Is This Helping High School Students?

The legislators are at it again here in Texas trying to change the way education is bestowed on our young adults in high schools all over our wonderful state. If House Bill 5 passes, it will reduce the about of standardized tests and leave it up to the teachers and educators to determine the direction that children will need to go in with regards to their futures. It states that Algebra II is too difficult for some kids and it is a waste of time trying to teach it to them because they will just keep failing. Instead we leave it up to the teacher and the tests they give to decide what rout the kids would be best taking. HB 5 says that we should be preparing our kids to be able to join the workforce right out of high school instead of preparing them all for college.

I do believe that the amount of standardized testing has gotten out of control. I unfortunately, don’t have the best plan of action for what should be done. I also believe that kids should take things in high school that they are interested in taking as well. One thing I don’t agree with about this bill is giving up on our kids. Most children don’t know what they want to be or do when they grow up. The bill is not saying that it is going to remove algebra II and certain science classes from the curriculum, but that if the student is not excelling than they might as well put them in something that is more technical that they can apply to everyday work environments. Something that caught my attention was people who are in low income areas will be affected by this the most. If the schools don’t have to provide the classes to as many students then eventually the class will go away completely.

Most people I know who are attending college had to take developmental math courses because they did not receive the proper credits during high school. This not only costs them more money than they should be spending, but they could have been given the education while they were younger. There should also be refresher courses available for college students so they don’t have to attend a full semester college courses. It would be helpful to have a reminder of what you did learn in high school if has been a few years since graduation.

If you would like to read more about this bill please click below:
House Bill 5