AUSTIN -- Gov. Rick Perry added his voice Tuesday to a chorus of bipartisan state lawmakers, parents, teachers and educational professionals who say it's time for Texas to take a hard look at the standardized tests it requires students to pass in order to graduate from high school.
A slew of efforts to drastically overhaul -- or even temporarily scrap -- the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, exam have been introduced since the Legislature opened its session last month. Perry didn't endorse any one reform effort, but said that remaking testing requirements doesn't mean compromising school accountability standards."Without accepting anything less from our schools, we can certainly debate the best ways to measure their performance," the governor said at an education forum organized by the Texas Business Leadership Council.Current state law requires Texas high school students to pass 15 exams in core subjects in order to graduate.That number looks almost certain to be reduced before the end of the legislative session in May, however -- so much so that Perry's appointee as education commissioner, Michael Williams, has said he hopes lawmakers won't cut it to just two or three tests.Perry also said he supports proposals to change the state's school accountability rating scale, which currently ranges from "Exemplary" to "Academically Unacceptable," to one built around letter grades.Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
