Originally published Sept. 14, 2006
Editor's note: The Michigan legislature recently raised its state's high school graduation requirements to include more credits. Nick Thomas, a 17-year-old reporter with 8-18 Media, looks at some possible drawbacks of the change and its effects on a variety of students with differing career goals.
Tell us what you think about Nick's editorial and the new Michigan requirements. Contact us!
by Nick Thomas, student
Imagine waking up in the morning to find the electricity is out, or a pipe has burst or your car won't start. As you look though the Yellow Pages for a technician, do you really care if that person has a working knowledge of matrices, oxidation numbers, and Kepler's laws of planetary motion?
Apparently the state of Michigan does. Its new high school graduation requirements will assure that every graduate, regardless of their career choice, will have taken advanced math and science classes.
Among the new requirements are one credit each of algebra I, geometry and algebra II and an additional math class in the senior year. Also required is one credit of biology, one credit of physics or chemistry and one additional year of science.
This new curriculum may be helpful for a student who plans to go on to college, but it seems excessive for vocational students.
Plumbers, mechanics, construction workers, hairdressers and many other positions do not need an advanced math and science background. Math needed for vocational jobs could be learned through an "applied math" class, or on-site learning.
I'm concerned that when students are forced to take classes that are unnecessary for their chosen careers, they'll feel discouraged and put little effort into their classes. And if they can't take the classes they want, I'm afraid that more of them will drop out.
Advanced classes becoming basic classes
One of my biggest concerns with all students taking advanced classes is that the pace of the courses will slow down. Some students will undoubtedly not try to learn the material, and some will be incapable of learning as fast as others, leaving the teacher compelled to dumb down the class. In effect, advanced classes will become basic classes. This will have no additional benefit for vocational students and will hamper college prep students.
There's yet another way college-bound students might suffer from the new requirements. A very gifted English student who lacks ability in math could have their grade point average lowered significantly when required to take advanced math classes. And of course, when applying to college, high school grades are important.
A well-rounded education is ideal but can be achieved in many ways, not just through academics. Our economy depends on a variety of jobs. We need carpenters as well as engineers. We need hairdressers as well as doctors, and we need heavy equipment operators as well as lawyers.
All jobs are important, and students deserve to pursue their choice of a career without being forced to take unnecessary classes.
-- Nick Thomas, 17, is a senior at Gladstone High School in Gladstone, Mich., in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Nick plans on pursuing a career in chemical engineering.
