The Thumb 

The Thumb

Credit where it's due: Utah's determination to require more math, science and language arts courses for those seeking high school diplomas should improve educational quality, not lead to rote repetition of the same dull stuff the students had to sit through last year. That's why it is good news that a state committee that is reviewing high school offerings for compliance with the new standards is open to the



idea that life-skills, career-oriented and applied-technology courses will both be available and will earn the appropriate math and science credits for students. Students who are college-bound and those who aren't can truly benefit from consumer math or biotechnology courses at least as much as they can from a third year of algebra or chemistry.



And the bus you rode in on: It's bad enough that so many of Utah's children suffer from asthma and other breathing disorders brought on by our polluted air. It's worse to learn that the very school buses those children ride on every day have been listed as a major cause of those woes. A national report card issued last week by the Union of Concerned Scientists rates the emissions performance of school buses across the country, and Utah's old and dirty fleet got a near-flunking 3D.2 All these belching buses are not only another cause of all the days some children have to stay home from school, or at least off the playground, they are a symptom of inefficiencies that waste ever-more-expensive fuel.
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