Three years of social studies

Leaders solve problems, they don
’t perpetuate them. That’s why we’re glad to see that the Morgan
Hill School District’s Board of Trustees, led by Amina Khemici,
altered its misguided decision to require four years of social
studies for high school graduation. The district now requires three
years of social studies.
Leaders solve problems, they don’t perpetuate them.

That’s why we’re glad to see that the Morgan Hill School District’s Board of Trustees, led by Amina Khemici, altered its misguided decision to require four years of social studies for high school graduation. The district now requires three years of social studies.

While we still can’t understand why Morgan Hill public schools require three years of social studies when the California State/University of California system requires only two, and we’re still at a loss as to why Morgan Hill doesn’t meet the CSU/UC standards in other areas, such as foreign language, this is a step in the right direction.

We’re all for setting high expectations and for adding rigor to our schools’ curricula, but it needs to be done in a thoughtful manner that will enhance students’ educational experiences, not hamstring their options. That was the unfortunate result – demonstrated at ninth-grade registration – of the board’s November decision to require four years of social studies.

This board, even it it was on a 4-3 vote, overcame many obstacles in its quest to fix the social studies mistake:

• Miscommunication between district staff and trustees with incorrect information in the board agenda packet;

• Ignoring the recommendations of the board’s own Secondary Task Force, which advised a three-year social studies requirement;

• Mistrust of trustees and district administrators by teachers and parents;

• Shortsighted assertions by some trustees, teachers and staff members that changing a bad decision demonstrates poor leadership.

We congratulate the school board for clearing these hurdles and taking an important step toward correcting graduation requirements for Morgan Hill’s public high schools.