Should Schools Stop Requiring Foreign Language Classes?

Hoping to free up more options for students when it comes to high school electives, the House Education Committee approved two bills in Lansing on Tuesday that would eliminate the foreign language requirement for graduation.

Novi High School's current freshman class and those that will follow are required to take two credits of a world language, Interim Principal Nicole Carter said.

The high school and Novi Middle School offer Chinese, Japanese, German, French and Spanish. Students have been taking world languages for years, she said.

"Our world language numbers are extremely strong," she said.

By eliminating the two-year foreign language requirement, the proposal hopes to give students not headed to college more vocational options in school, but the Michigan Department of Education opposes the bill, according to the Detroit News.

"Students, regardless of post-secondary plans, will benefit tremendously with at least one additional language to be competitive in the global marketplace," spokesman Martin Ackley said in the report. "World languages is essential for all of our students."

House Bills 4465-4466 would also modify required credits in physical education, the arts, career and technical education, science and math, according to the Livingston Daily Press & Argus.

The bill awaits a full house vote.

"If this bill passes, the impact here will be felt among students who struggle with language in the first place," said Amy Kilgore, guidance counselor at Novi High School. "But we have a small handful of students that struggle with this requirement."

She said the district can select to maintain the current language requirement because it is only required not to go below the House Education Committee's requirements. The majority of students at Novi High School are already taking world languages, she said.

"We have such a strong college bound population," Kilgore said.

About 76 percent of students go to four year universities, almost all of which require two years of a world language for enrollment, she said.

What do you think of the possible elimination of a foreign language requirement in Michigan schools?