| Lawmakers oppose Bush school plan Law targeting automatic promotions of students to take effect in 2002-03 04/04/2001 By Terrence Stutz / The Dallas Morning News AUSTIN – Rejecting arguments from President Bush and Gov. Rick Perry's administration, the chairman of a key House committee voiced support Tuesday for a bill that would delay Mr. Bush's program to curtail automatic promotions in Texas schools.
House Public Education Committee Chairman Paul Sadler said the program should be delayed a year because the first group of affected students – nearly 300,000 third-graders – will take a new, much more difficult state test than the current Texas Assessment of Academic Skills.
Under the 1999 law to curb social promotion – the practice of automatically passing students regardless of achievement – those in grades three, five and eight must pass a state exam to be promoted to the next grade. Third-graders in the 2002-03 school year will be the first students required to meet the standard.
Mr. Sadler said that is unfair because the state will begin using a new exam – called TAAS II – that same year. Passing rates are expected to drop significantly on the new test.
"There is nothing magic about the 2002-2003 school year. It was not ordained by God. It was not written in stone," said Mr. Sadler, D-Henderson, who was the House sponsor of the 1999 law aimed at curbing social promotion.
"What is wrong with delaying it one year? The issue is what is the most accurate and fair way to implement this new program. It has nothing to do with political agendas or anything else."
His comments in support of the delay came despite opposition from President Bush – who championed the program against social promotion while he was governor – and from state Education Commissioner Jim Nelson, an appointee of Gov. Perry.
A White House spokesman has already announced Mr. Bush's opposition to any delays, saying the state has had plenty of time to prepare for the new promotion standards. President Bush has been pitching school accountability nationwide, frequently citing as a model the tough accountability standards in Texas.
Commissioner Nelson testified during a hearing of the House Public Education Committee Tuesday that there is no reason to delay the program.
"I am absolutely convinced that this is the best-prepared group of third-grade kids in the history of Texas," Mr. Nelson said. He noted that since 1997, the state has spent nearly $450 million to improve the reading skills of young elementary school students.
Mr. Nelson reminded the committee that the program was intended to stop schools from promoting children lacking the necessary skills to be successful.
"There is no reason to push more of these kids through the system when we don't have to," he said.
The commissioner initially supported a one-year delay but later reversed course after Mr. Bush and other critics of the delay weighed in. Mr. Nelson also said he was reassured by testing experts at the Texas Education Agency that the new test could be implemented fairly.
He told members of the House committee that the new TAAS II will be field tested in spring and fall 2002 before being given to all students in the spring of 2003. That will allow the TEA and State Board of Education to evaluate the exam and set an appropriate passing standard, the commissioner explained.
Several speakers testified for and against the bill Tuesday.
Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, author of the measure, said he was not trying to unravel the program to end social promotion but rather to delay it while the validity of the new state exam is studied.
Among the groups supporting the bill were the Texas PTA, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and Texas State Teachers Association.
Opposing the legislation were the Texas Association of School Boards, Texas Association of School Administrators, Texas Federation of Teachers, Texas Association of Business and Chambers of Commerce, and the Texas Business and Education Coalition.
"We believe that our students and teachers are ready for this challenge," said Troy Simmons, president of the Texas Association of School Boards and a school board member from Longview.
Senate Education Committee Chairman Teel Bivins, R-Amarillo, also has opposed Mr. Turner's bill.
Approval of Mr. Bush's program by lawmakers came after studies showing that as many as 90 percent of third-graders who failed the TAAS reading exam still were promoted to the next grade.
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