TAB Uses Planes to Protest Texas Testing Standards

The Texas Association of Business has hired a plane to picket the State Capitol to protest a move to lower standards on school testing.

The single-engine plane buzzed downtown Austin for more than an hour Tuesday, towing a sign that read, "Is 37 percent correct on algebra too hard? TAB."

TAB President Bill Hammond said he wanted lawmakers to know that high school students only need to score 37 percent to pass the end-of-course algebra exam and graduate. He said a student can score 25 percent by just randomly marking the test paper.

Texas lawmakers are considering a number of measures that would reduce the number of tests students must take to graduate high school from 15 to as little as five.

Hammond said employers need a better educated work force.

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