House Approves Change in School Personal Curriculum

HOUSE APPROVES CHANGE IN SCHOOL PERSONAL CURRICULUM

Legislation that allows students to embark on a personal curriculum in high school earlier than what the current law allows was approved by the House on Thursday.

But the bill (HB 6247 passed 88-15) was amended on the floor to allow school districts to submit plans for how they would teach the course requirements through career and technical education, industrial technology courses or vocational education. The schools would have to submit those plans to the intermediate school district, which would compile the proposals and forward them onto the Department of Education by February 1 of each year.

The department would then have until June 1 to render a decision on the proposals. If the proposal was not disapproved by that date, then the proposal would stand approved.

Rep. Bruce Caswell (R-Hillsdale) said the Legislature needs to address the mistakes in the high school graduation requirements, but allowing teachers to actively recommend a student be placed in a personal curriculum would take their time away from the classroom.