Close to Home: Don’t pause when it comes to equity

During my nearly 30 years on the Santa Rosa Board of Education, one of the decisions that I was most proud of was the April 2018 vote to change the high school graduation requirements to align with the so-called “A-G requirements.” With this change, all students could be eligible for admission to the University of California or California State University.

Recently there has been talk of “pausing” those graduation requirements for up to two years. I strongly believe that would be a mistake.

When I first ran for the school board, I was mostly supportive of tracking students into one path or another. Some would go to the college path, and others to a less-rigorous “regular” path. After decades on the school board, I saw that the system wasn't working for our Latino students and students of color, who were the majority of students in the regular classes. The system clearly did not provide the same opportunities to every student.

When we changed the graduation requirements, it did not create a drastic change in our high schools. Most had already been moving to a more academic curriculum. In fact, 77% of our high school classes already met the A-G requirements in 2018.

And we were not alone. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, a recent survey of school districts in California - including some of our state's largest - showed that 51% required students to complete the A-G sequence of classes in order to graduate, and districts with large enrollments of “high-need” students were more likely to require A-G completion.

The new graduation requirements were strongly supported by community groups such as Los Cien, 10,000 Degrees, District English Learner Advisory Committee parents and the Santa Rosa Metro Chamber.

Since the graduation requirements changed in our district, there has been a marked increase in access to instruction that meets state standards. District administrators report that in 2017-18, 68% of high school students were enrolled in a college prep math course. In 2018-19, that had increased to 98%.

I have heard the argument that just because a student has access to a class doesn't mean that they will succeed in that class. But it is impossible to succeed without access.

We voted to begin the new requirements with the Class of 2022. In our district, these students coincidently are facing other curriculum changes, such as integrated math and the new science standards. There is no doubt this has presented extra challenges for our teachers, who not only teach but also support our students. But rather than pulling back on expectations, this is the exact time to pull together and ask ourselves: How do we collectively create classrooms in which all students can learn?

I agree with the idea of creating certificate specialist degrees that allow students who are interested in particular careers to study curriculum related to those careers. I also think there is a need for graduation requirement waivers for some students. But those should be approached on a case-by-case basis, based upon the individual student's learning needs.

The students of today are not the students of 20 years ago. Previous generations needed knowledge. These students have access to knowledge. Their future requires ideas, innovation and collaboration to solve complex problems.

The majority of school districts in our state have raised the expectations of their students so that they will be prepared to follow any path they choose after high school. Now, in Santa Rosa City Schools, all of our students - including the 52% who are Latino - have access to that kind of quality education. Equity requires nothing less.

Frank Pugh is a former member of the Santa Rosa Board of Education.

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