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Monday, April 9, 2007
Driver’s Ed: Whose Responsibility Is It?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thanks to a late birthday and a state requirement to take a driver’s education course, I didn’t get my license until I was 17. Sure, I was irritated I had to wait so long to take my driver’s test. But I still remember some of the lessons I learned while sitting in a simulator in a darkened classroom at Liberty High School.
Back then, public school students in Maryland could take driver’s ed during the school day as part of their regular class schedule. That’s the way it used to be in Georgia, too. But when state lawmakers decided to cut funding for such programs in 1985, the free classes all but dried up.
Few, if any, school systems in the metro area still offer driver’s ed during the school day. Most offer fee-based courses that students take before and after school, on Saturdays or during the summer.
Two years ago, the state Legislature passed a law to encourage more systems to start offering free classes again by providing state money raised from a new surcharge on certain traffic offenses. But, according to a story by my colleague, Sonji Jacobs, that program hasn’t had much success.
Now, a new bill would make the State Board of Education responsible for implementing free or inexpensive driver education classes in every school system. The goal: To get more students trained in safe driving techniques before they get behind the wheel.
I wonder whether moving the task to the education board will make any difference in what schools currently offer. One of the issues for systems today is the greater demand on students’ academic time. Many teens simply can’t fit a driver’s ed course into their class schedules and still meet all the requirements for graduation and college. Superintendents also are less willing to divert time and resources to programs that don’t help lift student test scores.
So tell me: In this day and age, is offering driver’s ed a requirement that public schools can do without?
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