Posted on 05/27/2004 5:59:56 AM PDT by Theodore R.
Story last updated at 4:39 a.m. Thursday, May 27, 2004 Perry knocks top 10 percent admissions law
AUSTIN (AP) — Gov. Rick Perry said Tuesday the state needs to overhaul a law requiring state colleges and universities to accept all students who graduate in the top 10 percent of their high school class.
The law, passed in 1997, was intended to boost minority admissions after a lawsuit ended affirmative action in admissions policies.
"I clearly think it is a problem in the state of Texas when you've got highly qualified young men and women leaving the state of Texas because they can't get into the University of Texas," Perry said Tuesday. "I really don't see how it has worked the way people projected it would work. And I think, across the board, Texans see it as a problem."
Perry is expected to call a second special session to address school finance later this summer and the law could be taken up then.
Larry Faulkner, president of the University of Texas in Austin, has called for a limit on the number of students re quired to be accepted under the law. He argues that the law stymies the university's ability to choose students based on criteria other than high school grades, such as musical talent.
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said in September that the law should be revised to cap the number of slots reserved for top 10 percent graduates. State Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, sought unsuccessfully to repeal the law last year, and he said Tuesday he still believes that's the best solution.
More than 70 percent of the state residents accepted last year qualified under the law, up from 54 percent the previous year.
UT's 2003 freshman class was the most diverse in the university's history, with white students making up less than 60 percent for the first time.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that race could be used as a factor in admissions.
Perry said there is no reason to believe that a change in the law would lead to fewer minority students at UT.
"I think any college in the state of Texas, if they will go recruit our high school academic success stories the way they recruit high school football players, we will get as many of our bright, qualified minorities in Texas colleges," he said.
See, TX is headed the way of CA in 10 years when it comes to "diversity."
it used to work BEFORE they tried to 'fix' it.
It was 99% competative - test scores/grades - the 1% was legacy and/or the prof's kids
the battle was over the 1% (according to the scum lawyers) - but actually intentionally affected the 99% of the students who really deserved admission.
The results of the TAKS test for high school students recently showed a dramatic increase in scores for seniors over last year. Some believe that the education system here in Texas has finally found a formula that increases the student's ability to learn. Others however believe the increase is due to the tried and true formula of lowering the standards. Gov. Perry is using these results to show how much the system has advanced and how more students need the opportunity to attend U.T. Opening the guarantee admissions policy will just lower the school's standards as what happened to CUNY in the 70's
Meanwhile, the suburban high schools, where probably 50% of the students are better qualified, are limited by the same quota. It's gotten to the point where a 4.0 GPA and a 1250 SAT score isn't good enough to get in, because the kids in the good high schools take honors courses in which a 5.0 GPA is possible.
And, even with all of the benefits minorities get from the 10% rule, I imagine that the schools STILL use affirmative action to help the legally blessed students even more.
You are absolutely correct-- I know a girl with a 4.0 or better and 1230 SAT who isn't in the top 10%, so she wasn't accepted at UT. Unbelievable.
But, Texas A&M accepts any Texas resident with 1300 SAT, regardless of grades. That's a good policy.
It's a well-known fact that it's easier to transfer into A&M or UT as a sophomore from another college than to get in as a freshman. That's because of all the top ten percenters flunking out.
Ridiculous.
Texas Tech also has definite acceptance of anyone with a SAT over a certain amount. It was about 1200 a few years back.
On the other hand it does give kids from worse schools a chance. Kids can't choose the schools they go to. My boyfriend went to an extremely wealthy private school, was a mediocre students with C's and a mediocre class rank (think Phillips Academy), and got accepted where I couldn't get in with straight A's from my public high school.
Automatic acceptance of 10% is a bit much. The top 2% should be sufficient.
I don't have any problem with diversity on our campuses. That's fine. But it ought to be made up of people of whatever color who have what it takes to earn a degree.
I think it is rediculous that Honor students in TEXAS get an extra 10 points for honors classes and always make the straight A honor roll where my kiddo gets all A's but one 88 and she is on the A/B honor roll. In other words some kid who goofs off and gets an 80 in Honors gets a 90. Not a fair way to assess achievment IMHO.
Gov Perry is raising a canard..most major universities in Texas have feeder jucos..blinn @A&M, South plains @ Tech & ACC for UT. It is simply not true that very smart kids are not getting into the major Universities. It may not be easy for the non top 10% but if you are smart you can get into any public college in Texas.
Nobody told me that there was any special benefit for getting into honors courses at all. I just thought it was just a recognition that you're able to do more advanced work and that it would look good on your transcript when you applied to college. That's the way it was when I was a kid.
Consequently, we didn't push very hard to get him into honors courses. It wasn't until his junior year that I discovered that other parents had been lobbying teachers to get their kids into every possible honors course. I just assumed that his GPA of 3.8 or whatever it was obviously going to get him into one of the flagship universities. Well, hell, it was barely top quartile. Even with all the honors courses he started taking at that point, he never had a chance to get into the top 10% by the time he had to apply.
Fortunately, he aced the SAT and had outstanding extracirricular credentials to list on his application. He got into A&M, but it was by the skin of his teeth. At the end of his freshman year, he has straight A's in all his classes. Yet he was almost denied admission because of all these stupid rules. Grrrrrr.
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