“We know that there are a number out there who would like this flexibility, particularly in smaller districts,” said Don Wotruba, deputy director of the association, which represents Michigan’s K-12 schools.

Wotruba said smaller districts often don’t see the same level of scheduling freedom that larger districts do.

Bill sponsor Joel Johnson, R-Clare, said he’s confident that the measure will be signed into law.
“Right now, there’s very little time for students to have an opportunity to take a (Career Technical Education, or CTE) program,” Johnson said.

CTE is the program that teaches trade skills to high school students.

“There are many students who have no plan of going on to a university,” Johnson said. “They need the opportunity to have exposure to careers that could be very beneficial to them. These are jobs we need people doing, and they’re jobs people want to be doing.”

Johnson said students still would be able to take foreign language and more advanced math courses if they choose, but right now that choice isn’t theirs to make.

Kani Caldwell, a nursing freshman, said she thinks the bill is a welcome idea.

Echoing that support are recently graduated MSU students Courtney Zott and Angela Kengara. Zott is a journalism alumna and Kengara was an international relations and criminal justice double-major. They say the freedom for students to choose which courses they take is a great idea, but Zott said she thinks foreign language competency is an increasingly important skill.

But the bills aren’t met without criticism, as education experts say the bill would soften graduation requirements, resulting in Michigan’s education standards falling behind other states’.