Poll: Should high school students skip all art and foreign language classes?

As Culture Monster has reported, California arts advocates suffered their third and worst legislative shutout in less than two months Wednesday as the Assembly voted 76 to 0 in favor of a bill that would allow more students to skip arts instruction and learning a foreign language entirely during their high school years.

Now the bill goes to the state Senate and then on to the governor. If the bill, AB 2446, passes, then starting in the 2011-12 school year, students will be able to substitute a “career technical education” course for arts or a language. To earn a diploma now, students have to take at least one yearlong course in arts or a foreign language.

Its author, Warren Furutani (D-Gardena) says in a statement on his website that “the intent … is to increase high school graduation rates, which is an ever-pressing issue.”

Here's Mike Boehm's earlier story. But what do you think? Should students be able to skip arts and foreign language? Take our poll.

-- Sherry Stern

Comments

[s]

The ludicrous question doesn't deserve an answer.

[pancho2008]

how about the english as a second language parents kick in some funds to pay for their language classes?

Why are we gutting the education programs to support non citizens?

[Brit linguist]

Might as well get rid of the requirement to study a foreign language, as most of the American tourists I've seen in Europe make zero effort to speak the native language, anyway. Unless they're in Britain.

[Steve Chen]

I can't believe that the LA Times would allow such a disgraceful writing as "Yes. I didn’t study a foreign language, and I’m doing just fine, gracias," & "Who cares? Students can do what they want as long as I don’t have to pay for it," in the multiple-choice answers.

I would think that a major newspaper would at least feign some objectivity & professionalism and not allow such biased responses to be written by their own staff.