Passage Of Graduation Requirement Bill Lead By West Hartford Representative

WEST HARTFORD, CT - Representative Andy Fleischmann (Democrat-West Hartford) led the House this week in unanimously approving Senate Bill 1026. The bill revises state requirements for graduating from high school.

The legislation has been passed by the Senate and now goes to Governor Dannel P. Malloy for his signature, according to a release. (To sign up for West Hartford breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

“This new framework gives districts greater flexibility, while also ensuring that students graduate from high school with the rigorous education they’ll need to succeed,” Fleischmann said in a release. “It’s a great step forward for our state – and will help ensure our students continue to be among the best educated in the nation.”

The new graduation requirements, which will go into effect in two years, will require students to earn at least 25 credits to graduate, including nine in science, technology, engineering and math, and nine in the humanities.

The bill also allows graduation requirements to be met through successful demonstration of subject matter mastery through educational experiences that provide flexible pathways to learning.

The bill also does the following:

• Specifies that high school courses must meet statewide subject matter standards to fulfill graduation requirements and allows mastery-based courses to satisfy these requirements
• Requires the State Board of Education to adopt statewide subject matter content standards that are reviewed and revised at least every 10 years

The Connecticut Association of Boards of Education, the CT Association of Public Schools, CT Public School Superintendents and educational leaders from across the state all endorsed the new measure. Prior to this year, the General Assembly had delayed implementation of new high school graduation requirements on multiple occasions.

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