At $62,234 in the budget, the International Baccalaureate program does not stand out in terms of its dollar amount, but it is certainly getting a lot of attention these days.

Taxpayer critics say it has a leftist political bias and is a luxury item that should be scrapped from the budget during a recession. Administrators say it challenges students to meet the most rigorous of academic standards and has a broad benefit in the high school.

Assistant Principal Bob Jozokos, the IB coordinator, and some teachers in the program briefed the School Board Feb. 16 on how the program was working out in the high school after its first semester.

Since IB is only open to students in the 11th and 12th grades in Bedford, this is its first year. Like the Advanced Placement program, it offers advanced courses to students that can count for college credit. Unlike AP, each IB course is part of an integrated program in which students who complete it earn a separate diploma. Because there is some overlap, administrators said some languages, English, and biology would be combined AP-IB courses, with the option of taking an exam in either program at the end.

In humanities, math and science, teachers said the IB program challenges students on a higher level than even some honors courses. In history, Lori Dumaine said students go beyond learning about an event into analyzing how historians have interpreted it.

In biology, Karen Cohen said students design their own lab experiments, instead of following specific instructions from a teacher as would be the case in other courses.

In addition to the course load, students seeking an IB diploma must write a 4,000- word research paper on a topic of their choosing and complete 150 hours in creative and service- oriented projects.

Jozokos said the main advantage of the IB program is its constant emphasis on critical thinking, more so than in regular courses.

But Ann Marie Banfield, a resident who has been critical of the program, asked why the school needs the IB program to teach critical thinking.

“There are schools that do that without the IB,” Banfield told the School Board. “It’s called the Socratic method.”

Banfield took issue with the cost as well, which she said entails more than $9,000 in annual fees and an IB coordinator.

“In a good economy, these additional costs might be an amount that residents are willing to pay,” Banfield said. “However, in an economy where people are losing their jobs, having their wages frozen, losing their homes, seeing their taxes increase, is this another added expense the taxpayers are willing to pay?”

The total cost for the IB program this year was $28,241, according to the school district. For 2008-09, it will be $62,234, as the seniors enroll in the courses.

That cost breaks down into: $9,150 for the annual fee, $300 for membership in a regional consortium of IB schools, $2,000 for postage to mail exams for grading, $628 on resources and materials, $1,300 for an administrators conference, $16,200 for teacher training, and $32,656, which is the portion of Jozokos’ salary that corresponds to the time he spends at the IB coordinator.

Administrators have pointed out that many students benefit from the IB courses beyond the 14 students who are working toward an IB diploma. Next year, there will be a total of 148 students taking at least one out of a possible 29 IB courses, according to Jozokos. Plus, school officials say that teachers who receive IB training bring some of those same methods to their non-IB courses.

At least one parent who attended the meeting also had questions about the program. Paul MacEwen, who has children who will be going to the high school, wondered if the district had looked at how successful IB students at other schools had been after they graduated.

Outside of the meeting, Banfield said administrators still had not addressed some of her main concerns. Through online research, she said she learned the International Baccalaureate Organization has coordinated its programs with UNESCO, a United Nations agency, which she said has a “leftist political agenda.”

“It’s just an extreme organization that they’ve partnered with,” Banfield said. “It’s kind of like if you bring in a health class for students and you’re partnered with Planned Parenthood.” School Board members praised the program. Chairman David Sacks said it “underscores in every degree, every dimension that is possible” the school district’s mission to “develop a community of learners who are intellectually curious, resourceful, and respectful of self and others.”

Sacks also said the IB program would help students compete in a global economy.

But Banfield remained skeptical about that as well, again pointing to its affiliation with UNESCO and its focus on “peace through education” and “human rights.”

“I would think this would be valuable if students wanted to become peace activists for the United Nations; however, in this age, where our students need to become more knowledgeable to compete with the students in other countries, I’m not seeing how this program accomplishes that,” Banfield said.

“I also do not see a problem with violence among Bedford students that warrants such a program with a focus on teaching peace. This might be a program that could assist students in foreign countries where violence is an integral part of the culture.”