New high school graduation requirements for 2014

Should Ohio go to a two-tier grad system?

The Ohio Core will require four credits in math, compared with three now required to graduate from Columbus schools. It also will require that science classes be lab-based, so the district will need to update its lab equipment, said Pete Maneff, the district executive director of high-school curriculum.

All public-school students must meet the Ohio Core requirements to earn a diploma beginning with the Class of 2014. Students also will have to meet the new standards to be admitted to all state universities except Central State, Youngstown State and Shawnee State.

Right now the minimum grad requirements in Ohio are:

4 credits of English

3 credits of math

3 credits of science (1 physical, 1 biological, 1 other)

3 credits of social studies (1/2 must be American studies, 1/2 must be government)

1/2 credit each of health and phys ed

6 credits of electives (1 must be either a fine art, foreign language, or business technology)

Passing all five sections of the Ohio Graduation Test (see prior YouTube posting)

School districts can add to this, and even offer different types of diplomas (such as tech or college prep) if they choose. The four-year colleges in Ohio came up with the Core, which is the minimum college prep standard they'd like to see students complete - the math credits must be college prep and include at least Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2; the sciences must be lab based and include either chemistry or physics, and the electives must include a fine art and at least 2 credits of the same foreign language. To make these the official graduation requirements for ALL public high school students smacks of imposing middle-class values on all students regardless of SES or career paths.

I'd say it will also drastically lower the graduation rate, but it's hard to prove that statistically when they can't even agree on how to calculate it in the first place...