HIGH SCHOOLS Taft's plan worries teachers

The current seventh-grade class would be the first one affected by the change.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Gov. Bob Taft's plan to require tougher math and science classes for high school students doesn't add up, some educators and researchers said.
Many students are failing basic courses such as algebra and biology, and teachers groups said they think pushing students into more advanced classes would increase the state's dropout rate.
"You can't just say, 'OK, now everybody's going to pass physics and Algebra II,'" said Tom Mooney, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers.
Taft's plan calls for higher graduation standards to start in 2011, meaning students now enrolled in seventh grade would be the first affected graduates. The program, dubbed "the Ohio Core," would require high school students to take biology, chemistry and physics and four years of math, including Algebra II, among other courses.
What's behind this
Taft's intention is to better prepare graduates for college and careers, he said when he proposed the plan in January.
Mooney said it would more likely drive away at-risk students who struggle with simpler schoolwork.
However, states with similar requirements haven't seen dropouts increase.
If lawmakers approve the plan, Ohio would become the fifth state to make completion of Algebra II a condition for graduation. No other state requires the specific science curriculum Taft has proposed.
Fewer students are dropping out since Alabama implemented stricter requirements, said Education Department spokeswoman Rebecca White. And dropout rates haven't budged in Indiana.