Address Pathways questions, concerns and move ahead

Parents, students and staff in Cedar Rapids’ high schools are facing a big change. The have plenty of concerns and questions that, so far, the district is working to address.

Cedar Rapids is planning to launch its College & Career Pathways program. The effort is designed to encourage students to dive into college and career readiness courses while developing skills to help them at college, in the workforce or the military.

Next fall, Freshman Academies will be in place at Jefferson, Kennedy and Washington high schools, where ninth-graders will take a “freshman seminar” along with core classes in math, science, language arts and social studies. The seminar, according to the district, will help freshmen to prepare for high school and life.

In the fall of 2026, College and Career Pathways courses will start at Kennedy, Jefferson, Metro and Washington. Each school will offer slightly different paths. For example, Washington one course is tied to schools of medical sciences, and Kennedy will have courses in environmental science and sustainability. Jefferson will have a pathway to aviation and engineering and Metro will have courses tied to health and hospitality.

Each of the schools will offer other pathways beyond those examples. Students can switch high schools to enroll in a pathway or possibly take pathway courses at another school while remaining at their current high school. A lottery may be needed if some pathways get more applicants than slots, another concern.

Of course, these ideas have sparked many questions on transportation and other ways the effort will shake up the status quo for families. School officials have pledged to use those concerns to make the program better. We urge them to stick with that pledge.

But despite concerns, in our view, the changes are needed.

Cedar Rapids schools perform below state average proficiency rates in math, language arts and science. Roughly 37% of graduates earned college credits in high school, compared to a state average of 69 percent. And only 7.5% of Cedar Rapids students are involved in workplace learning, compared to a state average on nearly 25 percent.

Clearly, we’re not doing enough to prepare students for the future, whether it be in college, technology fields or training for a trade. They must have more opportunity to study their career path to learn more deeply what’s involved in being successful.

Big change is tough, and people affected should be given plenty of time to weigh in. Their ideas and concerns must be taken seriously. If that happens, we think the district is on the right pathway.

(319) 398-8262; editorial@thegazette.com