Colo. Rejects More Math, Science Requisites

Citing cuts into other courses, lawmakers resist national tide.

When Colorado lawmakers recently rejected a proposal to increase high school requirements in math and science, they were not only reasserting local school districts’ rights to set their own academic standards, they were also bucking a national trend.

States across the country have increased math and science requirements of late, arguing that those mandates are necessary to prepare students for college and high-quality jobs.

But in Colorado, the House education committee spurned such a move, voting March 22 to defeat a bill that would have required high school students to take four years of mathematics and three years of science before graduation. The panel rejected the bill by an 8-4 vote, with all eight Democrats voting against it and...