College bound and . . . coming up short

Those math classes in particular have been linked to success in college, according to the federal report.

With current graduation requirements, a student could be finished with math by the end of 10th grade, go on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and then enroll in college with four years of no math, Doty noted.

"He's going to have a tough time with college algebra no matter how you slice it," he said.

Tried before

The idea of a more rigorous high school curriculum is not new to Utah. The State School Board has tried several times to increase its requirements to more closely match national levels. Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. convened a task force on the topic two years ago.

The outcome of that effort is still unclear.

Bryan Bowles, Davis School District superintendent, sat on the task force and said he's not sure what became of the group's suggestion to implement a more rigorous curriculum.

The group decided Utah would pledge along with other governors to put a more stringent curriculum in place and then allow parents to opt their children out if needed, Bowles said.

"I'm not sure we ever really completed that work. I honestly don't know where that's gone," he said.

Many students are taking more than the required core classes in Davis School District, Bowles added. Roughly 67 percent of 12th-graders in the district have taken at least three years of math, and about 57 percent have taken the same number of years in science.

"For us to say that we're not as rigorous relative to math is not accurate," he said. "However, some of them have no math in their senior year, then they go to a university and they've had a full year off of math. They're not well prepared."

What about the arts?

The push for more intensive high school requirements has also faced opposition from teachers and parents who don't want to see arts education and other electives fall by the wayside.

"If you insist that people take more math or more science, what does that eliminate? You've only got so much space," State Board of Education Chairman Burningham said. "If that eliminates career and technology training, that will cause troubles for some of our students that have more practical goals in mind."

Requiring more core classes means some of the drama, newspaper, ceramics, choir and more may be sacrificed, said Zan Burningham, arts instructor at Sky View High School.

As core requirements have crept upward in the past five years, Zan Burningham said the school has seen her drawing and art course offerings drop from 12 sections to seven.