Young illegal immigrants get chance to learn but not earn
06:57 AM CDT on Monday, June 28, 2010
Juan's room shows a life shaped by American education.
It's painted in the colors of Dallas' Thomas Jefferson High School, his new alma mater. Trophies and medals brag for him: top 10 percent of his class, captain of two sports teams, a district first-place finisher in track, an almost perfect SAT score, the only football player in band. He's a poster child of American schooling, with wishes to enter the military or teach English.
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Neither option is open to Juan, who has grown up in the country illegally. Now he must realign his goals to fit his immigration status.
Thousands of high school graduates like Juan are discovering the dichotomy between a federal law that ensures their education and
11 Texas school districts take support for minimum grades to court today
06:51 AM CDT on Monday, June 28, 2010
School districts are taking the Texas education commissioner to court today to argue that they have the right to boost failing report card grades to at least a 50.
Many Texas districts have had policies for years that establish minimum grades of 50, 60 or even 70 for assignments and report cards. So if a student failed and earned a zero, his or her grade was automatically brought up to the minimum score.
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Databases:
• TAKS scores 2005-2009
• Class of 2007 first-year university grades
• AP classes at D-FW schools
• U.S. income and poverty estimates by school district and county, 2008
• Dallas 5th-graders on track for middle school
• North Texas school rankings 2009
• Texas schools accountability ratings 2009
• TAKS scores 2005-2009
• Class of 2007 first-year university grades
• AP classes at D-FW schools
• U.S. income and poverty estimates by school district and county, 2008
• Dallas 5th-graders on track for middle school
• North Texas school rankings 2009
• Texas schools accountability ratings 2009
Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, sponsored legislation passed last year intended to put a stop to the practice. It barred districts from setting minimum grade requirements for classroom assignments. Education commissioner Robert Scott told superintendents last fall that it extended to report cards such as six-week grades as well – an opinion the school districts are challenging.
"We believe that the commissioner misinterpreted it," said the school districts' attorney, Jonathan Brush. "He is without the authority to make that determination."
The 11 school districts suing – most in suburban Houston – say that