Staff Writer
By Daeja Lee Conner
Kids enrolled in high school currently take five to eight classes in their normal school day. The majority of the classes that a student takes are required to graduate, rarely giving students time to take classes that they are interested in. Alongside these mandatory classes, the State of California requires that students take at least one year of foreign language, in the absence of one year of visual or performing arts, to graduate, but this should not be the case.
With students only taking the required year, they are not achieving the overall goal of learning the language to the best of their ability, but are rather taking it to gain credit for graduation. If the class was not mandatory, the period could be filled with a class relating to a student’s future career or a class that the student feels would better cater to their education.
In 2017, California State Representative Phil Potvin pushed bill that would make taking a foreign language an option for students rather than a requirement. In an interview with NPR, Potvin stated that “making [foreign language an option] would free up space in a students schedule and would allow them to expand their education more towards the career path of their choice.”
In addition to the mandatory year, students are pressured to take foreign language classes because of the A-G requirements, where two years of foreign language are required to attend a 4-year public university in California. However, a lot of students choose to get a jump start on their career path or attend a community college. Letting students choose their schedules more freely will be beneficial for students taking non traditional paths.
Students who are fluent in a foreign language are also encouraged to take a year of foreign language at Gabrielino. Though these students can test to be placed in a higher level language class, they are still encouraged, under the impression that is required to graduate, to take the course, despite their vast knowledge of the language.
“I have spoken Spanish most of my life, I consider myself to be fluent in the language,” senior April Rivera stated. “But even though I can speak the language perfectly, I was still required to take the course here at Gab and it took the spot of an elective I was really looking forward to taking this year.”
Though counselors may push these classes to help students achieve a successful future, many students achieve success without attending a four year public university in California. California also has the same goal with making one year of foreign language required, but students can forge their own paths without a foreign language class. Making these classes mandatory takes away opportunities for those that wish to not to take these courses.
Simply put, counselors should not force foreign language classes onto students and the mandatory year dictated by the State of California should not be required.
