Stephanie Guidry - April 30, 2009 - 5:00 PM

During this legislative session, there have been a few very unique bits of legislation that catch my eye.  The most recent?  An amendment to a bill that prohibits school districts from regulating the hair length of honor students who have no disciplinary record or unexcused absences.   I can't help but have the mental image a smart, upstanding 15 year-old sophomore...with a mullet.

In all seriousness, this amendment was added to House Bill 3, a bill intended to reform the school accountability system in Texas.  In layman's terms, the bill will take some of the pressure off of the earlier standards of accountability (elementary and middle school TAKS) and place more stringent standards on high school performance measures (Algebra II and English III scores).  On the Senate side, an almost identical Senate Bill 3 recently unanimously passed 31-0.

Have a look at yesterday's Dallas Morning News article for additional commentary about the bill.