Students in Dr. Capozzoli's earth and environment science course discuss climate change.
On February 14, 2023, legislation called the House 8 Bill was introduced into the NC General Assembly. The original bill would create a new graduation requirement for high school students, removing one science requirement to make room for it. The new requirement, a computer science course, would replace a physical science, biology, or earth/environmental science requirement. In the original language, the earth/environmental science course was the class recommended for removal as a requirement. The new version of the bill, introduced on Feb. 23, would not replace a science credit, but add computer science as a requirement, while decreasing the number of electives required for graduation.
State Superintendent Catherine Truitt told the House K-12 Education Committee that she supported the original edition of the House 8 Bill. You can read about it more here, via the News&Observer.
In the News & Observer Dr. Truitt stated, “Of all the things that keep me up at night, eliminating earth science isn’t necessarily one of them if it means we could replace it with earth science."
The initial version of the bill caused concern with our Sustainability Club andenvironmental science teachers. With the growing acknowledgment of climate change and subsequent activism, many students and staff at WHS have concerns about the repercussions of not requiring a course that focuses on the environment. The Powderhorn conducted a survey prior to the release of the 3rd edition of the bill that prompted students to give their opinions on the original House 8 Bill.
“I do not support the bill because a computer science course requirement in place of an environmental science credit would be limiting knowledge of essential information the future generations need to know about the environment and our impacts on the Earth,” said senior Bri Anderson. “With the panic of climate change and the threat to our world on the rise, it's important for students to be educated in earth science.”
While many shared Anderson’s opposition to the bill, some students, like freshmen Chloe Ellis, have a different view as to why.
“I do not think a science credit should be replaced by a computer class,” said Ellis. “I enjoy taking my computer classes, but I don't think the science credit should be taken away. I think that for our students to be well-rounded, they should be educated as much as possible in science. I enjoy our computer science department because it encourages us to think out problems, so I would definitely recommend taking a computer class!”
Senior Virginia St. Clair a leader of the WHS Sustainability Club and believes that while Computer Science is an important subject to be educated on, it shouldn’t take precedence over earth and environmental science.
“I think that while computer science is an important subject, especially in a technologically advancing world, it should not replace environmental science as a requirement,” she said. “Students need a basic understanding of the world we live in so that they can apply it to whatever other subjects they may choose to pursue. Environmental education is an extremely important aspect of addressing the climate crisis that is becoming increasingly pressing, and students need to be exposed to that education in order to make informed decisions and be good stewards of our environment.”
There were some students who supported the original bill as well as the new version, as they believe that having a computer science requirement would be extremely beneficial in today’s technologically advancing world.
“I think it would be cool to have a computer science class [requirement],” freshman Maya Shinnar-Weinberg said. “I think computers and technology are the future, and it is a very appropriate time to introduce a credit like this. Technology is quickly evolving and taking over the world, and it could be very helpful to have a class specialized in that.”
Some, like senior Silas Jackson, were thinking ahead. Why not simply add a requirement and keep both classes?
“I support this bill. However it would be much more sensible to add this course and keep the required earth and environmental credit,” Jackson said. “Though this adds a credit required to graduate, developing a solid understanding of each course is essential in a modern context. Technology continues to evolve and the field of computer science is growing. It would be beneficial to be able to navigate this field since it is very different from most industries. I would like to be able to guarantee future generations the opportunity for not only outdoor leisure in a beautiful environment, but also resources for the necessities that are food, water, and shelter.”
Watauga High’s earth and environmental science teachers were quite worried after the bill was brought to their attention. This bill put their livelihoods on the line, and they didn’t even hear about the bill until it had already made it past the first step of legislation.
“It was a little scary, for two reasons,” said Mr. Joshua Roberts, one of the main earth and environmental Science teachers here at WHS. “One, we believe in the science department and our science requirement. And even now that its hopefully resolved and we won’t lose any of the earth science classes, who’s teaching this? Who’s going to be responsible for the new classes? Its easy for us to say, ‘oh it should be a math class’ or whatever, but [those teachers] aren’t going to want to lose any teachers to [computer science] either.”
Mr. Eric Breitenstein was in agreement with Mr. Roberts. No one wants to give up their current class for a new credit.
As Breitenstein put it, teachers in other disciplines are "passionate about their careers too”. Many teachers agreed that choosing earth and environmental science, to begin with was an unusual choice.
“My immediate thought when I saw that they were trying to replace earth science was, why earth science?” said Ms. Chaselyn Ellis, a new addition to the science department. “With all of the climate stuff that’s going on and all the stuff that students need to be learning about in this day and age, why would you choose that science?”
Ms. Katie Gray agreed with her, saying how it didn’t make sense to replace a life science course with computer science as they weren’t even vaguely similar.
“We all agreed that computer science is a necessary course,” Gray said. “It’s a good course to have, but to replace a life science [class] just seemed strange to us.”
As of Feb. 23, the House 8 Bill has been updated to include a “compromise” that won’t get rid of a science credit, but instead simply add computer science and increase the number of graduation requirements.
“I think computer skills have to be addressed moving forward,” Roberts said. “If students don’t have those skills, we certainly need to move towards that. We are all in agreement that computer skills are important, we just want to make sure that it wasn’t at the expense of skills that we already feel are important. We don’t want it to be at the expense of what we’re already doing here because we are doing great things. This is a good department.”
This new change has satisfied many former doubters of the House 8 Bill. In fact, some support it even more now that it increases the number of graduation requirements for high schoolers. Watauga County has had a higher number of graduation requirements in the past, but now that we have the same number of requirements as the state, some concerns over the declining number of elective credits available have arisen.
“We, as Watauga County Schools, have had higher graduation requirements than most of the state, but we just dropped our credits down to the state’s requirements,” Breitenstein said. “It’s very interesting how we as a state can say it’s okay to have less and less credit hours but also say you must do this and this and this. It’s a concern for me that eventually, [will we] make it a place where students don’t have those choices anymore? We offer some really cool [electives] at the school and [students] are able to follow their passions and interests. To remove those chances makes it a whole lot less fun in my opinion.”
There are also concerns that the small amount of requirements is allowing too many students to graduate early; students who aren’t actually properly prepared and ready.
“I have actually talked with college professors and asked what it’s like on their end,” Roberts said. “They’re seeing a lot of students coming in technically as sophomores or even juniors by the time they start college, and they are seeing a downside to that. The idea that we’re trying to institute another thing that they have to have in high school, computer science, there’s some strength there."
Some students may be trying to pack in college credits or get out of school early to save money for future education. However, some teachers have reservations about this strategy.
"I understand that students are trying to get ahead so that they don’t have to spend so much money taking college courses and those are all good things," said Roberts. "Again, though, having an extra skill that students have to have before leaving high school is not always a bad thing. Increased rigor is not a bad thing. If computer science falls under that umbrella, then that’s a good thing.”
Mr. Kevin Shaw agreed wholeheartedly with Roberts. Is graduating early appropriate for all students who want to do it?
“College credit could seem pretty appropriate for some courses,” said Shaw. “But the idea of that whole push with less credits and moving forward and giving kids college credit, when they’re not really ready for it…The vast majority of [high school] students can’t handle college work. These professors are seeing these students come through, and they’re seeing these deficiencies."
Many believe that edition 3 of the Bill is an improvement from the original copy. Still, there are some questions about the logistics of adding a new required class, like whether or not additional teachers would have to be added to the staff. There are only two teachers here at Watauga who teach computer science currently.
“Especially with the number of students we have here, I don’t know that there’s any way that we could fulfill that computer science requirement with only two teachers,” Administrator Dr. Rachel Sheperd said. “The other piece of that is that based on the space and resources we have, I don’t know how we would not be able to add additional teachers, if that is the route that [the state government goes].”
At the end of the day, the House 8 Bill could bring some big changes to the county. The bill has a good deal of controversy surrounding it, but everyone will just have to wait and see what the outcome is.
“I think this was a call to us as educators to continue to educate the legislators in what we do every day, what that looks like, and the realities of what the courses really teach,” said Keana Triplett, Curriculum Facilitator. “A lot of times, it's the jargon that is misunderstood or misconstrued, so I think this is a call to us to educate others.”
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