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Tony Podojil of the Alliance for High Quality Education (left) stands alongside Republican former U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi of Columbus, who now heads the Ohio Business Roundtable. That group supports the graduation requirements proposal. (Karen Kasler | Statehouse News Bureau)

Business, School Groups Propose New Graduation Requirements

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The plan from business coalitions, higher-wealth districts and a charter schools group combines 20 credits of coursework, good final scores on basic high school English and math tests, and college or career prep.

The new standards include high school course completion, competency on English II and Algebra I, and at least two seals or endorsements from the state and local districts.

Tony Podojil is with the Alliance for High Quality Education, made up of 74 higher-wealth school districts. He said those seals could include honors diploma, workforce readiness, bilingual proficiency and military enlistment.

“Many of my districts already do capstone projects. They already require community service as a component. So they’re already tracking a lot of this,” Podojil said.

The business-backed Ohio Excels and the pro-charter Fordham Institute also say they wanted more competency and readiness than the state board of education’s alternative graduation requirements.

They also want kids who might not be on track to graduate to be identified earlier, and for their parents to be notified earlier too.