The Washington State Board of Education just sent out this response to Superintendent Randy Dorn’s proposal to delay math and science graduation requirements until 2015 and 2017.
We have tremendous math and science based industries in Washington – yet our K-12 math and science education isn’t reaching this same standard of excellence. Pushing back graduation requirements or lowering standards is shortchanging the opportunities for our children to participate in the very career fields that helped to define our great state.
And, the chair of the Washington State Board of Education, Mary Jean Ryan, issued this statement:
This call for delay is not the right direction for our state. State leaders must commit- once and for all- to doing the hard work needed to help kids master math and science. Delays just create distractions. If history is a guide more delay will only serve to distract. Three years ago the State punted on math and since then achievement levels have dropped. Delay is not a winning game plan. There is much work to do but this is not the way to begin.
