S.F. School Board Drops Graduation Standards
The San Francisco Board of Education has dropped tough graduation requirements for the class of 2001 after learning that 30% of the city’s high school seniors would fail to meet the standards.
The board voted unanimously on Tuesday, saying it had failed to provide students with enough tutors or extra classes to meet the requirements.
In 1997, the board voted to require more math, English, science, arts and foreign language courses. It raised graduation requirements from 220 to 240 credits and disallowed electives such as wood shop and journalism.
At the time, the board anticipated that the state would pay to support a longer school day for extra courses and tutoring, but such reimbursement never was approved.
The class of 2001, the first to enroll under the new standards, was left scrambling for credits. Nearly a third of the 1,120 seniors were not on track to graduate with their class.
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