With the General Assembly in session, Governor Terry McAuliffe is ready to shift the focus of k-12 education, hoping to implement a process that would reinvent high school curriculums around the state. The Governor’s plan hopes to create a platform for a longer planning process at the state Department of Education. At the core, the governor is hoping for a “fundamental shift” in how our schools operate, moving towards a more “career readiness” focus. What that means exactly, and how that will affect Northampton County is the great unknown.
According to the governor, he will support legislation this session that would require the Virginia Board of Education to “redesign the high school experience”. In the past, McAuliffe, has been an outspoken proponent of preparing students for high-tech jobs. To shift to that focus, the governor wants to change the way graduation credits are earned, with more emphasis on hands-on learning, early college courses and industry credentials, with more doses of early career counseling.
“What do you think about when you think about a high school? It’s a big building with some classrooms and some desks,” the governor said.
“We need high schools that let each individual shape his or her education,” he said. “No size fits all. No student is the same. No job is the same. And what we’re trying to transform here is to bring some flexibility to a system … built in the industrial revolution.”
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