Legislative analysis paper

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Introduction
House Bill 5 is a dense legislative bill describing the new requirements for graduation from Texas High Schools. The bill specifically addresses four areas of concern including: curriculum, assessment, accountability and higher education (Texas Association of School Administrators).
One of the most controversial proposals in the bill is the elimination of the Algebra II requirement for students to graduate. Algebra II is still a required course by most colleges for admission. This means the students who elect not to take Algebra II are the students who do not plan to attend college directly after high school. Many opponents feel that the bill negatively affects at-risk students, who they worry will not receive upper level math courses due to the new requirements. In reality, the bill offers alternative upper-level math courses such as statistics and reasoning that will better prepare students who intend to enter work force after graduation (Glennie, Bonneau, Vandellen, Dodge, 2013).
The fairly recent idea of “college for all” is not practical for every student, and the rigor and push toward college has led to a curriculum that is irrelevant for many young people. As a result, we have seen an increase in drop-out rates for at-risk students over the last several years ("Completion, Graduation, and Dropouts."). HB5 is critical in the realm of social welfare. It moves us toward giving all students the opportunity to graduate high school, and recognizes that each student is unique, with different learning styles, and have different goals in life. It sends the message that all professions are valued in our society, not only the careers that require college degrees.

Historical Background
Lyndon B. Johnson launched h...

... middle of paper ...

...Glennie, E. K., Bonneau, K., Vandellen, M., & Dodge, K. Addition by Subtraction: The
Relation Between Dropout Rates and School-Level Academic Achievement,
PubMedCommons, 114, 1-26.

Hammond, B. (Director). (2013). Public Ed: HB5 Bill Hammonds testimony united
States of America: Youtube.com.

Robelen, E. W. (2013). Questions Arise About Algebra II For All Students. Education
Week, 32(35), 1-30.

Smith, M., & Ura, A. (2014, January 31). SBOE Votes to Repeal Algebra II as Graduation Requirement. The Texas Tribune.

TASA HB5 Summary. (2013, January 1). . Retrieved March 24, 2014, from http://www.tasanet.org/cms/lib07/TX01923126/Centricity/Domain/4/hb5-summary.pdf Texas Education Agency -. Retrieved March 16, 2014, from http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=25769806149 Texas HB5 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature (LegiScan)
http://legiscan.com/TX/bill/HB5/2013

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