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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 26, 1999)
lie Battalion N EWS tate high school exit exam iscriminatory, lawyers say Call me ABRIEL RUENES/Thk BtfUit' Psychology: “Very ' hook for a hand sai ability to commit mship, and thezoiif the earth because he aenis envy.” Foreign Languages: “ ! ilto seccante. Houdiloij ciuel suono meglio." is: “The bright girl sees ;tore. The restroom M y two large sailors.’’) Ag. Design: “1 liked it!’ English: “The premised as incredibly dubious,!' /as the narrative point! ■ompletely ludicrous! elusive, but the prongs' aviously underdevelops er’s eating habits were and the prosaic resolve 1 tent was an atrocious o poor craftsmanship. - Jacob Huval is a sop' scary stof) pen. The killer laugW cally, brandishing his knife, meathook, Jol :d). As he edged neJ ro could smell the so linent (doom, breakfast). Butjustl* e killer lunged forwa^ ro awoke to find it ^ )le (dream, column). SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The te’s high school exit test dis- minates against blacks and His- nics and should not be used as raduation requirement, lawyers • minorities argued yesterday. Minorities have been negative- affected by the exit-level Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) since the exam began B90, A1 Kauffman, an attorney for the Mexican American Legal De nse and Educational Fund ALDEF), said. “The test discriminates on rice,” Kauffman said in federal Burt. “The state has developed lid used an invalid test in an in valid way to deny opportunity to thousands and thousands of mi- prity students.” I Attorneys for the Texas Edu ction Agency contend the stan dardized exam is crucial to its Jhool accountability system and Jiat the test contributes to stu dent achievement. “It’s not punishment. It’s en- liring that they get that core ed- Jcation,” Geoffrey Amsel, an as sistant attorney general, said. The plaintiffs have tried “to Jaint a frown across a face that’s a very happy face,” Amsel said. The lawyers’ remarks came in osing arguments of a five-week ial before U.S. District Judge Ed [rado. The judge’s ruling is not pected for at least a month. “It’s probably the most chal- inging decision I’ve had to make in the time I’ve been here,” Prado, a 15-year veteran of the federal bench, said. MALDEF filed the lawsuit on be- alf of minority groups and stu- Jents. Some plaintiffs successfully completed their high school course orkbut were denied diplomas be- mse they never passed the TAAS. Students first take the exit-level !St in reading, writing and math in th grade. They have several chances to take it and must pass it to graduate. Nineteen states currently re quire students to pass a test in or der to graduate from high school. “/t's probably the most challenging decision I’ve had to make in the time I’ve been here. ” — Ed Prado U.S. District Judge MALDEF brought the lawsuit under federal regulations barring discrimination by states receiv ing federal education money. The plaintiffs also cited their right to due process. Prado earlier dis missed the plaintiffs’ allegation of intentional discrimination by the state. The Hispanic rights group ar gues that minority dropout rates have increased since the advent of the TAAS test and that minor ity retention in ninth grade has gone up so that schools can en sure higher exam scores the fol lowing year. MALDEF alleges that ulti mately 20 percent of Latinos and blacks fail the exit test counting all of their attempts, compared with a failure rate of 10 percent for white students. The TEA has year-by-year fig ures on the passing rate of 10th- grade students by ethnicity, but has not provided statistics re flecting success or failure looking at overall attempts during high school. Last spring, 75 percent of all sophomores taking the TAAS test passed. The pass rate was 60 per cent for blacks, 64 percent for His- panics and 86 percent for whites. While acknowledging gaps ex ist in pass rates between minori ties and whites, those gaps are closing, the state’s attorney said. “Is that why we’re now going to have a new test that is harder — so the gap can go back to the way it was?” Prado asked Amsel during closing arguments. The judge was referring to new state academic skills tests being im plemented. Amsel said passing the TAAS signifies “true learning with reading, writing and arithmetic.” Kauffman said the plaintiffs do not mind use of the high school TAAS test as a diagnostic tool. But MALDEF and its clients object to its “high stakes” use as a requirement for a student’s diploma. “The denial of a high school diploma has tremendous conse quences on a student,” Kauff man said. He reminded the judge of tes timony that some young people are denied military entry because they did not pass the TAAS. But the state contends use of the test and classroom teaching of skills reflected in the test have led to “dramatic gains in perfor mance” by students, including minorities. MALDEF contends there are oth er less discriminatory alternatives. Among the witnesses in the trial was former Texas education commissioner Mike Moses, who championed creation of the test. He testified the state has an in terest in making sure all students can meet a standard. The plaintiffs argued that mi norities tend to be in low-income and lower- performing school dis tricts and do not have an equal opportunity to acquire academic skills needed to pass the exam. JP BEATO/Thk Baiiai ion Cliff Young, of Caedmon’s Call, performs Saturday night at Rudder Auditorium. The group is on tour in support of their new album 40 Acres. Official push for Texans to vote AUSTIN (AP) — Urging Texans to vote in next week’s elections, state officials were blunt yesterday. “A lot of people say if you don’t vote, don’t gripe. I guess that’s the bottom line,” Sen. Gonzalo Barri entos, D-Austin, said. “If you’re a proud Texan, get out and vote. Period. No excuses,” Sec retary of State Elton Bomer, the state’s chief elections officer, said. Seventeen proposed amend ments to the Texas Constitution will be determined in the Nov. 2 ballot ing, along with a number of local elections. Gov. George W. Bush cast his ballot yesterday morning, taking advantage of the state law that al lows early voting through Friday. Bomer is traveling to San Antonio, Waco, Longview,, Houston, Corpus Christi, McAllen, Midland and Lub bock to urge voters to go to the polls. But turnout in recent constitu tional amendment votes has been low — under 11 percent in each of the past three elections. Barrientos noted that the 17 propositions being decided this year include what homeowners can do with the equity in their houses and whether the state will have another $400 million in loans for middle- and low-income college students. “So the question is, are we going to vote and make the decisions that affect our families, our finances and our futures? Or are we going to let someone else do it for us and hope we agree?” the lawmaker asked. Bomer said he would offer a turnout prediction after early vot ing concludes. According to the latest figures from the secretary of state’s office, however, fewer than 1 percent of the 6.8 million registered voters in the 15 largest counties had cast ear ly ballots in the four days that end ed last Thursday. Bexar County topped the list with 3.5 percent turnout. Each of the oth er 14 big counties had recorded turnouts of under 1 percent. Voters in Houston and San Anto nio could play a decisive role on this year’s amendments because of local issues and races on the ballot. Bexar County voters are deciding whether to increase hotel and car rental taxes to help fund a $175 mil lion arena for the San Antonio Spurs. A special election to replace resigning state Sen. Greg Luna, D- San Antonio, also is being held. nes are iJUL both hungry mif^ occasionally throii up dinner discuss^ ll while enjoying e of the follo^ n in Rudder51i n in Rudder410 mu.edu >n sored by theMSC The Life Sciences C<ireer Fmr Sponsored by the Texas A&M University Career Center, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, College of Sciences and College of Veterinary Medicine (Biomedical Science Program) Wednesday, October 27,1999 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Rudder Exhibit Hall Metco Environmental, Inc. Surgimedics, Inc. Kelly Scientific Resources Baylor-Human Genome Sequencing Center Brazos Valley Rehabilitation Center Lynntech, Inc. US Navy Officer Programs Frito-Lay, Inc. Genometrix, Inc. UT Southwestern Medical Center Parke-Davis Premium Standard Farms Anderson Consulting Wyle Life Sciences UT Tyler Biotechnology Program UT MD Anderson Cancer Center DPS Crime Lab TAMUS Health Science Center Blood Systems Laboratories TAMUSHSC Dept, of Medical Physiology TAMUS School of Rural Public Health Sigma Genosys Army Health Care Recruiting Family Health Services Texas Chiropractic College Stehlin Foundation for Cancer Research Biocrest Stratagene Texas Parks and Wildlife TAMU College of Veterinary Medicine UTMB Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences II 845-8770 or stop by, Don’t Forget to Bring Copies of Your Most Current Resume!!