Response mixed to math, science requirement

AUSTIN (AP) Parents, teachers and school administrators are torn over a recently approved rule that requires high school students to take four years of math and science.

Supporters say the measure will ensure students are better prepared for college and for a work force that's becoming more technologically complex. But critics argue it will further strain school districts' budgets and prevent teens from taking courses that interest them more.

The plan, which will first apply to this year's seventhgraders, was part of a sweeping education reform bill the Legislature approved this month during a special session on school finance. Republican Gov. Rick Perry is expected to sign the bill into law in the coming days.

Texas will be just the second state to include four years of math and science in its standard high school curriculum, according to the Education Commission of the States. Alabama has had that requirement since 1996.

Several states have moved toward mandating four years of high school math, but all but Alabama require three years or less of science. Texas students currently must take three years of each course.

Kenn Heydrick, the Pflugerville Independent School District's science and health coordinator, said the new rule will strengthen Texas' economy, force students to make better use of their senior year and give them a leg up in the global job market.

It might even encourage teenagers who'd written off math or science careers to think again, he said.

"There are many times when students are taking those electives or they're at the (advanced level) of a particular course that the light bulb really goes off and their interest and enthusiasm skyrockets," said Heydrick, president elect of the Science Teachers Association of Texas.

But Paul Evans, superintendent of the tiny Texline Independent School District, said he doesn't know how he's going to make the new requirement work.

He might have to add an extra class period to the school

day. He'll probably need to hire two more teachers, doubling his math and science faculty and bringing the district's total teaching staff to 19.

And because it's so hard to recruit teachers to his rural district just miles from the New Mexico and Oklahoma borders, he said he'll probably have to offer newcomers $5,000 to $10,000 annual bonuses.

"It's just going to be a huge financial burden to try to take care of," he said.

The Texas Education Agency can't predict how much it will cost statewide to implement the new requirement because it will vary by district, spokeswoman DeEtta Culbertson said. But the bipartisan Legislative Budget Board said the rule could result in "significant local cost for additional teachers, classroom facilities and laboratories."

The education reform bill offers school districts an additional $275 per high school student and says that money can be used for math and science courses. But for districts like Texline, which has 42 students in grades nine through 12, that won't even cover half of one teacher's salary.

Many students aspiring to attend highly selective colleges already take four years of math and science.

Gregg Hase, a 15-year-old sophomore at Austin's James Bowie High School, plans to take advanced placement chemistry, pre-AP physics, economics and pre-AP precalculus next year because he's thinking about applying to the Air Force Academy.

But he said that class schedule isn't for everyone.

"The reason (students) take these classes is to prepare them for what they want to do later in their life," he said. "If they want to do something else other than science and math, that's what they should do."

However, Olga Garza, whose 14and 17-year-old sons go to school with Hase, said all students could benefit from the analytical skills they'll gain under the new rules.

"I can't image what kind of life path that you would be on that you wouldn't need math and science," she said.

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On the Net: Texas Education A g e n c y , http://www.tea.state.tx.us