"By lowering them it's just like saying we don't want to put our students to their full potential," he said.
Some teachers are ambivalent about the proposal, said Ken Swift of Valley High School, who teaches earth science, one of the freshman courses that would be made an elective under the district's plan.
Enrollment in the course, meant to bridge middle-schoolers into high school-level science, would plummet, he said. But without loosening the credits, "there isn't a lot of room for missteps."
Linda Murray, who was superintendent of San Jose public schools when they boosted their requirements to 240 credits in 1999, said Santa Ana's plan could give students more latitude without backpedaling.
"Dropping back to 220 should not keep them from pushing this envelope of getting kids to college," said Murray, now superintendent in residence at the Education Trust-West, an Oakland-based advocacy group focused on closing the achievement gap.
"Having worked so hard to increase rigor in their district, they should hold to that," she said. "But sometimes it's hard to balance the needs of kids that are under extreme hardships with high standards for all."
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tony.barboza@latimes.com
