SEN. KOLKHORST, REP. LEMAN FILE LEGISLATION TO HELP HIGH-RANKING RURAL SCHOOL GRADUATES
State Senator Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) and Representative Ben Leman (R-Anderson) have jointly filed a bill to encourage Texas’ top graduating seniors to get their college degrees in the state.
The “Top of The Class” Bill (Senate Bill 249 and House Bill 539, respectively) would guarantee that valedictorians of every graduating class would be automatically accepted to any state-funded university.
(R-Anderson)
Kolkhorst said the legislation is aimed at rural schools with smaller graduating classes. She said she wants to make sure the high-ranking graduates of those schools are not forgotten.
Leman hopes the bill puts a stop to rural Texas schools being treated unfairly, due to small class size. He said this bill is just the first step in trying to find ways to attract and keep the best students in the state.
Currently, students who graduate in the top 10 percent of their class receives automatic admission to any state-funded university aside from the University of Texas at Austin, which has a 6-percent threshold. The Top 10 Percent Rule was signed into law in 1997.
For valedictorians of small schools where there are less than ten students in the class, it is mathematically impossible for them to meet automatic admission requirements. The announcement of the bill’s filing referenced data from the Texas Education Agency, showing there were 130 schools in 2017 that had ten or fewer students in their graduating class.
The “Top of the Class” Bill would also allow those students to qualify for scholarships intended for students who are ranked in the top 10 percent of the class.
Leman, a former Grimes County Judge, won the House District 13 special election in May 2018 to fill the seat left vacant by former state Rep. Leighton Schubert (R-Caldwell), who resigned in February to take a position at Blinn College. Schubert filed a similar bill in 2017, which died for lack of a vote.
The 86th regular legislative session begins on Tuesday.