Bill would ban eighth-grade graduation

SAMANTHA M. NOVICK
Cronkite News Service

PHOENIX - Just a few years ago, students finishing eighth grade at Safford Middle School in Safford participated in an elaborate graduation ceremony. Relatives came from out of town, and graduates dressed up to receive certificates commemorating their accomplishment.
These days, students still receive certificates, and the parents still treat them to a dance at a banquet hall. But the affair has been toned down to reflect what educators say is only a step toward a high school diploma.
"The feeling especially among the staff is that finishing eighth grade is not a big deal anymore," said Amanda Pedrego, a spokeswoman for Safford Middle School. "A promotion ceremony is telling the kids that they've finished."
Pedrego welcomed a move by state lawmakers to prevent school districts from issuing certificates to students completing eighth grade. The sponsor, Rep. Ben Miranda, D-Phoenix, said HB 2728 would help prevent students from thinking they've completed their education.
"We find that many families, especially immigrant families, need to be reminded that education continues after the eighth grade," Miranda said. "I think it is important to guide these folks towards pursuing higher education and finishing high school."
Last year nearly 5 percent of students, 4,149 in all, dropped out of Arizona schools immediately before or during the ninth grade, according to a report by the Arizona Department of Education. Hispanic students are nearly twice as likely to drop out of school as white students, the report said.
"Compulsory education in Mexico has always been viewed as something ending at the eighth-grade level," Miranda said. "A number of people in the Hispanic community have raised the issue of why we even need to have promotion certificates."
Bob Kuhn, principal of Flagstaff Middle School, said he wouldn't mind doing away with the certificates.
"We have a promotion ceremony in the gym, but we try to emphasize that it is not a graduation," Kuhn said. "I think it's a good bill. These students aren't finished with school yet."
However, Jack Johnson, assistant principal at Williams Elementary-Middle School in Williams, said families look forward to the eighth grade promotion ceremony.
"In a small town like we have, it is really important," Johnson said. "I know that we would have a big problem if we had to stop doing this. I don't see why the Legislature should be able to tell school districts what they can and cannot do."
Becky Goldberg, school board president for Lake Havasu City School District No. 1 said it is important to reward students. Her district currently doesn't give out certificates, but Goldberg said she'd eventually like to.
"These kids have so many pressures on them, now with the AIMS test and No Child Left Behind," Goldberg said. "Anything you can do for them is an encouragement for them to work hard."
Miranda's bill cleared the House earlier this month with 41 representatives in support, 17 against and two not voting. Last Wednesday, it won approval from the Senate Education K-12 Committee with only Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Havasu City, voting against it.
"I think that a child should be celebrated at educational milestones," Gould said. "Should we not give out high school diplomas because we want our children to go on to college?"
Gould said that he doesn't believe that passing out a certificate would persuade someone not to continue with school.
"I think it's ridiculous," Gould said. "They need to give their folks more credit."


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