Ohio’s high school graduation requirements are changing, with a new set of recommendations for incoming freshmen made by a group of businesses, a charter schools organization and some public schools. And the law that allows the state to take over academically distressed school districts was put on hold. Both of those provisions are in the new two-year state budget approved by lawmakers.
The bill puts a one-year moratorium on the state’s controversial takeovers of academically failing school districts like it has in Youngstown, East Cleveland and Lorain.
Democrats, such as Rep. Jack Cera, wanted takeovers scrapped entirely.
“We’re still concerned about the academic distress schools. We’re still concerned about the three that are in there now,” Cera said.
The bill also sets minimum course credits that graduating high school students must complete, requires students to demonstrate competency in algebra and English, and mandates that students earn at least two “diploma seals,” which they can get through high test scores or community service.
The new requirements replace stricter decade old ones that have not been fully implemented because of fears too many students would not be able to graduate.
