To the Kansas Senate as they prepare to vote on House Bill 2292:

First, let me introduce myself. My name is Sydney Hoover and I am a junior at De Soto High School in De Soto, Kansas. I am a student journalist, and I plan to attend the University of Kansas in the fall of 2017. However, if scholarships permit, I am interested in the University of Missouri.

As I am a journalist, I keep up with what is going on in the state and country. When I first heard of HB2292 (now officially known as HB2676), I laughed. Getting rid of Common Core? Most high schoolers only dreamed this day would come. Seriously, who actually enjoys writing out sentences explaining in detail how they found the solution to a math problem? I constantly hear my classmates complaining about the Common Core standards. As I read further, I learned that along with Common Core, the Kansas education system would also lose Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate classes. My laughing ceased, to say the least.

I am currently enrolled in three advanced classes: Advanced Placement Language and Composition, Advanced Placement United States History and Spanish IV. Thanks to these classes, I have an impressive resume and GPA. I was inducted into the National Honor Society because of this, and hope it will help as I apply for scholarships for college.

This bill, if passed, will not go into effect until July 1, 2017, almost two months after my high school graduation, so I don’t really have to worry about my classes. However, this will affect the class graduating only a year after me and all those to follow. These students, which include my brother and several other family members and close friends, will never have the opportunities I did if HB2292 is passed.

I mentioned previously that I am interested in attending either the University of Missouri or the University of Kansas as a journalism major. As you may know, both of these schools are home to top-ranked journalism programs in the country. However, it will be nearly impossible for me to attend them if I cannot obtain a large amount of scholarship money. Out-of-state tuition is extremely expensive, especially at a Division 1 school such as MU. Tuition at KU is still a stretch, even with having residency in Kansas. I have confidence that I will receive some form of a scholarship, but I do not believe this would be possible without pushing myself to take some classes much harder than the grade level classes offered at DHS.

My GPA, class rank and overall resume only stand out thanks to the AP classes I am enrolled in. I am currently in three, as I mentioned previously, and am doing very well in all of them. I just today enrolled in four more for my senior year (AP Government and Politics, AP Literature and Composition, Spanish V and College Algebra). If students did not have the chance to take advanced classes such as these, their resumes would not be nearly as impressive as the ones my classmates and I have managed.

I would also be sitting in grade level classes, bored out of my mind. According to Del Siegle, Ph.D, a professor in gifted education and department head of Educational Psychology in the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut, the students who need to be in gifted classes will “either zone out or act out,” as he said in an article by NEA today. Siegle recalls his experience in some of his grade level classes, counting the amount of times the teacher said ‘um’ out of pure boredom. Grade-level classes are great for many students, as I can say first hand I would fail any Advanced Placement science class offered at DHS. However, it is nice having the option to not only take challenging classes, but to get several hours of college credit out of the way for a very small amount of money.

If HB2292 is passed, future students may not have the opportunities I do. If I was born just a few years later, I may never have been able to go to the schools I’m currently looking at. Without those AP classes, what will set Kansas students apart from other students when applying for college scholarships?

In 2013 alone, over one million students received a passing score on an AP exam, according to collegeboard.org. It was also stated by the College Board that “students who succeed in rigorous coursework” Advanced Placement offers are “developing college-level knowledge and skills while still in high school.” These students will be much more likely to receive scholarships than those who opted out of taking AP tests and are “more likely than their peers to earn college degrees on time.”

This will set Kansas students so far behind compared to the rest of the country. Is that what you want for the next generation of our state? To get rid of AP classes is to cripple the Kansas education system and all of its students. Without them, students will not be prepared for college and will not have nearly as much experience or knowledge as students from other states.

Finally, how will getting rid of Advanced Placement actually benefit the Kansas government? This is a genuine question, because I honestly do not know. Will it save money? From what I’ve read, if HB2292 is passed, it could cost up to $9 million in state funding to develop a new “Kansas Standard” education system. Surely AP classes cannot cost the government that much money. Afterall, each student who takes one of the tests has to pay a fee out of pocket of around $90. So what is it? Retaliation to that “activist Kansas Supreme court” threatening to shut down the schools? Don’t take that out on the students; that will only make the situation worse.

I beg you, do not allow this law to go into effect. Advanced Placement does more for high school students than you could ever imagine. I would love to speak to any of you about how Advanced Placement has benefitted me and will continue to benefit me.

As a high schooler, I am telling you that passing HB2292 would be one of the biggest mistakes you ever made. This is a plea from a 16 year old girl who cares about her education as well as the future generations’. Do not take away our Advanced Placement. Do not take away our freedom to challenge ourselves, to push ourselves. Do not take away our liberty.

Sincerely,

Sydney Hoover

Associate Editor

The Green Pride Newspaper – De Soto High School