cottonwood Heights, who taught high school for years, adamantly opposes Buttars’ plan, saying senior year is when kids mature and excel in academics, sports and activities. Further, cutting 12th grade would wreak havoc with college admissions. “Because of our budget concerns, should we lower our expectations … and be satisfied with substandard education options?” Poulson said.
Via Salt Lake Deseret
According to a recent Morgan Quitno Press ranking of America’s smartest states (determined by the state’s education system), Utah ranks 38th in the nation and is falling.
One might think that cancelling a full 25% of the high school curriculum might not be the best possible way to reverse the trend – although it would no doubt be great for the state’s ski industry. Not only could the 17 year olds, with no place to go, hit the slopes on a regular basis, the cost of hiring employees to move snow around the mountain should plummet once these kids hit the job market.
But, hey, I’m no Utah State Senator so what do I know?
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Yah, I had a similar reaction. However, I spotted a possibly related item in the NYTimes this morning:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/education/18educ.html
“New Plan Would Let High Schoolers Graduate Early: Eight states are introducing new courses and a battery of tests for sophomores that will allow students who pass to enroll immediately in community college….”
Eight states! Whether it’s for budgetary reasons or for something else, my first thought is for the kids, the poor kids especially, who likely will not have access to a free education after a 10th-grade graduation. Passing the 10th grade board exams will put them in a vulnerable position; if the administration is fiscally challenged or politically motivated or both, it could find it adequately justifiable to push those kids out. Concerning.
It seems to me that this just encourages kids to settle on community colleges when they might have the opportunity for the wider curriculum of a university. Nothing against community colleges, but why limit opportunities for kids to save a buck?
In response to another comment. See in context »I don’t mind this one bit. Perhaps the only group of people I fear more than Eskimos are Mormons. They are almost certainly storing weapons underneath the Tabernacle. The valedictorian of my high school class was Mormon. She went to BYU and was selected to join the breeding pool practically immediately. If this puts them at a disadvantage, then I’m all for it. Heck, even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle made Mormons the villains in one of his Holmes stories.
Come on Jack. None of that is true. My wife is a Mormon. I have many Morman friends in and out of Salt Lake, and its just not as you think.
In response to another comment. See in context »Of course I was kidding. I thought the Eskimo remark kind of implied that. I do not actually believe they’re storing weapons underneath the Tabernacle.
That being said, it sure is fun watching Texas A&M’s Wrecking Crew rain down fire and brimstone on all these good old boys from Provo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nk4mtosbdGk
In response to another comment. See in context »Conan Doyle did indeed make the Mormons the villians in Study in Scarlet. That doesn’t make Mormon slurs true; in fact, Sherlock Holmes was written as a raging racist. Times have changed since the 19th Century.
In response to another comment. See in context »As a language arts teacher in Utah (and a pseudo-Mormon), I can perhaps offer some more insight. I think the real story affecting education in Utah is not Rep. Buttars’ ridiculous idea. In fact, Buttars is nothing but a mindless spout of racism, sexism, and ineptitude. Really, he makes Sarah Palin seem competent. The only reason he keeps his position is that many Utah residents believe they will go to hell if they vote for a democrat. Really. Whenever the Utah State Legislature needs a distraction, they call on him.
One of the major “cost-saving” ideas that many legislators are attempting to push through is an overhaul–and eventual elimination–of retirement benefits for state employees. Even after a team of actuaries deemed the current system as workable and sustainable, congress is attempting to jeopardize the retirements of police, firefighters, and teachers. They would extend the number of years to qualify and all but eliminate employer-matching programs. So not only do Utah teachers rank at the bottom of the pay scale, have the lowest per-pupil expenditure, and have one of the highest student-to-teacher ratios, but now our retirement benefits are in danger.
In my opinion, this is the real story. Our State Congress loves to through out a wild sound-bite so they can push through bills like this. And at the same time, they’re raising student-to-teacher ratios to record highs and eliminating funding for staff developers and school counselors.
For a state that prides itself on “family values”, Utah does a poor of valuing education.
Really, he makes Sarah Palin seem competent.
LOLOLOL. Great line!
In response to another comment. See in context »That last line was supposed to say “a poor job of valuing education.”
Proofreading!
If this idea takes hold we will moving backwards faster than … counting to zero.
Same as the prisoner release in california…..the politicos are trying to frighten the people into coughing up more money
Why don’t they try pay cuts…..or do they own their government jobs?
As Utahns, I think we have to become somewhat numb to our representatives being shockingly embarrassing, both through social ineptitude (the Orrin Hatch Hanukkah song and Jason Chaffetz leg wrestling Stephen Colbert come to mind) and through the ridiculousness of their legislative positions.
In a state with so many children that the average age in the state is somewhere near 18, we show time and again how little we care about kids. The thing that I find the most frightening about Buttars’ proposal isn’t that it’s mind-bogglingly idiotic – putting it as politely as possible – it is that the most common concern I hear from parents with whom I’ve spoken about the idea is: “What am I going to do with my 12th grader suddenly at home all the time?”
We’re not concerned about the lack of education already afforded our kids, we’re not concerned about how it may impact the future viability of our kids in a competitive job market, nor are we worried about the immediate impact to our current job market with all the new additions. We’re worried we might actually have to parent our kids. Goodness forbid that we TALK to our kids once in a while.
While I’m happy to hear so little support for so bad a proposition, it’s sad to hear how little we value the futures of our children, even under the guise of defending their futures by maintaining the 12th grade. Education should be one of the top priorities of our state, our country and our world.
Valuing children is about more than just giving birth to huge numbers of them. (The size of Utah families may be cliche, but it’s true.)
Your right, we need more education in this country,not less, they should consider optional all adult schools for those behind wanting to renew their job skills, even via on-line training, its a solution to consider, we have to do something, there are all kinds of jobs even here in the rust belt that aren’t filled due to not enough people with tech. skills.The job market changed to fast and no-one is looking at what to do to fix it.
In response to another comment. See in context »