Texas Classrooms are the bridge between vast potential and the realization of that potential. Educators in Texas high schools can be proud of the progress they have made since 1994. During the era of the TAAS test, passing rates rose by 32 points from 53 percent to 85 percent. Texas schools have benefited from more than $6 billion in additional state funding; a renewed focus on the teaching of core subjects like reading, math and science; and a system of accountability that identifies pockets of failure and provides strong incentives for improvement.
And record teacher pay raises mean teachers in Texas Classrooms today, on average, make $9,600 more than they did just four years ago. Texas has focused more resources on reading and math in the early education years so that students are better prepared for the harder disciplines they will encounter in high school.
But the fact is, for all the gains made in Texas high schools, there are two tremendous challenges to be met: Texas must keep more students in school, and must improve the passage rate among 11th graders who failed portions of the 10th grade TAKS test. These two challenges have risen to the forefront today because Texas has taken two important and necessary actions: Texas Classrooms require students to master a tougher curriculum incorporated in a harder new test and ended the destructive and discredited practice of social promotion.