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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Legislature has approved a proposal allowing thousands of Texas high school seniors to potentially graduate this year despite failing standardized tests needed to earn a diploma.
Amarillo Republican Sen. Kel Seliger's bill offered an alternative graduation plan to an estimated 28,000 Class of 2015 seniors who failed to pass at least one statewide exam in algebra I, biology, English I and II and U.S. history.
It established individual educational committees to determine whether a student could graduate instead based on other factors, like attendance and grades.
The Senate passed Seliger's plan quickly, hoping qualifying students could graduate this spring. A tweaked House version allowed students to fail two exams.
The Senate on Wednesday approved those changes 30-1, sending it to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk to be signed into law.
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