SB 149, Graduation Committees Bill, Passes out of Committee
CSSB 149, was passed out of the Senate Wednesday. The bill allows students who failed up to two EOCs to receive their diplomas with the unanimous approval of an individual graduation committee composed of teachers, counselors, administrators, and parents. An earlier version of the bill would have allowed students who failed all five EOC exams to graduate with committee approval.
A requirement that students maintain a 2.0 GPA was removed, but the current bill still requires students to pass all of their classes. The new version also requires, rather than allows, the graduation committee to assign a project or portfolio of work as a demonstration of proficiency in the subject area in which the student failed the EOC.
An expiration date of September 1, 2017, was added to make it easier for the legislation to be reversed if it does not function as intended. This change was in response to some committee members’ concerns that the number of students who fail EOCs might increase dramatically due to some students not taking the tests seriously because they know they can appeal to graduation committees. Language was also added to ensure the bill would apply to charter schools as well as traditional public schools.
Bills will start to move March 13, which is the 60th day of the session. Click here to monitor bills Texas PTA is tracking.
Opportunity School District Bill Filed
At last week's press conference, Senator Taylor talked about his newly filed SB 14 to create a special “Opportunity District,” designed to take over and turn around failing school campuses. A special superintendent would be appointed to rescue school campuses that have failed for two consecutive years. The program would be phased in, but Taylor emphasized there should be no cap on the number of campuses that could be absorbed by the special school district.
