Georgia students could be getting a reprieve from a new state law requiring them to pick a career path by ninth grade.
The law requires ninth graders, beginning next fall, to settle on a job in one of 17 broad fields, or career pathways, such as agriculture, education and finance. Then throughout high school, the students would take at least some courses geared toward their career interests.
Only now it looks as though those ninth-grade career decisions won't be coming quite so quickly.
Officials with the state Department of Education are asking lawmakers to agree to a one-year delay in the program's launch, until the 2013-14 school year.
House Bill 713, which goes before the House Education Committee today, also would ratchet up the importance of career awareness and readiness from elementary school through college.
Career pathway programs have long been a part of high school vocational education programs.
But increasingly, states are creating these kind of programs for all high school students, in part, because of complaints that too many are graduating without being either college or career ready.
Some argue that a career pathway program could overshadow a well-rounded, rigorous academic program. Others have raised doubts that a ninth grader is capable of making a decision with potentially life-long impact.
Mike Buck, chief academic officer for the state Department of Education, said officials want more time to make sure the program is set up right and is responsive to business and industry needs.
"We need the time to do it well," Buck said. "I don't want us to just do lip service."
Officials also were reluctant to have two major initiatives roll out simultaneously next fall -- career pathways and the new Common Core standards, he said.
Georgia's career pathways program would follow the national model of 16 broad fields, but adds a 17th in energy.
Not all school systems would offer courses related to all 17 career fields. Students would pick their path in consultation with their parents and teacher or guidance counselor.
They could change their minds at any point, though that could force a delay in their graduation.
In addition to a diploma, students would receive certificates detailing the career-related courses they completed and, in some cases, showing they achieved the skills for a specific entry-level job .
Buck said the state's plan is to begin making students aware of potential job opportunities while they're in the upper grades of elementary school or middle school. By a student's junior or senior year of high school, the goal would be for the student to have some real-life experience that coincide with his or her career interest.
"We want to help the students find their passion," he said.
He points to the 12 For Life program created five years ago in Carroll County, west of Atlanta.
At-risk students in the school system complete their requirements for graduation and at the same time are getting work experience at Southwire, the nation's leading manufacturer of wire and cable used in the distribution transmission of electricity. The students' paid jobs at SouthWire are conditioned on staying in school.
Carroll County's graduation rate for at-risk students has jumped at least 22 percent since the program's launch, said School Superintendent Scott Cowart.
"We've graduated a little over 300 kids from the program who would [have] otherwise probably not graduated," Cowart said. "It's phenomenal."
The program's name is meant to emphasize the need for 12 years of education, he said.
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