LANSING—High school freshmen are a long way from graduating, but under new state-mandated curriculum, their senior year is already looking tough.

The Michigan Merit requirements, which standardize the curriculum for all public high schools, were adopted by the state Board of Education in 2005 and signed into law last April.

The increase to four years of math and three years of science, will be enforced for the first time with the class of 2011— this fall’s high school freshmen.

The plan also calls for “highly qualified” teachers to teach every class, meaning that some educators are required to take classes themselves before they’re eligible to teach certain courses.

Sen. Gerald Van Woerkom, R-Norton Shores, said he’s pleased with the requirements and said students should be pushed academically during all four years of high school.

“I think the program will press students to do their very best,” Van Woerkom said. “There are a lot of students who take classes that aren’t as difficult as they should be, especially in their senior year. This will definitely make them work harder.”

According to the Michigan Department of Education, only one in five seniors last year was prepared to enter college or the workplace. The department reported that prior to the adoption of the Michigan Merit curriculum, only half of Michigan high school graduates took a second year of Algebra, compared with 89 percent of the students in Missouri.

Van Woerkom, vice chair of the Senate Education Committee, said he was “nervous” about requiring all students to take Algebra II, but said tougher courses would better prepare students for life after high school.

“We’ve had positive comments from educators nationwide that Michigan has set a high bar for their students,” he said.

“It will be a huge help for students going from high school to higher education.”

But Iris Salters, president of the Michigan Education Association, said the union opposes the Michigan Merit curriculum because “everything the state mandates, it doesn’t fund.”

“It’s a financial liability for school districts,” Salters said. “When you put requirements on a district, that means additional staff needs to be hired. There’s a lot of necessity to add specific staff for certain courses.

“None of us believe the requirements are good for students,” she said. “But it doesn’t matter if we embrace it our not—we’re gearing up to face it.”

However, Education Department press officer Jan Ellis said all school districts have been given ample assistance from the state—just not in the form of money.

“The department has spent thousands of hours developing ways to provide educators with the tools to implement these programs,” Ellis said. “We recognize it’s important for school districts to have funding, but money is only part of the solution.

“We have no ability to provide financial support unless the Legislature agrees to support it,” she added. “We’re not independently funded.”

Jim Emery, who serves as superintendent of Bellaire Public Schools and principal of Bellaire High School, expressed mixed feelings about the requirements—but said his district hasn’t been faced with the issue of hiring new teachers.

“All of our teachers are highly qualified,” Emery said. “We met that standard.”

Emery added that his high school actually adopted the new curriculum last year so it could “see potential problems and head them off.”

“I agree there needed to be more rigorous curriculum across the board for everybody,” he said. “But some of the pieces are going to be interesting as to how we implement them as the next couple of years progress.”

One of the “pieces” that concerns Emery is the math requirements, citing how difficult it is for struggling students to keep up with their graduating class if they’ve fallen behind.

“One of the biggest challenges is finding a spot for students who are struggling in subjects like math,” Emery said, noting the problem of students who must re-take a failed class while simultaneously taking a new course in the same subject.

“A kid who’s struggling with math isn’t going to be able to take two math classes in one year,” he said.

Ellis said the department understands that it will be a tough transition for some school districts, so it has planned accordingly.

“The law provides flexibility to school districts that are having a problem complying with the new law,” she said. “They can request an exemption from certain components if they can’t meet the requirements.”

She added that it’s up to the districts to determine how to deal with failing students.

“Districts have programs in place for students to make up credits,” she said. “There’s a variety of options, but we need to make sure these students succeed.”

The department reported that 80 percent of the 50 fastest-growing jobs will require education beyond high school, and 40 percent of all new jobs will require at least an associate’s degree.

Salters said the need for more math and science-related courses reflects the transition of America’s economy, especially in Michigan.

“The increase of math and sciences courses show we’re moving from a manufacturing society to a technological society,” Salters said.

The plan to better prepare students for the future begins before high school, with the requirements calling for students to begin devising an “educational development plan” in seventh grade.

Van Woerkom said, “Kids should be taking classes in middle school that get them ready for high school. The plan is for kids to be thinking about their future.

“They have to understand the importance of what they’re doing in middle school.”

Emery warned that students looking forward to an easy senior year will be disappointed.

“They realize there’s no more blow-off senior year anymore,” he said. “They know it, and most kids are up for that challenge.”