Texas State Senator Kel Seliger is working to fast-track a bill giving school officials the option to graduate high school students who have failed state exams. This report from the Texas Tribune.
Seliger says students who are doing well in school shouldn’t be kept from getting a high school diploma because of a standardized test.
Seliger says about half of the Class of 2015 may not be able to walk across the stage with their classes.
To graduate in Texas students must pass one or more five state exams in U.S. history, biology, algebra one, and English one and two.
The Amarillo Republican chairs the Senate’s Higher Education Committee.
He says he intends to use a rare legislative procedure to bypass the ban requiring bills to be brought forward in the first 60 days of the session.