Board of Education member Tanya King, chairwoman of its legislative and intergovernmental affairs committee, said private schools have a 21-credit requirement while public schools require 28 credits.
Majority of transferees from private schools have complained about the non-acceptance of their credits for religion, theology or similar classes.
Private schools also use instructional materials and books that are different from what the public schools have.
Private school representative to the board, Scott Norman, said they are not asking the Public School System “to lower its standards.”
“What we’re looking for is something that we can agree upon in terms of credit acceptance and requirements,” Norman said during last week’s board meeting.
BOE Vice Chairman Herman T. Guerrero said any attempt to lower the credit requirements of public schools may encourage “fly-by-night” private schools that have no viable tools for student learning.
Board members also noted that private school students do not take the Stanford Achievement Test, or SAT-10, which is used by PSS to determine student achievement and progress.
Guerrero said any proposal to revisit the existing policy on PSS credit requirements should improve and not lower down the standards.
Still, the board asked Education Commissioner Rita A. Sablan and her management team to come up with a recommendation regarding the transferees from private schools.
BOE believes that a significant number of new enrollees at public schools are from the private schools.
PSS policy mandates 28 credit requirements for the graduating students of public schools. The board increased the credit requirement from 21 to 28 last year.
