A bill passed by the Texas legislature that would is now in the hands of , along with a number of other K-12 education-related measures, including the nation鈥檚 most ambitious .
Kathryn M. Cesinger, the deputy press secretary for the Republican governor, said she couldn鈥檛 comment prior to the governor鈥檚 final decisions on whether he might approve any of the bills passed by lawmakers in their session that wrapped up May 28. He has until June 17 to sign, veto, or permit those measures to become law without his signature.
Ms. Cesinger noted, however, that 鈥渁s for end-of-course exams, he does support that, but as far as whether he鈥檒l sign the actual legislation, he鈥檒l have to see how it looks in its final form.鈥�
Also on the governor鈥檚 desk as of last week was if at least 15 students request it; , school assignments, or in a 鈥渓imited public forum鈥�; and , or 135 minutes per week, of physical education.
The legislature also approved a $24.7 million pre-K-12 budget for the next fiscal year, an increase of $4.3 billion over the previous year. Suzanne Marchman, a public information officer for the , said that figure could change before the governor approves the budget.
The testing bill would replace the 4-year-old , or TAKS, at the high school level with end-of-course tests, an approach gaining some momentum among states. Currently, four states require such tests for graduation and three more will require them by 2012, according to the . (鈥淪tates Mull Best Way to Assess Their Students for Graduation,鈥� May 16, 2007.)
State Sen. Florence Shapiro, a Republican, said she co-authored the bill because she feels that 鈥渙ne single exam has been very high-stakes, and it鈥檚 caused a lot of problems in Texas. The youngsters become anxious. The teachers have been teaching to the test rather than worrying about the core subjects.鈥�
Breathing Room
Representatives of two Texas education organizations said they are pleased with the final legislation for end-of-course exams, primarily because the legislature decided that the new system wouldn鈥檛 be implemented until September 2011. Previous proposals had said the new exams should be carried out by the 2009-10 school year.
鈥淲e need time to develop the tests and make sure the teachers know what they have to teach,鈥� said Dax Gonzalez, the communications manager for the .
Amy Beneski, the associate executive director of governmental relations for the , said her group generally likes the end-of-course approach. 鈥淭here鈥檚 something to be said for end-of-course exams being more timely than a test you might take over courses you鈥檝e taken two years previously,鈥� she said.
The version of the bill initially passed by the Texas Senate had said that students would be able to graduate from high school if they averaged a score of at least 70 percent on all of the exams. The final version of the bill requires that students average 70 percent in each of four different categories of courses: English, mathematics, science, and social studies.
Texas House and Senate proposals had differed on what percentage of students鈥� course grade each exam would account for. The final bill says that each exam shall be worth 15 percent of each course grade.
Texas education groups didn鈥檛 have strong positions on the bill that calls for random testing of high school athletes for use of steroids. The bill says the random testing should be of a 鈥渟tatistically significant number鈥� of high school students who participate in sports events affiliated with the . In addition, the bill says the testing should be administered to about 30 percent of high schools in Texas.
Both Ms. Beneski and Mr. Gonzalez said their groups were happy that the legislature decided the league鈥攏ot school districts鈥攚ould pay for the testing.
In a program closely watched by other states, New Jersey last year began more limited steroid testing of high school athletes who make it to postseason play. (鈥淣.J. Steroid Testing Gets Attention in Other States,鈥� March 28, 2007.)
Two weeks ago, Florida lawmakers approved a one-year pilot program to test 1 percent of high school athletes who compete in football, baseball, and weightlifting.
The Texas legislature also overturned an issued Feb. 2 by Gov. Perry requiring 6-grade girls to get a vaccination against human papillomavirus, or HPV. (鈥淏ill Blocking Vaccine Mandate Dodges Texas Governor鈥檚 Veto,鈥� May 16, 2007.)
