politics

Calling Minnesota high schools "obsolete," Gov Tim Pawlenty Wednesday laid out a plan to transform some high schools into rigorous academies.

Students in such schools -- called "3Rs" for "rigor, relevance and results" -- would have to complete the equivalent of a full year of college before getting their high school diplomas.

Beyond that, Pawlenty proposed that all high schools do other new things: require students to take four years of a foreign language and boost the emphasis on math, science, technology and engineering. He also wants schools to set up individual graduation plans for eighth-graders on up.

In his fifth State of the State speech the governor also spoke about energy, taxes, and health care.

But education -- and high schools in particular -- stole the show. The reason? Too many students are going through the motions, he said.

"Too many of our high school students today are engaged in academic loitering for much of their high-school career," Pawlenty told a joint House-Senate assembly. "In too many cases our high school students are bored, checked-out, coasting, not even vaguely aware of their post-high school plans, if they have any, and are just marking time."

DFL legislators criticized the speech even before it was given.

House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, DFL-Minneapolis, anticipating that Pawlenty would call for a high school overhaul, said at a pre-speech news conference that Pawlenty might be overstating problems in a state that has among the highest graduation rates and college entrance scores in the nation.

High schools "probably need a tune-up more than they need an overhaul. ... Everything needs a periodic tune-up," Kelliher said, adding that a large gap in achievement needs to be addressed and more should be done to prepare students for jobs that don't require a college education.

And there are some students who would differ with Pawlenty's description of high school as obsolete.

"That's kind of shocking," said Coon Rapids High School senior Alyssa Anttila. "It makes it sound like all high schools are outdated and not with the times, when I think high schools are doing a very good job keeping students educated."

'A little bit offended'

After looking up the speech online, Anttila and fellow senior Margaret Baudino took issue with Pawlenty's use of the word "obsolete."I personally felt a little bit offended," Baudino said. "He was saying that the way we are learning isn't good enough anymore. It seems like he's focused on coming up to par with technology, but we already use that in our schools."

But some educators say schools could use updating -- and they're doing it.

"The type of school the governor described is our school," said Paul Simone, director of the Minnesota Math and Science Academy charter school, in Woodbury. "The things he talked about will work, but not in the traditional system."

Other features of the Pawlenty schools plan include a 2 percent, no-strings-attached annual funding bump for schools over the next two years, another 2 percent increase for schools that post sterling math and reading test results, and more money for high tech, online learning opportunities.

He also reiterated his support for a plan to give high-achieving students two years of free college. Added to that now would be college scholarships for students who tackle college-level classes in high school.

Pawlenty has pushed high school reform in the past, but most of the efforts have been restricted to more money for college credit and advanced placement options.