Students now in eighth grade will need an additional year of math to graduate from high school under a new policy adopted unanimously Monday by the state Board of Education.
And that’s just the beginning: Those in seventh grade now — and all the students behind them — will actually have to take four years of math to get a diploma.
That includes the already required Algebra I and geometry courses, plus a new requirement for Algebra II or its equivalent, and a fourth course that includes “significant math content” as determined by the local school board.
That’s two years more than required now.
Students in the class of 2013 also will be required to have a third science course; current regulations mandate only two to graduate.
