More high school math, science OK’d

BOISE – Dust off the calculator, kids. And bone up on that periodic table of elements.

The Idaho Senate Education Committee voted 7-1 Monday to require public school students starting in the class of 2013 to take at least three years of math and three years of science to graduate from high school.

Until now, just two math classes and two science classes were needed.

The vote ends a yearlong battle to boost standards that had divided Idaho’s education community, Idaho churches and some parents.

In 2006, a similar proposal to require four math and three science classes failed to win favor, in part because some groups, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, feared it would cut into religious training now done when kids are released from school. Some also feared children would have to scale back electives like band, orchestra or art.

Over the summer, the state Board of Education won over critics by holding some 18 meetings with educators and parents and eventually reducing the math hurdle to three classes.

“We have gone through a substantial process of gathering input,” said Dwight Johnson, the board’s director.

The new rule will cost about $12 million annually starting in 2011 to hire 200 new math and science teachers, the state said.

To graduate, kids will also have to take a college entrance exam, complete senior projects and write a paper.

Sen. Edgar Malepeai, D-Pocatello, opposed the rule last year but has had a change of heart. The changes introduced since the plan sputtered a year ago preserve students’ flexibility to choose their electives, while still bolstering Idaho’s educational system, he said.

“We’re giving them the latitude to make a choice,” Malepeai said.

Businesses, including Micron Technology Inc., had lobbied for the stricter requirements to improve Idaho’s work force.

The three-year math minimum includes at least a first-level algebra class, geometry and a math class that must be taken during the senior year, so students can brush up on skills before going on to college or work.

Only one committee member, Sen. Monty Pearce, R-Payette, opposed the upgrade.

He argued that requiring more math and science in high school won’t remedy the problem of kids arriving in high school unprepared for such course work.

“We need to start with more math earlier,” said Pearce. “High school is too late.”

This is an administrative rule, meaning the Senate panel’s approval is all that’s required for it to take effect.

To kill it, both the House and Senate education committees would have had to reject it.

Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene and House Education Committee chairman, said his panel would likely review the changes. Still, little debate is expected because most House lawmakers are no longer troubled by the new rule, Nonini said.