New pathways to high school graduation are officially in the works for Florida students.
After garnering overwhelming support in both the Senate and the House, SB 1076 was signed into law Monday by Gov. Rick Scott. The law creates new career and technical opportunities for Florida students over the next several years and establishes three unique ways to earn a high school diploma.
“In this bill we are recognizing that we have a very diverse student population,” said Rep. Marti Coley, R-Marianna. “This legislation offers opportunities to all students.”
The bill, which made a number of changes to education from middle school to the university level, will allow schools to create graduation plans catered to students’ career interests and ensure they have relevant industry certifications by the time they walk out of high school.
For example, students will no longer need to take traditional physics and chemistry courses to graduate. Instead they can take an equivalent course that is applicable to their chosen career path.
“We have made great strides in education, but we had a gap,” Coley, an educator herself, said. “I honestly think this is the most important education bill we have passed in years, and certainly in my career.”
Most local school districts have already stepped up their technical and career program offerings, so they aren’t arguing that the new statewide emphasis is important.
Some local educators did express concern, though, about the potential implications of the law, which seems to reverse the rigorous graduation standards put into place over the past several years aimed at preparing students for a national exam that will replace standardized tests such as the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Exam.
“It kind of layers the expectations again where we were trying to get everybody to achieve those higher expectations,” said David Jeselnik, the coordinator of accountability, assessment and secondary programs for Walton County Schools.
“Personally we may feel a little disappointed that they are backing away from these universal higher standards.”
Under the new law, middle and high school students are no longer required to pass end-of-course (EOC) exams in any subject except Algebra I. For the other subject area EOCs, the score they receive will simply count as 30 percent of their grade and will no longer impact whether or not they can progress from one grade to the next or graduate.
Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, said that while the law does change educational paths for students, it doesn’t eliminate the state’s emphasis on increasing the rigor.
“I’m a great believer in high standards and measure,” Gaetz, a former superintendent of Okaloosa County Schools, said. “I also believe because students learn differently and have different aptitudes ... we have to devise curriculum that touches students where they are.”
Those beliefs, he said, came first-hand as he helped the district develop the CHOICE programs, which are now being used as a model for technical and career education nationwide.
The changes in the law will provide students with the skills and industry certifications they need to get jobs, unlike last year’s college and university graduates, who are largely underemployed or not working at all, he said.
Both Gaetz and Coley said state lawmakers are excited about the new legislation and have designated funding to ensure the districts had money to not only implement the changes, but to reward teachers and schools with students that step up to meet the challenge.
“What we are doing now isn’t working,” Gaetz said. “We have to prepare students for real jobs in a real economy.”
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Katie Tammen at 850-315-4440 or ktammen@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KatieTnwfdn.