| Drivers Ed: Privilege, not requirement (12/07) | | Print | |
| Written by Minna Shmidt | |
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Every semester, scores of students flock to classrooms to watch morbid movies that educate them about the dangers of driving while intoxicated, but as the work and the tests from that class pile up, students often wonder why sitting through disgusting scenes of Red Asphalt is required in order to graduate. Drivers Ed. must be offered at all high schools according to California Education Code Section 51220 but individual school districts decide whether or not it should be a mandatory class. The San Francisco Unified School District chose to make the class a mandatory requirement. But because driving is a privilege rather than a right, students should have the option of choosing whether they want to take a class that teaches them how to drive. Some students feel Drivers Ed. takes away opportunities to take other academic classes. “If I didn’t have to take Drivers Ed. I would have taken another science,” junior Luis Lechuga said. It costs about $170,000 to fund a combined Drivers Ed. and College and Career class and only $77,000 to fund a regular class. In a time of continuous budget crises, districts must prioritize essential classes. This much money should not be spent on Drivers Ed. when we could use it to fund new language classes or other electives. The school could also use this money to help out struggling existing classes such as those in the Visual Performance Arts department. “We would love to have more sections of classes for students as well as a diversity of class offerings,” VPA department head Teresa Bookwalter said. If the course is required to encourage safe driving, Health Education could satisfy this. It’s important for students to know the risks associated with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Knowing how to drive may be convenient but it should not be a requirement, especially since cars contribute to ozone depletion and global warming. “Americans own 30 percent of the world's vehicles and drive farther each year than the international average and burn more fuel per mile,” a report from the non-profit group Environmental Defense stated (www.washingtonpost.com). Some students may choose never to drive a car for these reasons and may instead opt for a muni pass. Although many students complain about the service, San Francisco’s transportation system is one of the best compared to other cities in the United States. Unlike education, which is a right to every child, learning how to drive is not a right. Drivers Ed. should be offered but not required by our school district. |
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to listen.
