Changes to high school graduation requirements signed into law

Governor Stitt signs HB 3278, making art education and world language courses optional for Oklahoma's secondary students.

May 16, 2024

Legislation that changes Oklahoma’s public high school graduation requirements—removing art education and world language as mandatory courses—has been signed by Governor Kevin Stitt.

HB 3278 changes Oklahoma’s high school graduation requirements, removing one unit each of world language and art education and adding a fourth unit of math. The new law also creates a set of “pathway” courses, of which students have to take six units which align with their Individual Career and Academic Plan (ICAP), an assessment program they can begin in the sixth grade.

Under the law, dubbed the Graduation Act of 2024, public school districts will be required to offer only courses mandated by the state for high school graduation, such as math, English, science, and social studies. Everything else will be up to local school boards.

“The problem here is the overall difference in education philosophy,” said Representative Trish Ranson during debate on accepting the Senate’s amendments to the bill on May 9. “Do I understand that we need to make some changes to address the needs of our workforce? Yes, I do. Do I believe that education’s purpose is merely workforce? No, I do not.”

The bill’s author, Representative Rhonda Baker, said she had worked on the bill for two years, convening education stakeholders such as the Oklahoma State Department of Education, the State Chamber, career tech, and higher education. Baker did not mention inviting art education or world language stakeholders to the talks.

The intent of the bill is to provide flexibility, relevance, and rigor to the selection of courses that high school students may choose from, and adding a fourth unit of math is important because many students are having to take math remediation once they reach college, Baker said. “We want to make sure when kids leave our K – 12 system, they are better prepared than they have been.”

The bill does not change the total number of credits needed to graduate, but adding a fourth year of math means that other required courses would have to be made optional to avoid lengthening the school day, Baker said.

In rural districts where funding is tight and qualified world language and art educators may be rare, HB 3278 could provide a path to eliminate those courses from high school curricula. “We said in the original language of the bill, which has not been changed, that it’s highly encouraged to take fine arts and foreign language,” Baker said.

Learning to speak another language will have a direct impact on workforce development in the coming years, argued Representative Jared Deck, referencing his 10-year-old son. “By the time he’s twenty-seven in the year 2040, if he doesn’t speak another language, I do not believe he will be competitive as a worker in our global economy.”

Representatives Danny Sterling and Meloyde Blancett both debated that some trades, such as welding or woodworking, could be counted as art courses. “It doesn’t have to be visual art,” Blancett said.

The House voted 73 – 14 to concur with the Senate’s amendments, sending HB 3278 to the governor’s desk for approval.

A former elementary school music teacher from Stillwater, Ranson said she didn’t teach music necessarily to mold students into professional musicians. “My goal in teaching music at the elementary level is that when they grow up and get married, they’re going to be able to dance at their wedding. My goal in teaching them how to read music is so that when they attend their worship service … they know how to read music,” she said. “How do we develop them to be the best humans they can be?”

Local school boards are better equipped to decide which courses should be required to graduate from their high schools, Baker said. “The communities and those families and those students and those administrators need to all make those decisions locally about what is best for their students,” she said. “If there is interest in the course and they feel this is what is needed for their students, then the course will be provided.”

According to the Oklahoma Arts Education Data Project, 91,570 students across 448 high schools were enrolled in art education classes during the 2021-22 school year. Final passage of HB 3278 puts access to music, drama, dance, theater, and visual arts courses at risk for those students. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the federal law that outlines public education requirements for states to be eligible for federal funding, includes the arts and music in its definition of a “well-rounded education.” The law has no mandate that art or world language be required to graduate high school.

“Education is a slow-moving train,” said Ranson as she concluded her debate. “This feels way too fast.”

____________________