School Standards Reform Bill Part Deux [Failed]

[Meeker]

School Standards Reform Bill Part Deux
 
Section 1: Terms
For the purposes of this legislation:
1.   “Elementary school” shall refer to any school offering only grades below 5th, inclusive.
2.   “Middle school” shall refer to any school offering only grades below 8th, inclusive, with at least one grade above 6th, inclusive.
3.   “High school” shall refer to any school offering at least one grade above 9th, inclusive.

Section 2: Elementary School Reforms
1.   All public elementary schools shall be required to offer pre-K and Kindergarten classes to all students within the district whose guardians wish them to be enrolled.
2.   All children must be enrolled in school, public or otherwise, within one and a half years of their fourth birthdays.

Section 3: Middle School Reforms
1.   All public middle schools must offer at least one foreign language. Enrollment may be optional.
2.   All students in grades 6 through 8 shall be required to study science, English, history, and mathematics for all of their three years in said grades. All public middle schools must offer said subjects for all three grades.

Section 4: High School Reforms
1.   All public high school students must complete, between 9th and 12th grade, at least four courses in mathematics, four courses in English, three courses in a single foreign language, three courses in the social sciences, one course in Atlasian/American history, four courses of science with at least three of said courses lab intensive.
2.   All public high schools must offer classes on mathematics, chemistry, biology, physics, English, American/Atlasian history, world history, and at least (but not limited to) two different foreign languages (listed below in 4.2.1) sufficient in number to allow students to complete the above requirements.
   1.   All high schools must offer courses in at least two of the following languages: Spanish,          French, German, Russian, Arabic, Hindi, Chinese and Japanese. Other language courses  not listed are allowed providing that at least two of the preceding languages are offered.
3. All public high schools with a student body greater than 400 must offer at least 3 advanced courses (Advanced Placement, Running Start and International Baccalaureate are acceptable), adding additional courses is encouraged.

Section 5: Interpretation
This legislation shall not be interpreted as to override any stricter standards upheld by law within any Regions or lower-level authorities, nor to discourage school districts or students from exceeding the minimum requirements.

Section 6: Effective Date
This legislation shall come into effect on August 10, 2010, unless that date is less than a year and a half following passage, in which case it shall come into effect on August 10, 2011.


Sponsor: CultureKing

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

I would actually like to see a requirement that schools include classes on computers with at least basic computer programming/logic as an offering.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I would actually like to see a requirement that schools include classes on computers with at least basic computer programming/logic as an offering.

That, and I would also like to see Hebrew included as a required language.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

I would actually like to see a requirement that schools include classes on computers with at least basic computer programming/logic as an offering.

That, and I would also like to see Hebrew included as a required language.

Out of general fairness and out of a desire to maintain a church-state separation, the required languages should probably be based on the total number of speakers worldwide.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I would actually like to see a requirement that schools include classes on computers with at least basic computer programming/logic as an offering.

That, and I would also like to see Hebrew included as a required language.

Out of general fairness and out of a desire to maintain a church-state separation, the required languages should probably be based on the total number of speakers worldwide.

Then we should include Italian.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

I would actually like to see a requirement that schools include classes on computers with at least basic computer programming/logic as an offering.

That, and I would also like to see Hebrew included as a required language.

Out of general fairness and out of a desire to maintain a church-state separation, the required languages should probably be based on the total number of speakers worldwide.

Then we should include Italian.

http://www2.ignatius.edu/faculty/turner/languages.htm

Italian doesn't quite rank.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I would actually like to see a requirement that schools include classes on computers with at least basic computer programming/logic as an offering.

That, and I would also like to see Hebrew included as a required language.

Out of general fairness and out of a desire to maintain a church-state separation, the required languages should probably be based on the total number of speakers worldwide.

Then we should include Italian.

http://www2.ignatius.edu/faculty/turner/languages.htm

Italian doesn't quite rank.

Faced with this information, I withdraw my request for either Hebrew or Italian.

[Хahar 🤔]

I demand Bengali! Especially because I speak it.

[Sam Spade]

Naturally, I will oppose this bill as I did before.

[CultureKing]

I would actually like to see a requirement that schools include classes on computers with at least basic computer programming/logic as an offering.

I have always thought of technology as something that should be intigrated into all classes rather than focused on in one specific course (which just overloads the required class schedule even more). Maybe there would be some way to add technology in the classroom in... do you agree/have ideas?

[Torie]

It might help more to try to get some teachers involved who can effectively teach all of this stuff first. You know, by dumping the teachers' unions, being able to hire and fire, and pay based on merit, with really talented teaches making at least a third of what lawyers do, like 150K a year. What a concept! Prescribing courses taught by C students from third tier "universities" who can't be fired and are all paid the same except for seniority and maybe taking some useless courses, just isn't going to cut it.

I once read a note to parents  from the principal of my nephew's middle school from a pretty elite zip code (Foster City, California - Xahar will know it) back when (the note  was about a rumor of a gun incident at the school).  The principal was near illiterate, and my nephew (kind of an Xahar clone maybe) red penciled his piece of crap, and his mother sent it in with a note saying it is sad that a 13 year old has to edit your prose, to make it even vaguely comprehensible and coherent, putting aside the grammatical and spelling errors. The principal wrote back to say thank you!  No I am NOT making this up; it's a true story!

[Хahar 🤔]

It might help more to try to get some teachers involved who can effectively teach all of this stuff first. You know, by dumping the teachers' unions, being able to hire and fire, and pay based on merit, with really talented teaches making at least a third of what lawyers do, like 150K a year. What a concept! Prescribing courses taught by C students from third tier "universities" who can't be fired and are all paid the same except for seniority and maybe taking some useless courses, just isn't going to cut it.

I once read a note to parents  from the principal of my nephew's middle school from a pretty elite zip code (Forster City, California - Xahar will know it) back when (the note  was about a rumor of a gun incident at the school).  The principal was near illiterate, and my nephew (kind of an Xahar clone maybe) red penciled his piece of crap, and his mother sent it in with a note saying it is sad that a 13 year old has to edit your prose, to make it even vaguely comprehensible and coherent, putting aside the grammatical and spelling errors. The principal wrote back to say thank you!  No I am NOT making this up; it's a true story!

In Foster City?

How long ago was this?

[Torie]

Oh, it must be about 15 years now, or close to it. Thanks for noticing the typo.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

I would actually like to see a requirement that schools include classes on computers with at least basic computer programming/logic as an offering.

I have always thought of technology as something that should be intigrated into all classes rather than focused on in one specific course (which just overloads the required class schedule even more). Maybe there would be some way to add technology in the classroom in... do you agree/have ideas?

Oh, 100%.  I work in educational publishing, and integrating computers into the classroom (specifically in science and math) is a no brainer.

My concern is not so much mandating that every student take computer classes, just that computer classes be made available to every student.  And I'm not talking just basic keyboarding.  My high school never offered computer programming classes, and I was at a severe disadvantage in college next to my classmates whom had already taken programming in high school.

In this day and age, knowing how to use the computer is a necessity.  I feel that any significant update to federal education law should reflect this reality.

It might help more to try to get some teachers involved who can effectively teach all of this stuff first. You know, by dumping the teachers' unions, being able to hire and fire, and pay based on merit, with really talented teaches making at least a third of what lawyers do, like 150K a year. What a concept! Prescribing courses taught by C students from third tier "universities" who can't be fired and are all paid the same except for seniority and maybe taking some useless courses, just isn't going to cut it.

I think there's a lot of merit to this idea... if not in all schools, then at the very least, in those which are performing well under regional average.

I'm not sure this is exactly a federal issue, however.  I will definitely be introducing a bill in the Northeast regarding this for the June 2008 ballot.

Section 2: Elementary School Reforms
1.   All public elementary schools shall be required to offer pre-K and Kindergarten classes to all students within the district whose guardians wish them to be enrolled.

I just noticed this.  I'm very hesitant to support unfunded mandates, and this one is a doozy.

[Хahar 🤔]

Oh, it must be about 15 years now, or close to it. Thanks for noticing the typo.

No problem.
I still demand Bengali. Duniya-e sòbai Bangla baolle, khub bhalo hoto! Seriously. It's one of the world's biggest languages.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Some comments from the Peanut Gallery.

The first is that given its importance to the Americas, Portuguese should be included among the list of required languages.  Bengali for all its speakers is the principal language of only one country of minimal importance and not located in the Americas.

The second is that some places have different grade breaks than what the bill envisions.  I went to an elementary school that offered grades 2-4, yet the language of this bill would require such an elementary school to offer pre-K and K.  Strange.

The third is that the high school curriculum assumes that all high schools and high school students are college prep.  Those students who choose a vocational oriented education are going to be hard pressed to find the time for the science and foreign language requirements.

The fourth is where are we going to find all the new teachers of math, science, and foreign language this bill will necessitate?  It's hard enough to find enough qualified teachers for those subjects as it is.

The fifth is who is going to pay for this mandate?

[Хahar 🤔]

Bengali for all its speakers is the principal language of only one country of minimal importance.

That's probably true. But I really don't see Brazil as being that closely linked with Atlasia.

[Torie]

Mr Moderate why would mandating courses be a federal issue, but not who teaches them?  Granted, the federal constitution around here is a very odd document.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I am, of course, opposed to this bill. Details will be given later.

[Ebowed]

We are voting on final passage of the legislation.

School Standards Reform Bill Part Deux
 
Section 1: Terms
For the purposes of this legislation:
1.   “Elementary school” shall refer to any school offering only grades below 5th, inclusive.
2.   “Middle school” shall refer to any school offering only grades below 8th, inclusive, with at least one grade above 6th, inclusive.
3.   “High school” shall refer to any school offering at least one grade above 9th, inclusive.

Section 2: Elementary School Reforms
1.   All public elementary schools shall be required to offer pre-K and Kindergarten classes to all students within the district whose guardians wish them to be enrolled.
2.   All children must be enrolled in school, public or otherwise, within one and a half years of their fourth birthdays.

Section 3: Middle School Reforms
1.   All public middle schools must offer at least one foreign language. Enrollment may be optional.
2.   All students in grades 6 through 8 shall be required to study science, English, history, and mathematics for all of their three years in said grades. All public middle schools must offer said subjects for all three grades.

Section 4: High School Reforms
1.   All public high school students must complete, between 9th and 12th grade, at least four courses in mathematics, four courses in English, three courses in a single foreign language, three courses in the social sciences, one course in Atlasian/American history, four courses of science with at least three of said courses lab intensive.
2.   All public high schools must offer classes on mathematics, chemistry, biology, physics, English, American/Atlasian history, world history, and at least (but not limited to) two different foreign languages (listed below in 4.2.1) sufficient in number to allow students to complete the above requirements.
   1.   All high schools must offer courses in at least two of the following languages: Spanish,          French, German, Russian, Arabic, Hindi, Chinese and Japanese. Other language courses  not listed are allowed providing that at least two of the preceding languages are offered.
3. All public high schools with a student body greater than 400 must offer at least 3 advanced courses (Advanced Placement, Running Start and International Baccalaureate are acceptable), adding additional courses is encouraged.

Section 5: Interpretation
This legislation shall not be interpreted as to override any stricter standards upheld by law within any Regions or lower-level authorities, nor to discourage school districts or students from exceeding the minimum requirements.

Section 6: Effective Date
This legislation shall come into effect on August 10, 2010, unless that date is less than a year and a half following passage, in which case it shall come into effect on August 10, 2011.


Senators please vote Aye, Nay, or Abstain.

[Sam Spade]

I didn't know votes started without a motion to vote.

Nay, obviously.

[Robespierre's Jaw]

Nay

[Colin]

Nay

[Verily]

Aye

[Hatman 🍁]

Abstain