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Date Posted: Thursday, February 18, 11:28:43am
Author: Dave Zitzkat
Subject: Make 12th Grade Optional
In reply to: Dave Zitzkat 's message, "How to really save money on the school budget" on Tuesday, February 16, 04:24:30am

>Nation
>Utah Proposal Would Make Senior Year OptionalUpdated:
>9 hours 9 minutes ago
>Print Text Size E-mail More
>Michelle Ruiz
> Contributor
>(Feb. 15) -- It could save the state of Utah up to $60
>million and potentially cure high schoolers of that
>12th grade affliction known as senioritis.
>
>Republican State Sen. Chris Buttars wants to help plug
>Utah's $700 million budget shortfall by making senior
>year of high school optional for students who finish
>their required credits early. It's an idea that has
>sparked debate among teachers, parents and especially
>students in his state.
>
>Some students said they "need this year," that 17 is
>too early to enter college and become part of the
>"real world."
>
>It's a claim that Buttars, who initially proposed
>eliminating 12th grade entirely, now acknowledges is
>true for some students. But he said others waste their
>time with non-core classes during senior year and
>could benefit from "accelerated graduation" incentives
>like college credit.
>
>"You talk to 100 kids and their parents, and I believe
>the majority of them will say, 'Well, my kid didn't do
>much in the 12th grade,'" Buttars told the Salt Lake
>Tribune. "Everybody wants to talk about change ... But
>to tell you the truth, they're scared to death of it."
>
>In a flier documenting his proposed plan, Buttars
>insists there would be no pressure on Utah seniors to
>skip 12th grade, saying "it would be completely up to
>the students and their parents."
>
>And so the debating began.
>
>J.D. Williams, 18, a lacrosse player, choir singer and
>senior class president at Utah's West Jordan High
>School told the Los Angeles Times: "My parents are
>against it. All the teachers at the school are against
>it. I'm against it."
>
>Williams, who takes two college-level courses, said
>12th grade can enrich a student's educational
>experience as much as any other year. He said that
>"senior year hasn't been a waste" for him or students
>like him.
>
>"If you're the type of kid who will slack off, you'd
>find a way to do that in sophomore or junior year
>anyway," he said.
>
>Buttars and some of his backers argue that students
>like Williams who maintain their motivation through
>12th grade are the exception to the rule. They also
>point out that the new proposal, which includes the
>elimination of bus routes for senior high schools,
>could have direct economic benefits for parents, an
>attractive prospect in the wake of a national
>recession.
>
>"We got killed last year with a 20 percent tax
>increase," Janalee Tobias, a parent who lives in the
>Jordan district, said at a meeting of state senate's
>Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee. "I don't
>think anyone in here can afford another tax increase
>and if this can stop a tax increase, I would urge you
>to consider that."
>
>Education officials said they don't see how Buttars'
>plan differs from the early graduation option that has
>been in place in Utah since 1990, in which students
>who graduated after 11th grade received scholarship
>money.
>
>Todd Haggerty, a policy associate with the National
>Conference of State Legislatures, said budgetary
>concerns are forcing states to resort to measures that
>may be considered drastic by some and industrious by
>others.
>
>"You're looking at these budget gaps where lawmakers
>have to use everything and anything to try to resolve
>them," he told the LA Times. "It's left lawmakers with
>very unpopular decisions."
>
>Still, he told AOL News that his organization has not
>heard of any other proposals to make senior year an
>elective.
>
>"We are unaware of any state or district making a
>similar proposal," he said. "State lawmakers are
>having to look in every nook and cranny to find new
>sources of revenue or savings."
>Filed under: Nation
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