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The TCTA lobby team has often considered writing about the nitty gritty aspects of getting a controversial bill passed through the Texas Legislature. The process can be grueling, with countless hours spent convincing legislators to file and promote the bill, drafting bill and amendment language, negotiating with the various stakeholders, and holding our collective breath during committee and floor debate.

In 2009, though, we’ve been faced with an unusual situation – what seemed to be a relatively noncontroversial bill, supported by teachers and receiving positive press, sailed through the House and Senate with unanimous support from lawmakers, was signed by the governor...and was subsequently ignored by a significant number of
Texas school districts.

TCTA has frequently publicized our role in getting a grading policy bill passed this
session so that teachers would no longer be required to assign grades that bore no
relation to a student’s actual achievement. We’re proud that it was a group of TCTA
members who helped provide the catalyst for Sen. Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound) to file and pass Senate Bill 2033, which prohibits districts from requiring minimum grades (see language of the bill below). Throughout the session, TCTA lobbyists helped Nelson and her staff push the bill, testified for it, and served as a point of contact for statewide news outlets.

THE LANGUAGE OF SB 2033
A school district shall adopt a grading policy, including provisions for the assignment of grades on class assignments and examinations, before each school year. A district grading policy:
(1) must require a classroom teacher to assign a grade that reflects the student’s relative mastery of an assignment;
(2) may not require a classroom teacher to assign a minimum grade for an assignment without regard to the student’s quality of work; and
(3) may allow a student a reasonable opportunity to make up or redo a class assignment or examination for which the student received a failing grade.

The supporters of minimum grade policies assert that such policies serve as a safety net for struggling students. For various reasons, ranging from personal troubles to the dynamics of transitioning from one grade level to the next, a student may experience a disastrous grading period. Administrators, anxious to avoid failing/retaining students, have concerns that it can be mathematically impossible for a student to recover from what may be a temporary problem.

This argument fails to recognize the many ways in which teachers can and do provide support to failing students. Teachers allow makeups and re-tests, and provide extra credit opportunities, and such options are overtly encouraged in the language of SB 2033.

In presenting the bill to her Senate colleagues, Nelson said it was “intended to ensure that our students are receiving grades based on the merits of their work.” About current minimum grade policies, Nelson further asserted, “Such policies undermine the education of students and the authority of teachers.”

The bill passed easily with language requiring implementation for the 2009-10 school year. It was signed by Gov. Rick Perry on June 19, 2009, and became effective immediately. Throughout the beginning weeks of the school year, TCTA attorneys heard from members in districts across the state regarding problems with the law being implemented at the local level. Several districts asserted that since the law specifically referenced only grades on class assignments and examinations, it did not necessarily apply to quarterly, six-weeks or semester grades.

TCTA has responded that cumulative grades, such as those given at the end of a grading period, are not pulled from thin air, but are intended to be an average representative of the work previously done and thus won’t be higher than the grades that comprise the composite. Still, some districts revised policies to remove a minimum grade requirement for individual tests/assignments, but included provisions that automatically bumped a low six-weeks grade up to a minimum level. In at least one case, rather than “rounding up” six-weeks grades, the district imposed paperwork requirements on teachers assigning a grade under the cutoff level in a not-so-subtle effort to discourage low marks.

In mid-September, TCTA contacted the commissioner of education to request that he send out a communication to all school districts clarifying the Texas Education
Agency’s interpretation of SB 2033. A few weeks later, Scott provided his response in the form of a letter sent to administrators.


Some districts have complied with the clarified interpretation. In mid- November, the Longview ISD board eliminated its minimum grading policy, which had required grades of no less than 59. Longview had held off on revising the policy after SB 2033 passed, but chose to make the change after Scott’s letter was received.

However, a group of Houston-area school districts has filed suit against the commissioner requesting a declaration by the court that the law does not prohibit minimum grading policies for six- or nine-week or semester grading periods, and that the commissioner’s letter was incorrect. The lawsuit further seeks an injunction
prohibiting enforcement of the commissioner’s interpretation of the law.

TCTA considers this an important issue of teacher authority in the classroom, and we will continue the fight for proper implementation of a law that the Legislature intended districts to abide by. TCTA members in a district that has continued some version of a minimum grading policy should contact the TCTA Legal Department at (888) 879-8282.

Updated: 03/02/10