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Utah bill proposes to eliminate senior year of high school

By Nicholas Greitzer

Feb. 24, 2010 9:18 p.m.

Although it is currently off the legislative docket, a Utah bill is causing Californians to question a potential phasing out of the high school senior year.

At the beginning of the month, Sen. Chris Buttars (R-Utah) proposed a bill that would fully eliminate senior year in Utah public high schools, potentially saving the state, which is more than $700 million in debt.

Following criticism and Internet backlash, Buttars scaled back the bill to allow students who have met their high school requirements to opt out of their fourth year. The new plan would reduce the state’s deficit by $60 million.

According to Buttars, the plan is not to simply eliminate senior year but rather to put students on an accelerated path towards graduation.

One major concern raised by the California Senate Education Committee is the fact that a policy providing an option for senior year may result in unavoidable gap years.

Because of California’s current budget crisis, there already exists limited space for students in state universities.

According to the committee consultant, the gap year may cause scenarios where there is a loss of academic skill, or the formation of a competitive disadvantage when students eventually apply against students who fulfilled extra recommended courses and took additional advanced placement exams by remaining in high school.

“Senior year was the most important year of high school to me in terms of academic and social growth,” said first-year economics student Lauren Van Soye. “I think that this is a very vital year of high school, and removing it would not only deprive students of a good experience but also hinder them in terms of growing academically and preparing for college.”

There is also the possibility that students will find jobs and discontinue their education altogether, which is an alternative addressed in Buttars’ bill.

Although UCLA admissions officers would not speculate on a possible future where thousands more would be added to the annual applicant pool of 57,000, the influx could force most universities to re-evaluate their admissions requirements, said a Senate Education Committee consultant.

“We have heard of no such proposal in California,” said Vu Tran, director of Undergraduate Admissions and Relations with Schools. “Should there be one, and should it actually become educational policy, we will assess its impact on our highly competitive applications process at UCLA.”

While Buttar’s bill has stirred a good amount of criticism over its allowance of students to bypass senior year, most states, including California, currently offer equivalency exams for students in tenth grade and above, allowing them to receive their high school diploma early.

In fact, proficiency exams have been increasing in use, as a growing consortium of states, including Utah, have been working to “rethink” high school education following a 2006 report entitled “Tough Choices or Tough Times.”

According to the Senate Education Committee consultant, if California were to follow in Utah’s potential footsteps and introduce a bill that made senior year optional, the money that would be saved from public education could be offset by the development of a new exit exam rather than going to help the state deficit, as Buttars suggested.

On Monday, less than a month after its introduction, Buttars decided to hold the legislation until next year in hope of raising greater support for the issue, which in Utah had 100 percent Democratic disapproval and the approval of just 20 percent of Republicans.

Some students, however, see the benefits of a possible future where high school can be completed in three years.

“Removing senior year as a way to introduce students into more real-life scenarios by allowing them to enter technical schools or to start their college careers would be acceptable,” said first-year economics student Nicolas Waizman . “Additionally, this time could also be spent taking students abroad to undeveloped countries in order to broaden their horizons.”

While senior year currently remains intact, Buttar’s promise to push for the bill in the 2010-2011 legislative sessions alongside the adoption by more and more states of proficiency exams leave the future of the nation’s education uncertain.

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Nicholas Greitzer
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