Capitol Connection: Back to School Changes on the Horizon

Believe it or not, ‘back to school’ is right around the corner. I was quickly reminded of that opening up my mail this week. I found a letter from my son’s high school alerting parents to some new changes for students to adjust to.

As a parent, I’ve come to learn that every year there are always new adjustments: new tests, new procedures, and new rules. The closer my son gets to graduating, the more concerns I have about what these might mean for his future. Will he be required to take new classes to graduate? What exams will he need to prepare for? How will the impact of new requirements affect his time in the classroom?

I’m sure other parents have similar concerns. So, here’s a closer look at some of the upcoming and newly approved high school requirement changes made by the state legislature. Some requirements are new, some have been delayed, and some more options are now on the table for local districts.

Standardized Testing for Juniors

School districts will now be able to offer the SAT instead of the Smarter Balance Assessment Consortium (SBAC) exam for high school juniors. After the legislature passed a bill allowing for the test swap, the state secured permission from the U.S. Department of Education to allow the change. This means students will be able to take the SAT in school for free, saving students the $50 or more they have to pay outside of school to take the test. The hope is that this will reduce pressure on kids by eliminating the SBAC test in a year already chock full of college prep testing. It will also give students who previously couldn’t afford the SAT a new opportunity to take the test required to apply to most colleges.

Delays to High School Graduation Requirements

This year the legislature passed a bill that delays, by one year, a series of changes to the state’s school requirements scheduled to comply with the new Common Core Standards. The bill postpones the effective dates of these requirements by one year, meaning the first graduating class to feel the effects will be the class of 2021 (freshman in Fall 2017). The delay applies to:

1) a new requirement increasing the minimum number of credits, from 20 to 25, required for high school graduation,
2) a requirement that students pass state exams in certain courses and complete a senior project in order to graduate, and
3) a requirement that school districts offer students help and alternative ways to meet the other new requirements.

In addition to the delays, this bill also creates a nine member task force to study how well these changes align with Common Core State Standards and to examine whether adding CPR training as a high school graduation requirement is feasible.

Labor History Lessons

Students may soon be exposed to more lessons on labor history and capitalism. For quite some time, lawmakers have been pushing to establish a labor history education requirement. This year, a law was passed to encourage Connecticut schools to teach labor history, but does not mandate it. The state Board of Education will make resources available to schools to support lessons about organized labor, collective bargaining, as well as the history and economics of free-market capitalism. But this won’t be a mandated requirement.

For more information on education legislation passed this year, visit https://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/cgasubjectsearch/default.asp and search “education”

Enjoy the rest of your summer. September will be here before we know it.

Sen. Witkos, Senate Minority Leader Pro Tempore, represents the 8th District towns of Avon, Barkhamsted, Canton, Colebrook, Granby, Hartland, Harwinton, New Hartford, Norfolk, Simsbury and Torrington. For more information visit senatorwitkos.com or www.facebook.com/senatorwitkos.