(Ericka Mellon/Houston Chronicle)
Texas high school freshmen and their parents no longer have to worry about new state exams affecting students’ grades – at least not this year.
State Education Commissioner Robert Scott agreed Friday to a one-year delay on enforcing a controversial law requiring that students’ scores on the new standardized tests count toward 15 percent of their course grades.
Scott’s decision came after lawmakers from both parties wrote him this week urging he postpone the grade rule they had mandated. An appointee of Republican Gov. Rick Perry, Scott said he also consulted with the governor’s office before granting the delay.
Superintendents and parents had protested in recent months that the exam scores could hurt students’ grade-point averages and their chances of getting into top colleges. (Read the full story at the Houston Chronicle)
OTHER HEADLINES:
- Prescription Pill Abuse Worries Officials at Houston-Area Schools (Houston Chronicle)
- Thousands of Coastal County Homeowners Being Dropped by State Farm (KPRC-2 News)
- Women’s Clinic Puts Tragic Face on Loss of Funds (Houston Chronicle)
- Texas Schools Look to Advertising to Fill Budget Gaps (Texas Tribune)
- Reading Beyond the Headlines: Fracking and Water Contamination (State Impact Texas)
OPINION:
- Editorial: Children Can, and Should, Learn More Than One Language (Houston Chronicle)
- Michael Brown: Americorps Says ‘No’–Nearly One Million Times (Huffington Post)