The debate over school finance that has gripped the Legislature's neverending special sessions is a mere sideshow to the grim reality of Texas education. In truth, the system is broken and no matter how much money our government dumps into the abyss, things will remain awry without substantive reform.
Consider the state of affairs in two of the largest school districts in Texas: Dallas ISD and Houston ISD.
In the 2000-01 school year, there were 14,566 freshman attending Dallas public high schools. Four years later at the graduation ceremonies for the class of 2004, there were only 6,696 graduates. This means that in Dallas ISD only 45.97 percent of the students even graduate from high school, let alone go on to something better.
Head south to Houston and things actually get worse. In the 2000-01 school year, there were 20,187 students in the high school freshman class in Houston ISD. Four years later when these students were scheduled to don the cap and gown, only 8,354 of them were eligible. Statistically speaking, if your child attends a Houston high school, he or she has only a 41.38 percent chance of actually graduating.
From the Daily Texan. Read the rest--the numbers are frightening.
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