Delegates debate bill to streamline diplomas

RICHMOND – Some Republican members of the General Assembly cited problems Tuesday as they debated a bill to reshape high school diplomas and direct most students toward either college or technical careers.

Del. Kathy Byron, R-Campbell County, is sponsoring the bill at the request of Gov. Bob McDonnell.

Byron said the bill is designed to reshape high school courses and qualify the graduates for immediate work in technical fields, except for students who are college-bound.

“The governor feels the urgency of where we are failing students in the education system,” Byron said.

But Del. Robert Orrock, R-Caroline County, said during a House of Delegates debate that “there are inherent flaws” in HB 1061.

Legislators sent the bill forward to a third and final reading in the House, when their votes will be recorded. Tuesday, they approved the bill on a show of hands.

Orrock, a high school teacher for 30-plus years, said students who pursue a technical-skills diploma can’t graduate unless they pass a test to certify that they are ready to work in a field or trade.

Orrock said a third, standard, diploma should be offered to students who are not college-bound and don’t pass an industry-standardized technical test. Byron’s bill already provides a diploma for students with disabilities who don’t qualify for the other diplomas.

Currently, five kinds of diplomas can be awarded.

Another problem, Orrock said, was that local school systems will bear the entire cost of creating better, technically oriented education programs.

Orrock also objected to the bill’s requirement that all students take at least one virtual, or online, course to familiarize themselves with distance learning. Most students in his district will have to take the course at school because they don’t have adequate Internet connection at home, he said.

Byron said the state will be flexible in its virtual-course requirements because some school districts have fewer resources to provide their students.

Del. Ken Plum, D-Fairfax, said Byron’s bill “will be important to folks back home,” and he thought it narrowed opportunities for students instead of expanding them.

The virtual-course requirement baffles him, Plum argued, because students start their computer learning with Playstation and other game devices.

Byron defended the measure, saying, “this is a common-sense bill that makes it simpler and easier to understand the system for students, parents and teachers.”

Many of the concerns raised by opponents will be addressed by the state Department of Education when it holds public hearings before writing regulations based on the bill, Byron said.