Tagged: Education

Update: (11:46 a.m.) City officials are expecting an additional 8,000 vehicles in the downtown area for the graduation ceremonies this afternoon and advise people traveling in and around downtown to plan for congestion.

The first ceremony is scheduled to conclude at 4:30 p.m., meaning afternoon traffic congestion on area highways and streets will likely begin earlier than normal.

A record number of Hispanic high school graduates enrolled in college last fall outpacing their white counterparts, according to a new report by the Pew Research Center.

Using U.S. Census data, the study found that seven in 10 Hispanic students, or 69 percent, who graduated in 2012 went on to college compared to 67 percent of white students.

Before eventually passing the measure, the Senate made radical changes to assessment testing and developed a new model for high school education and school accountability ratings.

The bill originated in the Texas House, but found its clarity in the Senate. 

Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, the bill’s co-author, said this bill does more than reduce the number of high-stakes exams required to graduate from 15 to five.

At public universities in Texas, only 1 in 4 full-time freshman graduates within four years. That's obviously a problem for students -- and with Texas legislators considering a bill that would increasingly link state funding to graduation rates, it's a pressure point for colleges, too.

Two Senate lawmakers and the chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court are asking the state to look into the possible disparity of minority children being criminally ticketed for misbehaving in the classroom. 

"An estimated 300,000 misdemeanor tickets are issued in our state’s schools each year," said Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson. "We are criminalizing our children for non-violent offenses."