What Do You Think About Driver Education, Especially In Illinois?
Q: In Illinois, the
driver's ed class was a one-semester class and you had to take it or
you couldn't graduate or receive a license. As anyone who lives there
can tell you it doesn't help much.
But looking at California now compared to just a bit ago, the difference
is remarkable. Up until 1992 or so, there was driver's ed in high school
which included a day of driving a week. A good number of people took that
rather than spend several hundred dollars (which parents wouldn't
otherwise cough up) for a weekend class. Now driver's ed is classroom
only, so they have to pay up regardless. Given this, why would they
bother with the class?
A:When I took it we had to drive one day a week. The law required a
certain minimum number of hours of on-the-road instruction accompanied
by a certain number of hours of classroom instruction. Of course, that
was in '83, so things may well have changed.
Illinois is, when it comes to education, rather strange among the
states - it is the only one I am aware of with citizenship
requirements for entering and leaving High School. The state college
and university systems also have citizenship requirements for those
that did not satisfy them in high school. They may well have held on
to more traditional driver's ed for the same reasons they hang onto
the citizenship requirements.