Last year, the State Board of Education approved the CORE 24 graduation framework to better prepare students for college, job training and the workforce. CORE 24 is an integral part of the basic education reform bill signed by Gov. Gregoire this year. Policymakers are now planning how to implement and fund CORE 24.
Kathleen from the NW Progressive Institute blog reminds us why CORE 24 is so important for the students of our state. Here’s an excerpt:
Core 24 was at the heart of the education reform bill that groups such as the League of Education Voters (LEV) and the Washington State PTA advocated so passionately for last winter. Right now, a legislative workgroup is working to implement the new definition of basic education that came out of that reform. Core 24 is on the group’s agenda but word has it that it is not a top priority. And yet there are many reasons why it should be.
By 2013, thirty-one states will have higher graduation requirements than Washington, once again putting our fair state in the bottom third of national education rankings. And according to the SBE:
Over half of community and technical college students who graduated from high school [in Washington] in 2006 took pre-college (remedial) classes in 2006-07: English, reading or math. This level of remediation cost students and the state $17.5 million.
