Colorado Studying Eliminating 12th Grade

Guardian ^ | 11/18/03 | Steven Paulson

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

DENVER (AP) - High school without seniors?

Colorado lawmakers have asked education officials to study the possibility of eliminating the 12th grade and establishing a year of preschool instead. They said it would better prepare students for college by giving them an early start and possibly save money.

``I'd really like to see if we might change the model,'' Republican state Sen. Ron Teck said Monday. ``We've been operating under the same education model for the last 100 years.''

Colorado is the first state to discuss the elimination of the senior year to replace it with preschool, said Jennifer Dounay, a policy analyst with the Denver-based Education Commission of the States.

Florida has adopted a plan to let seniors skip their senior year by graduating with 18 credit hours instead of 24.

Hoang Nguyen, a 17-year-old senior at suburban Arvada High School, said it would be a mistake to eliminate 12th grade. He said colleges might hold it against students who fail to complete a traditional high school curriculum.

``The senior year is the next step to going to college. It's a year when you find out who you are,'' he said.

[Cooter]

So, pre-school (grade 0) through grade 11 would still be 12 years of school. Sounds like new math to me.

[Law]

That leaves 11 more grades to go.

[Question_Assumptions]

``The senior year is the next step to going to college. It's a year when you find out who you are,'' he said.

Yes. Heaven forbid that we don't extend adolescence as long as possible. They are forcing fathers to pay for college for children they don't have custody of. I expect them to force them to pay for graduate school next. I guess you can never take too much time finding out who you are.

[dawn53]

Great idea, already taking hold in our community, but not on a mandatory basis. Why fool around in high school when you can get a head start in college.

http://www.spcollege.edu/ac/dc/#DC

But as a homeschooling mom, now taking advantage of the dual enrollment for my 10th grader, I may be for eliminating 12th grade, but I'm not for starting kids any earlier than 6 or 7, at least not on a formal basis.

[CindyDawg]

We have 3 y/o head start, 4 y/o pre K, and 5y/o K. They want the two year olds now?

[birdsman]

eliminating the 12th grade and establishing a year of preschool instead.

You have to understand the reasoning behind this. If the school hasn't brainwashed a kid into a mindless liberal by 11th grade, another year won't make any difference. Better to get the kid away from his parents 1 year earlier so that they can indoctrinate him before his parents have a chance to teach him to think for himself.

[afuturegovernor]

``The senior year is the next step to going to college. It's a year when you find out who you are,'' he said.

No, the senior of even average students is spend wasted; taking meaningless classes because you have to be there. I could have made it my freshman year in college not having had the 12th grade.

[dhs12345]

Doesn't make sense to me. The 12th grade helped me prep for college. I took many of my pre-college classes my senior year.

How would a student make up for the lost/unavailable classes?

I wonder what the colleges and universities will think?

Must be missing something in the details.

[CindyDawg]

They can then come back with eliminating the 12th wasn't working because seniors couldn't qualify for colleges and add it back and of course they won't drop the primary grade that they already have to do so.

[quark]

Skip an important year of education so the government can, ostensibly, teach basic pre-school skills -- colors, shapes, alphabet, counting, etc. Now that parents are irrelevant, the Nanny State steps in to do what mothers and fathers should be expected to do. And instead of basics, the NEA/AFT will teach such PC flapdoodle as the "good blue states" and the "bad red states." Creeping Socialism, anyone?

[MineralMan]

"No, the senior of even average students is spend wasted; taking meaningless classes because you have to be there. I could have made it my freshman year in college not having had the 12th grade."

Not where I am it isn't. Seniors in college prep tracks are taking Calculus, an advanced science class, language classes, plus putting a polish on their writing skills. It seems to serve them well in that first year of college when their lives are in a bit of turmoil anyhow.

[CommerceComet]

Of course, they want kids to start school that early. Day care is expensive. It's a lot cheaper to put them in school and let the taxpayers foot the bill.

[CindyDawg]

A lot of seniors can't get into colleges. Texas makes you pay for an entrance test to see if you meet college requirements and then if you don't you have to pay for non credit remedial college courses until you learn what you should have been taught in high school.

[Conservababe]

Graduating in the llth grade is nothing new. My father graduated from high school after the 11th grade. It was common practice in the south during at one time.

But, he did not start school until first grade. There was no kindergarten class. Now we have a pre-kindergarten class in some of our area public school districts. So, I guess now we will see pre pre kindergarten classes until the public schools have them from birth?

[Junior]

Colorado is the first state to discuss the elimination of the senior year to replace it with preschool...

While it might help them, don't you think it's going to be rough on all those 17 year olds to have to go back to preschool?

[RightOnline]

I agree. My take as well. Get 'em early...........mold 'em early. The trend is unmistakeable.

[Rightone]

Off to college at 17 years old instead of 18? Go off by yourself and live in a dorm at that age? Don't think it would be good.

[Rebelbase]

This is not about making high school a year shorter, its about getting kids into the indoctrination centers a year earlier.

Young skulls full of mush are easier to program than are teens.

[colorado tanker]

Most kids are not mentally developed/organized enough for formal instruction before age 5 or 6. This would be a wasted year.