Speech and communications teachers are speaking out against a proposal to drop their classes as a graduation requirement. 

The classes may be replaced with digital literacy courses as part of state superintendent Debbie Critchfield’s push to ensure an Idaho high school diploma remains relevant.

It’s one of two significant proposed changes to Idaho’s graduation requirements — the other is a “future readiness project” that would revamp the senior project. The State Board of Education approved the proposed changes in August, but the Legislature will have the final say in its 2025 session.

If approved, it would be the first time the state’s graduation requirements have changed in over a decade. 

But Idaho speech teachers say the push for digital literacy shouldn’t come at the expense of communications classes — a change they say will negatively impact students and teachers. 

Students will miss an opportunity to learn vital, lifetime skills — like how to advocate for themselves, work in small groups and with different personalities, and successfully interview for jobs, said Robin Christensen, who teaches and coaches speech and debate at Idaho Falls High.

And teachers will have to teach another subject — which they may not have the qualifications or desire to do. 

Christensen said the state should drop one required elective class, and then keep both digital literacy and communications as required courses. 

But doing so would put additional burdens on schools, said Scott Graf, the Idaho Department of Education’s communications director. Plus, feedback from school districts was overwhelmingly against cutting electives in favor of more core classes. 

As state leaders consider how best to prepare Idaho’s graduates for life after high school, speech teachers say that in an era of increasing technological dependence, their classes are needed now more than ever. 

Students need traditional communications skills to gain confidence, excel in the workforce, teachers say

State education leaders agree with teachers that communications skills are essential, Graf said, but believe those skills can be embedded in other courses.

“They can and should be a focus in every class,” he wrote in an email to EdNews. “In a society that grows more and more reliant on technology by the day, we felt a required course on digital literacy is warranted to best prepare our students for the world they will encounter after school.”

But teachers like Paul Montreuil contend that there should be a class devoted to communications skills, taught by qualified teachers. “It’s impossible to incorporate a semester’s worth of public speaking material into an already over-jammed curriculum,” said Montreuil, who teaches speech and debate at Centennial High. “That’s nonsense.”

Speech teachers said they are not opposed to a digital literacy course, but do not think traditional communications classes should be dropped. They see the need for it daily.

Christensen’s students used to chatter amongst themselves if there were a few minutes left at the end of class or if they finished an assignment early — but that’s changed. Nowadays, students are more likely to stare at devices and sit in silence. 

Classes like hers foster connection and conversation among students, she said, and teach basic interpersonal skills that she says are essential in any workplace. 

She’s one of 10 speech teachers and/or debate coaches — representing six districts, nine public schools and a private school — who reached out to EdNews to share their concerns. 

Marcy Curr, a speech and debate teacher and coach at Pocatello High, echoed Christensen’s sentiment. She said that even in STEM careers — like those at Idaho National Laboratory — communication skills are crucial. She recalls a conversation with a former director at INL who told her: “If someone forgets how to code, we can reteach that … If a person doesn’t know how to communicate well, work with others, and speak their mind, we can’t teach that.”

And communication skills are “on the decline in this generation,” according to Brock Sondrup, a speech and debate teacher at Rigby High. 

He said none of his students struggle to use digital media. But he has students “who struggle to make a phone call, are scared to order food at a restaurant, or afraid of speaking with a teacher about their grade.”

Nicholas Warnecke, a speech teacher at Owyhee High, said his class helps students build confidence and find their voice at a time when many avoid “face-to-face contact with their peers” — and parents are grateful. They “consistently tell me that they are glad their child is in speech class,” he wrote in a letter to his legislators. 

Graf pointed out that a third of Idaho students take speech/communications classes online, so they are already missing the in-person component. 

Teachers also worry about how the change would impact speech and debate participation numbers. For some students, enrolling in a required speech class helped them discover a passion for speech and debate. Christensen was one of them. 

“I never would’ve taken a debate class if it wasn’t a graduation requirement and I know most of the students in my courses wouldn’t either because it’s uncomfortable learning how to communicate with one another,” Christensen said. 

Teachers concerned about their jobs, quality of digital literacy course

Speech teachers have concerns about the digital literacy course, including its quality and impact on teachers. 

If communications classes are no longer required, they fear enrollment will drop and fewer teachers will be needed. Teachers will then likely be reassigned to new subject areas — if they have the credentials to do so. 

Some only have the qualifications to teach communications and “are genuinely concerned about what will happen to their jobs and are actively looking to try and get other certifications so they can keep teaching,” Joseph Tyler, the debate coach at Pocatello’s Century High, said. 

Others might have the credentials to teach another subject, but not the desire. Christensen, for example, can teach English but if it came to that, she would leave the profession or state, she said. 

Because any certified teacher can teach the proposed digital literacy class, communications teachers could be reassigned to that class. But they may not have the background to teach the curriculum — which would cover the basics of computer science, like algorithms, coding, AI, internet safety and digital citizenship.

Tyler fears “Idaho is going to see a massive exodus of qualified speech teachers, which is harmful for our students.”

Graf said the department is focusing on what’s best for students, and “how districts handle their course offerings and how they staff them will continue to be decisions made at the local level.”

There are nearly 300 teachers in Idaho who teach at least one speech/communications class.

Teachers also worry about the quality of the course since anyone can teach it, whether they have formal computer science training or not.

Groups such as the STEM Action Center and the Idaho Technology Council have committed to helping provide digital literacy resources to teachers who take on the class, according to IDE slides presented to the Idaho Speech Arts Teachers Association.

Graf said the proposed change “was a student-driven process.”

“Our goal was to prioritize the essential courses that are needed to best set up young people for their success,” he said. 

Idaho Education News data analyst Randy Schrader contributed to this report.