OGT News: Amendments save legislation to beef up graduation requirements
Last minute amendments that added funding and a longer implementation time put Governor Taft's Ohio Core over the top last night in the General Assembly. More stringent high school graduation requirements are now headed to the governor's desk for approval.
Taft has pushed Ohio Core relentlessly, signaling that it is the legacy he wants to leave Ohio's secondary schools. The tougher curriculum includes four years of math and English, as well as three years of a lab-based science and social studies. A work and college readiness test is required during the junior year. Students must complete all aspects of Ohio Core in order to graduate and gain admission to a four-year state university. There's an opt-out clause, but that is supposed to be reserved for special cases.
Last week, rumor had it that Taft was threatening to veto all other bills if the legislature failed to pass Ohio Core and beef up high school graduation requirements.
But the last-minute amendments that addressed local concerns about how Ohio Core would be funded and when it would actually go into effect seemed to assuage legislators who were feeling uncertain. An extra $16.9 million was added to the legislation for teacher recruitment and retention. The new graduation requirements will go into effect with the class of 2014 instead of the class of 2010.
Taft has pushed Ohio Core relentlessly, signaling that it is the legacy he wants to leave Ohio's secondary schools. The tougher curriculum includes four years of math and English, as well as three years of a lab-based science and social studies. A work and college readiness test is required during the junior year. Students must complete all aspects of Ohio Core in order to graduate and gain admission to a four-year state university. There's an opt-out clause, but that is supposed to be reserved for special cases.
Last week, rumor had it that Taft was threatening to veto all other bills if the legislature failed to pass Ohio Core and beef up high school graduation requirements.
But the last-minute amendments that addressed local concerns about how Ohio Core would be funded and when it would actually go into effect seemed to assuage legislators who were feeling uncertain. An extra $16.9 million was added to the legislation for teacher recruitment and retention. The new graduation requirements will go into effect with the class of 2014 instead of the class of 2010.
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