Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley unveiled his new plan for the 2012 fiscal operating budget Jan. 21, proposing cuts of $1.9 million from the State Department of Education funding.
If approved, this reduced budget would eliminate the American Government HSA as a Maryland high school graduation requirement.
Although the HSAs have been graduation requirements since 2002, the American Government exam was added more recently in 2009. With the budget cuts, the American government exam may be eliminated, but the American Government course, National, State, and Local Government, will still remain a state graduation requirement.
According to Principal Joan Benz, the exam’s elimination would not affect the curriculum or teaching standards at CHS.“Teachers and staff at Montgomery County schools have always gone above and beyond to provide quality education even without government testing,” Benz said. “There has always been integrity with teaching, even without tests.”
Some believe that eliminating the American Government exam could have a positive outcome.
“The HSA is not as big a deal at CHS as at other schools because most CHS students passed with no difficulty,” AP NSL teacher Lallitha John said.
However, Montgomery County Student Member of the Board (SMOB) representative Alan Xie views the elimination of the HSA as detrimental.
“I see the loss of the Government HSA as a blow to education,” Xie said. “I believe that we need to have some way of measuring students’ progress in certain areas so that we can be confident that our graduates are literate and prepared for college, careers and life.”
According to John, a solid grasp of American Government is necessary for graduating seniors.
“There’s a sense that government’s not important,” John said. “It’s part of citizenship and civic duty to know how the government functions and impacts our lives on a daily basis.”
Statewide tests, such as the HSAs, were implemented in order to evaluate students’ development as well as teaching standards.
“In the modern day where every state has education standards, a state level assessment is the next step to see if teachers are teaching and students are learning,” Benz said. “If there’s one test, it’s a better and easier way to compare.”
Despite the proposed budget cuts, the MCPS Board of Education is still working to ensure that educational standards do not decline.
“The priorities of the Board are to maintain the excellent quality of education here in Montgomery County and make sure that the classroom is not severely affected by the budget crisis,” Xie said. “We’re doing our best to utilize what we have and save where necessary.”