Ross Perot pushed through a sweeping program for change. The components included expanded funding, mandatory teacher testing and evaluation, a new statewide curriculum and a statewide student-testing system, including a graduation exam. Later, Gov. Ann Richards mandated tougher tests and a new emphasis on improving minority achievement. On the state's own assessment tests, scores have steadily climbed in the last five years. The Texas high school exit exam, which students have to pass to graduate, is a good example.
Sophomores take the test, required for graduation, to prepare for their final chance as seniors.
Where only half of Texas 10th-graders managed it in 1994, fully 75 percent did in 1998. On national tests, Texas kids rank at or near the top in math, reading and writing. If Texas' statewide school-reform achievements are noteworthy, El Paso's are stunning. Pebble Hills' demographics are matched by the city as a whole. It's the fifth-poorest congressional district in the nation.