AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ Gov. Rick Perry is asking his new education commissioner to again delay a mandate that requires Texas high school students to have standardized test scores factored into their final grades.
Perry’s request Thursday would extend a deferral of the so-called “15 percent rule” until the next school year that begins in fall 2013. Under the rule, an end-of-course exam must count as 15 percent of a student’s final grade.
The Texas Education Agency already gave ninth-graders a break from the requirement this school year. Students, however, still must take the exam known as the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness.
Republican Sen. Dan Patrick, chair of the chamber’s education committee, has filed a bill that would make the exemption permanent.