Irvine High School - Citadel Yearbook (Irvine, CA)

Page 28 text:

P©)!!. tt€! : t m M ' tm mm m M Public opinion about education has, within the last five years, experienced a return to an em- phasis on basics. It is time to end the rhetoric. It is time to restate the principle that a strong public school system is at the heart of a strong, diverse America, said U.S. Representative, Dan Glickman. In California, this new shift toward traditional education resulted in the passing of Senate Bill 813 (SB 813) in 1983. SB 813 dealt with changes in funding, academic curriculum, and teacher-testing. The changes being made and the new, in- novative teaching techniques teachers are incor- porating are all geared for one thing: making students learn, said IHS Unit Principal, Leah Laule. Nationally, funding for public education was not increased. President Ronald Reagan did not slash funds, but he tried to. According to the National Education Associa- tion (NEA), figures for the U.S. Budget for federal aid disproved Reagan ' s claim of wanting to im- prove the nation ' s education system. In 1980, former President Jimmy Carter requested $13.3 billion in federal aid for education. In 1981, Carter upped the request to $13.4 billion. Then, in 1982, Reagan cut federal funds to $13.1 billion, and the 1983 budget was slashed to $10.3 billion and Reagan requested further cuts. However, with the passing of SB 813, public school funding in California saw some improve- ment. For example, $400 per pupil would be awarded to high schools for improving their students ' academic achievement on composite test scores. This funding was proposed as an in- centive to schools to improve their students ' scores on national tests. Along with this fundings, a change that directly affected IHS students was the new honors classes. According to Laule, the classes were weighted with an extra grade point for each grade a student received. This new policy encouraged students to take more classes with a higher level of difficulty. Junior Lendor Tobias said, If the school was not awarding the extra grade point, I might not have taken Social Science Research, and thus learned as much as I have. With the University of California ' s approval, an extra grade point was awarded for the designated honors and advanced placement classes, accor- ding to Laule. Another curriculum change was the requirement of two years of science and one year of Fine Arts 24 Feature or Foreign Language to graduate. In Japan, I never had the opportunity to get in- volved in activities at school. It ' s good for everyone to cultivate an interest outside of studies. Having these new requirements will give everyone the chance to find that interest, said Senior Koichi Hanada. Requiring seniors to take 5 classes a day was another change that sparked controversy. The ex- ception to this requirement was if the student was taking a work experience class or a college course, in which case, the other activity would count as a class. Requiring 5 classes puts too much pressure on seniors. If I was going to take five easy classes, I wouldn ' t mind, but most TA ' s push the seniors to take hard classes. When I end up taking five classes of 4-5 difficulty, plus participating in a team sport, plus working, it just becomes too much, said Senior Michelle Olis. However, Sophomore George Quitoriano ex- pressed a different point of view. The new requirement of five classes would keep seniors on task and prepared for college. Otherwise, seniors just become too lax during their last year in high school and they regress. Another new requirement from SB 813 was for teachers to take the California Basic Educational Skills Test (CBEST) before they received teaching credentials. Teachers changing school districts had to take the exam also. There was a controversy surrounding the CBEST and substitute teachers, said Laule. Substitutes were required to take the CBEST, but the test cost $50 each time to take, and substitutes wonder if it is really worth it. Mid year, California legislature changed again, however, and eliminated the CBEST requirement and mandatory four years of college for substitutes. Due to a shortage of substitutes, only three years of college was necessary to obtain a substitute credential. All these changes came because of a general shift in emphasis toward basic education, meaning more studying, better teachers, and a strong academic core. As said in the NEA ' s slogan, A Strong America Needs Strong Public Schools. — by Cathy Chou AP PHYSICS . . . AMUSING?! Apparently, Senior Jeanne Pandes finds AP Physics problems no problem at all. r m,

Page 27 text:

Feature 23

Page 29 text:

REACHING FOR HIGHER KNOWLEDGE: Senior Sharon Sohn pulls down a book from the UCI library shelf. The book was vital for her research project in the new honors class, Social Science Research. SHARING THOUGHTS: The Progressive, a liberal magazine, sparks ideas aired by Junior Sean Casey and Social Science Research teacher, Bruce Baron. Feature 25