Have members of the Texas Senate Education Committee lost their collective mind?
Senate Bill 149, which would let high school seniors who fail state tests graduate, was approved by a 28 - 2 vote and sent to the House. Texas has 28,000 students in the Class of 2015 who have failed one or more of the five state exams in U.S History, biology, Algebra 1, English 1 and English 2. Educators all across the state agree that after 12 years of education, students should be able to pass those exams. Especially considering all the time teachers spend preparing the students for those tests.
Bill 149 would allow panels made up of educators, counselors and parents to weigh factors like grades, college entrance exam scores and attendance to decide whether a student should graduate despite poor performance on state standardized tests. Do you see a possibility of bias or favoritism here?
The plan has received criticism from many alumni groups, Chambers of Commerce, the Texas Association of Business, college administrators and parents. The consensus is that if all the 2015 seniors who failed the state exams are given diplomas, Texas will have an additional 28,000 unprepared people seeking advanced learning or careers. What are their chances of success?
One can only hope that Senate Bill 149 will fail as it passes through the Texas Legislature.
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