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No More High School Majors for Florida Students August 23, 2010 -- Orange and Osceola County students are heading back to school today. But this year, high-schoolers may notice something missing from their daily schedules. They won't have to take an elective class that counts toward their majors. That's because the state's requirement that each student declare a major area of interest has quietly disappeared.
In 2006, a Florida education task force suggested that incoming 9th grade students should pick a major, like college students. The recommendation was championed by outgoing Governor Jeb Bush, and made it into schools in 2007 as part of a plan to raise graduation rates and boost academic achievement. Patricia Levesque is executive director of Bush’s education-focused Foundation for Florida’s Future. She says the high school major program was designed to keep students interested. "The thought was, they would be more engaged, they would pick electives that were more closely related," says Levesque. "You know, instead of…‘I’m going to pick this elective because it gives me this lunch period’ or ‘I want to have study hall with my best friend.’" The first high school class to take the required 4 electives and graduate with majors was supposed to be the class of 2011. However, buried inside the pages of this year’s education reform bill is a provision that does away with the major requirement. Levesque says she’s disappointed that the major program was stopped before it could start. She notes that there’s no way to tell whether it was a success, since not even one class had a chance to complete the program. |
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