Students in Texas must get the grades they earn and not an inflated score on report cards under the state’s year-old truth-in-grading law, which bans minimum-grade policies, a Texas district judge ruled.
Eleven school districts sued Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott over his interpretation of the law. The districts said it should only apply to classroom assignments; Mr. Scott said it applied to report cards, as well. The judge sided with Mr. Scott in her ruling earlier this month.
Some districts have long had policies that established minimum grades of 50, 60, or even 70, so even if a student earned a zero, his or her grade would be automatically brought up to the minimum score. The schools argue that such policies helped keep failing students from dropping out.
