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School Board Approves New LAUSD Grad Requirements
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The Board of Education for the Los Angeles Unified School District approved a proposal yesterday to change graduation requirements so that all students will be eligible for California state university systems.This year's incoming freshmen, the class of 2016, must pass the core curriculum in order to graduate. The class of 2017 will have to pass the classes with a C or better, according to City News Service.
To help students achieve the new set of standards, LAUSD schools will drop the total number of required graduation credits from 230 to 210.
Superintendent John Deasy initially proposed dropping credits to 180 so that students could focus on achieving good grades, but not everyone was not in favor of cutting out as many non-academic course requirements.
The "educational equality" policy was conceived in 2005 and designed to give all students throughout the district equal opportunities to be eligible for college at graduation.
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Deasy countered criticism that the new requirements will increase the high school dropout rate.
"They will rise to the challenge, as they always do,'' Deasy said. He stated that students do not drop out because they are held to higher standards. "Students drop out because they're bored out of their minds.''
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