AUSTIN Texas — Texas senators started a debate Tuesday that will likely last for weeks as lawmakers try to decide how many standardized tests students must take to graduate from high school.
After the disastrous introduction of a new testing regimen last year, the Legislature is anxious to overhaul what parents, teachers, students and business leaders all consider a flawed system. Texas law currently requires some high school students to take 15 exams to graduate, though the state education commissioner has waved a requirement that exam results count toward 15 percent of the final grades in core courses.
Sen. Dan Patrick, chairman of the Senate Public Education Committee, laid out a proposal Tuesday to reduce the number of tests to either four or five, depending on what kind of diploma a student is pursuing. The tests also would no longer count toward students’ grades something testing supporters had said was needed to make students take the exams seriously.
Patrick announced an ambitious schedule, aiming to move his bill out of committee and to the full Senate on Thursday. But fellow Republican Sen. Kel Seliger, of Amarillo, put on the brakes, pointing out that Patrick had shared the bill with his fellow lawmakers only an hour before the hearing.
The Houston lawmaker’s bill also would allow students who graduate with only the most basic diploma to compete for admission to public universities, something not allowed under current law. Seliger said he was concerned that some students may avoid difficult courses and then apply for college under a law that grants the top 10 percent of every high school class admission to college and access to financial aid.
“The law is silent on this issue, and therein it is flawed,” Seliger said.
As chairman of the Senate Higher Education Committee, Seliger expressed concern that too many Texas high school students already are taking remedial classes in college and the change could put more stress on that system. He said high schools need an accountability and testing system that makes sure graduates are ready for college or a job upon graduation.
