Tougher school math, science requirements defeated

Alan Gathright, Rocky Mountain News

Published March 23, 2007 at midnight

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A Republican lawmaker urged colleagues to adopt rigorous math and science high school graduation requirements Thursday - or watch Colorado youngsters lose a global race for high-paying tech jobs.

"The world is rapidly shifting to a technology-based economy, and if we don't meet the challenge, our kids will be left behind," Rep. Rob Witwer, R-Genessee, warned the House Education Committee.

"If we fail, future generations will correctly say that we were on the wrong side of history."

Witwer and co-sponsor Sen. Josh Penry, R-Fruita, had attempted to gain support of skeptical Democrats by scaling back Senate Bill 131.

Instead of requiring four years of math to graduate, they asked for three years of math and science.

The bill also would have allowed sophomores who test well on those subjects to opt out of junior- and senior-year math and science courses.

Colorado is one of only six states without statewide math and science graduation standards, Witwer said.

But the committee killed the bill on a party-line 8-4 vote.

Committee Chairman Michael Merrifield, a former music teacher, opposed the bill, saying it would create an unbalanced educational system by robbing funding and students' time for liberal arts instruction.

"My contention is by forcing every child into this narrow curriculum, we are not making them more innovative, we are not making them more creative," the Colorado Springs Democrat said, citing a national report that calls a well-rounded education the "passport to a job in which creativity and innovation are the key to a good life."

The Witwer plan, Merrifield said, would make students "more regimented and more lock-step (with) less ability to think outside the box."

Witwer introduced written support from University of Colorado President Hank Brown, Colorado State University President Larry Edward Penley and testimony by a Lockheed Martin Corp. executive that said his firm needs workers skilled in math and science to build the next generation of rockets.

"You have the opportunity to impact the future of a child's life, their standard of living and the knowledge they provide the next generation," said Golden teacher, Deborah Piwonka, whose son is a Microsoft engineer.

"Set the bar higher and watch them rise to the occasion."

Two approaches on curriculum

The House Education Committee killed Senate Bill 131 on Thursday, but an alternative approach, House Bill 1118, has sailed through the full House and Senate Education Committee.

• SB 131

Would require a high school student to pass three years of math and science to graduate. As a compromise, sponsors offered to drop a four-year math mandate and allow sophomores who test well on those subjects to opt out of junior- and senior-year math and science courses.

• HB 1118

Would allow school districts to adopt guidelines for high school graduation as they and the community see fit. Parents and educators have testified that they favor the locally tailored approach over a "one-size-fits-all" precollegiate curriculum.

gathrighta@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5486

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