Governor Schwarzenegger has vetoed a bill that would have allowed students to opt out of art and/or foreign languages and take voc ed classes for graduation requirements, has vetoed a bill that would have created "green tech" academies in schools with funding coming from an electricity "surcharge" (tax), and has signed a bill that requires kindergartners to be 5 years old by September 1st.
Joanne has more details and direct links.
3 comments:
Okay-I have to say something here. I understand the need for some students to access vocational programs to survive. But, we also have a need to share a common culture. While it may seem superficial, most good art classes take and use higher order thinking skills on a level that is not attainable in other classes. I think there could be and should be levels of graduation credit that would allow some students to opt out of programs they did not need, but I have an issue with removing arts from the schools. Art is what humanizes us-in a good way. And art can be used to enhance and enrich other courses. I think writing stronger curriculum for arts that incorporates writing, reading, history and observation would actually improve comprehension. I guess I will get to prove that soon. I am tutoring a flock of at risk kids, in English, using my skills as an art teacher who happens to write. We will see how it goes.
Boo, yay, and yay.
5 yrs old by Sept 1! My whole life would have been different had I gone to school w/ that rule in place. damn you arnold!
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