A bill to create graduation panels that would approve high school seniors for graduation, even if they failed some of the state’s end-of-course exams, has been approved by lawmakers in the Senate.
The bill by Amarillo Republican Sen. Kel Seliger, if passed by the House and then signed into law, would exempt seniors from having to pass all five standardized tests, known in Texas as the STAAR exams. Seliger said too many seniors were failing these exams, yet still had a great grade point average.
“Is it to say then that the STAAR is going to be the definitive test of whether people should be advanced? I don’t think it is. I think it plays a role, but should it be the only role? So we had an example of a young man who was doing great in school, he failed to pass a couple of exams but he was accepted to an architecture program at Prairie View, what would be the point of keeping him in a high school?” Seliger asked his Senate colleagues.
But not everyone saw eye to eye with Seliger on the matter. Flower Mound Republican Sen. Jane Nelson, said students needed to receive the grade they actually earned before receiving a diploma. “I worry that if we are going to have accountability standards, that if we stray from that, what is the message to the other students who studied hard every night, maybe didn’t go out on the weekends, so maybe they passed the test?” Nelson asked.
Nelson was one of two Republicans that voted against the bill. The bill will receive a third and final vote before the Senate sends it over to the Texas House.
