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2-year language requirement contested

Sara Burnett, Rocky Mountain News

Published January 31, 2006 at midnight

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The Colorado Commission on Higher Education may eliminate a requirement that high school students take two years of foreign language to be admitted to an in-state, public college or university.

The requirement is slated to take effect with the graduating class of 2010 - this year's eighth-graders.

But some school districts, mainly in rural areas, have said they're having trouble finding instructors to teach those classes, as well as advanced science and math requirements scheduled to kick in the same year.

CCHE Executive Director Rick O'Donnell - a vocal proponent of a tough, college prep curriculum - said tweaking the foreign language requirement wouldn't hurt students as much as getting rid of math or science.

"It's not the linchpin," he said Monday.

The requirement could be eliminated entirely, or the state could allow districts to apply for a waiver, O'Donnell said.

Another option would be replacing foreign language with two other "academic electives," such as music or journalism.

Gerald Keefe, superintendent of the Kit Carson School District and chairman of the Colorado Rural Schools Caucus, said he's grateful CCHE is working with local districts. But he's more concerned with the requirement that students take four years of advanced math.

For those who struggle with math and want to pursue other areas, such as music, the added course could be an unnecessary burden, Keefe said.

"It appears it's a step in the right direction," he added. "But it's not the big one that we're looking for."

David Svaldi, interim president of Adams State College in Alamosa, doesn't want the requirement eliminated entirely, but said he understands the trouble area districts have hiring - and paying - language teachers.

"I think flexibility would be the best thing," Svaldi said.

The Colorado Education Association, meantime, opposes cutting back on any of the admission requirements, spokeswoman Deborah Fallin said.

The CEA is the state's teachers union.