To graduate, all high school students would have to complete tougher course requirements -- now only required of the college-bound -- under a proposal to improve high schools outlined Wednesday by state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell.

The change would be a huge challenge for public schools. Currently, fewer than half the state's high school graduates complete the rigorous "A-G" course lineup required to enter state universities.

O'Connell made the proposal during an unprecedented "State of Education" address in downtown Sacramento. He staged a major news event -- complete with a teleprompter, potted ferns and a Kennedy High string quartet -- to criticize high school achievement and announce several ambitious education initiatives.

"Sadly, the majority of California's 1.7 million high school students simply are not today reaching the academic levels that are needed for us to be able to call them a success story," O'Connell said.

It was the first time anyone could recall an elected superintendent of public instruction delivering such an address. In attendance: more than 300 state education employees, politicians, lobbyists and local school leaders.

The speech marked a distinct shift for O'Connell, one in which he used his elected position as a bully pulpit to take a tougher approach toward public schools, said Sen. Deirdre Alpert, D-Coronado.

O'Connell offered praise for improved test scores but emphasized that schools are not doing enough to fully educate children from poor and minority backgrounds, as well as those in high schools.

He stressed improvements must be made despite a yawning budget shortfall.

"This is a good thing," Alpert said. "The role of the superintendent should be as a person who holds people accountable."

In his speech, O'Connell noted that less than 10 percent of high schools have reached optimum levels on state achievement measures. Fewer than half the students who enter the California State University system are proficient in reading and math.

O'Connell said expectations are too low in high schools. He plans to sponsor a legislative package needed to put his proposals into practice, designed to improve the quality of teachers and principals, and expand programs that push teenagers harder.

It also would give high schools more flexibility in spending the money they do have in the budget -- an amount that includes $450 million in block grants for specific categorical programs -- in ways that best meet O'Connell's goals.

The most dramatic change would involve requiring every high school student to complete "A-G" requirements, a strict list of courses that students must pass if they want to get into the University of California or California State University systems.

The requirements include: four years of English; three years of college preparatory math; two years each of laboratory science, a foreign language and history/social science; and one year each of art and approved college prep electives.

Many districts already require a similar number of courses for graduation, but not as many of the classes must be at the tougher college-preparatory level.

Russlynn Ali, director of the Education Trust, a nonprofit group dedicated to poor and minority students, said in a statement that too few California students complete the A-G sequence.

"Students are channeled into low-level classes that don't adequately prepare them for entry into more apprentice and vocational programs, or for admission to college," Ali said.

O'Connell said he also wants to improve the quality of books and materials in high schools. The state Board of Education now adopts standards-based textbooks for kindergarten through eighth grade. O'Connell wants to include grades nine through 12. Districts would be encouraged, though not required, to use instructional materials with a state "seal of approval," he said.

The superintendent also promised to streamline the state's data collection and testing systems.

Jenn Oates, a teacher at Elk Grove's Laguna Creek High School, said she thinks all students, with some exceptions, such as very low-performing special education students, should fulfill the A-G requirements.

"Our district pushes all students to do A-G," Oates said, "and we get a lot of flak for it because 'not all kids are going to college.' Perhaps not, but all kids will need to be productive adults, and in today's technological world, that requires some higher-level knowledge and skills."

Oates polled her students Wednesday about the superintendent's proposals. Their opinions, which she supplied to The Bee, were mixed.

Some felt that pushing kids harder was a good idea.

"If you set a challenge such as getting the required credits and the A-G requirements, the students will rise to the challenge," said 15-year-old freshman Kelley Ting.

Others, however, said it was unrealistic to expect all to complete the tough course lineup.

"I think only the ones who strive for a good education and who want to learn more that badly, they should take the A-G requirements," said Katie Barksdale, a senior. "No use in trying to make the ones who don't want to."