[Source: Matthew Benson, Arizona Republic] — Listen up, high school arithme-phobes: Your days of graduating after sliding by on just a couple of years of math could be numbered. Emphasizing that sophisticated math skills are essential to survival in the 21st century, a high-level advisory panel to Gov. Janet Napolitano recommended Tuesday that Arizona students take at least three years of math before graduating. By 2012, that would increase to four years, twice the current two-year minimum.
The group of educators, business leaders, and others, known as the P-20 Council, also hopes to increase the state’s graduation rate to 92.5 percent by 2020, a 20 percent improvement that would land Arizona among the nation’s 10 best. And the council recommended that students be required to stay in school until they are 18, up from the current 16.
At the group’s core is the understanding that Arizona’s students of today must graduate with the skills to compete in the economy of tomorrow. That means a firm grasp of math and science, hence the call for toughened math requirements and a corresponding one for science. [Note: To read the full article, click here. For East Valley Tribune article, click here.]