Utah Senator Proposes Eliminating 12th Grade

Utah State Sen. Chris Buttars on February 1st appeared before the Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee and suggested that Utah schools eliminate the twelfth grade and get rid of busing for high school students to save $60 million. He said this grade was a waste of time for most students and that many squander away this year, which costs the state millions of dollars.

However, concerned educators said this idea would wreak havoc on college admissions and will create substandard education. Strenuous objections from parents and teachers caused Buttars to back off somewhat and change his proposal to making the senior year optional.

My child is in the 10^th grade at a High School in St. George, Utah. My three other children have already graduated. As a parent, I believe kids are not fully matured at 17 years old and need the senior year to allow them more life experience. I want them to have the wonderful experiences of "senior year." It is a noble goal for them to achieve.

Without senior year, many would be left to do nothing. The job market in southern Utah is in a desperate situation and certainly adding thousands of 17 years olds would not help the quality of life here for either the child or the community. What does a 17 year old do without school or a job? Frankly, many kids are not academically prepared well at junior year and that would negatively affect the colleges in Utah.

According to the Salt Lake Tribune (www.sltrib.com), Utah has a $700 million budget shortfall, so $60 million is a significant cut. However, most parents will agree with teachers who say this grade is important to the development of the student. We are preparing them to enter the world in this grade. I have seen my own children sense that they are reaching a major goal in their life when completing the 12^th grade and graduating from high school. Just because the state of Utah faces a budget crisis in education which every state has for the last 30 years, it is no reason to create an unemployment crisis and make Utah kids miss out on crucial instruction that they need for college admission. According to the Utah Board of Education (www.usoe.k12.ut.us) it makes no sense to make students less prepared for college than they are already. Sen. Buttars proposal has caused a firestorm of attention from parents, teachers and students almost all of whom are against his plan. It would appear that the media frenzy over his suggestion would indicate it is not likely to get much support from those involved with this issue.