Education board raises core requirements

It's official. Utah students, beginning with incoming eighth-graders, will have to take more English, math and science in high school to graduate.

The State Board of Education cast its final vote Friday to raise graduation requirements to four credits of English and three each of math and science. This comes after years of discussion, then backing off, in light of community concerns that electives and especially the arts would suffer.

Those concerns remained strong at Friday's board meeting.

"As educators, we have a responsibility to preserve courses that develop creativity and life skills," said Julie Christofferson, president-elect of the Utah Music Educators Association. "We fear the exodus happening, as choice is taken away from parents, will continue to increase."

Board chairman Kim Burningham said he understands the fears — the retired public schoolteacher taught drama — and called on the public to ensure they are not realized.

"We must be vigilant to make sure our kids don't have fewer opportunities because of what we have done. I plead for that," Burningham said.

"I think there's a challenge to counselors and to teachers and to administrators and to parents and to the students themselves to make sure they have arts opportunities. We must all take that as an opportunity to make sure this happens."