Are science, technology, engineering and math skills more important to the state than civics and citizenship?
By approving a bill that boosts the grade point averages of students in STEM disciplines, a political scientist argues the Legislature is shortchanging other critical knowledge areas, including how government works in America.
Sponsored by House Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones, HB 801 gives college students the same half-point boost to their grade point averages for STEM that they earned for taking advanced classes in high school. The bill adds an additional 0.5 point to a B, C or D in STEM courses at any of the state's public campuses. The bill empowers the Board of Regents to decide which STEM courses earn the boost.
But Steven Anthony, a retired Georgia State University lecturer who wrote a biography of legendary Georgia House speaker Tom Murphy and a primer on Georgia government, says, “The biggest education problem in this country is the lack of emphasis on civics, government and political history. Those areas need to be equally emphasized. Sure, do STEM but not to the exclusion of citizenship.”
To read more, go to the AJC Get Schooled blog on MyAJC.com
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