International Baccalaureate programs cut for high costs 2/13/2009 12:13 AM By ROB NOVIT Senior writer
The International Baccalaureate program at Aiken High and North Augusta High schools, started in the late 1990s, nearly was eliminated by the Aiken County Board of Education in 2003 during a severe economic downturn.
But, the Aiken School Board chose then to trim the $800,000 budget in half and preserve the program.
In 2009, the school district faces a far more serious shortfall and the I.B. program won't return next fall. That decision will impact a small group of juniors at both schools, who won't be able to earn I.B. diplomas when they graduate next year.
The I.B. program provides challenging coursework in the two schools that are run in tandem in some instances with Advanced Placement courses.
Currently, eight seniors at North Augusta are on track for diplomas and will have to take six exams in May. Another 36 are taking I.B. courses to earn certificates based on the number of exams taken. Three juniors are on the diploma track and another 45 are in the certificate program. Sufficient scores provide college credit.
The numbers are smaller at Aiken High, but more juniors will be affected. Four seniors and nine juniors are current diploma candidates, and 12 seniors and eight juniors are certificate candidates.
The School Board approved budget cuts in a number of areas, and none of them, including the I.B. program, would have been the Board's choice in better economic times, said Superintendent Dr. Beth Everitt.
"We used a number of factors," she said. "The fact that we have Advanced Placement at every school doesn't rule out college credit for students and increasing their GPA. The number of students and the cost of the program were considered in making this choice."
Over the past 33 years, Galan Potter has served as a teacher, assistant principal and principal. She has directed North Augusta's I.B. program since its inception in 1998.
The program has been so beneficial, she sad. The diploma candidates must participate in community action service and write a 4,000-word essay. I.B. has its own core courses that are extremely challenging and important for students before they leave for college, said Potter.
"I.B. students are not expected to be straight-A students," she said. "As long as they can make "C's" in the past classes, they will have stretched themselves. We have got to turn out kids who are competitive."
Nathan Towles, now a College of Charleston freshman, graduated with an I.B. diploma from North Augusta last spring. "I.B. classes provided a great way for me to learn a good work ethic in a college environment. I.B. made me learn to be accountable to myself," Towles said.
* The national economic crisis and state budget cuts have led to the Aiken County Board of Education's decision to eliminate the International Baccalaureate program at Aiken High School and North Augusta High School.
* The program provides rigorous coursework for juniors and seniors. A relatively small number participate in the full I.B. diploma program, while somewhat larger numbers take I.B. classes for certificates. Many of the classes are taken in tandem with Advanced Placement classes, although they have different final exams for credit.
The I.B. program has provided another opportunity for students who want advanced classes, said Everitt. But A.P. also provides college credit for successful students, and the I.B. program's cost ($400,000) and limited number of diploma graduates were factors in eliminating it, the superintendent said.
"Nathan Towles, a College of Charleston freshman and a 2008 I.B. diploma graduate of North Augusta High School, said, "It (I.B.) is so demanding. It's a task and a responsibility that asks you to be completely resourceful and to be reliant upon yourself. It's like a college workload and it was well worth it."
Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.
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Posted by: B On: Sunday, February 15, 2009 10:15 AM
Comment Title:
Ok, so the article describes the IB program sufficiently, but it is imperative to remember the students classified as Juniors. The Seniors will finish this year and receive IB diplomas. The Juniors are cut from all their hard work in the IB program and royally shot down. Their are hours of CAS work invested and planning and careful concentration invested into this program that Board members cut so quickly. Thankyou..
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Posted by: On: Friday, February 13, 2009 7:01 PM
Comment Title: I.B. Diploma Holder -
I was the first class in a high school in Thornton, Colorado, to experience the I.B. program. It is by far, the best experience, and the best overall educational program that a student can participate in. It teaches self-reliance, independent learning, responsibility, community service, and a mountain of other ethics applicable in the real world. It is not just another curricular accessory. Because of receiving an I.B. diploma and participating in I.B. for four years of high school, I learned Russian, I learned to research and study on my own long before college, I was able to enter college as a sophmore, and was still was ahead of my other classmates and made the dean's list every year. I had a foreign exchange student, and learned about other cultures than my own (oh NO, we can't have THAT, can we!), I learned to weigh and consider what I was taught, instead of swallowing it without question. The reason the rest of the world is more advanced than American students is because American schools continually cut programs like I.B.; perpetually contributing to the "dumbing down" of our schools. We will never catch up to the rest of the world with closed-minded attitudes and perspectives that allow quality educational programs to be dismissed as unecessary amenities. If you want to keep your students ignorant and uncultured, by all means, prevent them from being challenged and encouraged to learn independently.
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Posted by: On: Friday, February 13, 2009 6:31 PM
Comment Title: Private school education?
I have no idea where the concept of private schools being better than public schools came from. It is my understanding that the private schools pay teachers less than public schools and that the teachers there are those that could not get hired by the public school system. Also, students expelled from the public schools seek refuge with the private schools I think? Please correct me if I am wrong. I like to stay informed.
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Posted by: Bill F On: Friday, February 13, 2009 4:52 PM
Comment Title: For the expense, why bother?
For the better part of a million dollars handful of students get personal educational care? a couple questions: 1.)Why should your heighbors and State pay for that? 2.) Is it just possible that these kids are self directed in the first place? I'm mystified by rationale behind it. If you want a private school eduction, go to a private school.
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Posted by: On: Friday, February 13, 2009 4:29 PM
Comment Title: IB is a scam?
Oh please! I have watched students grow intellectually, emotionally, and creatively from the IB program. The program instills the concept of self-learning. The IB teacher is a facilitator to fostering knowledge of the student's independent interests. These students come to know themselves and become independent thinkers, which is something that needs to be fostered more in the schools. Most courses are teacher-directed and the student's have no idea how to really think for themselves. These are life skills that these students are experiencing! No wonder they do much better in college than those students who have not had the benefit of the program.
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Posted by: IB is a SCAM On: Friday, February 13, 2009 1:18 AM
Comment Title: IB is neither rigorous nor coveted
All these are self-laudatory words from the UNESCO www.ibo.org itself. It is a shame that schools would PAY for a propaganda-laden program from the communists at the UN to run in their schools.
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