A needed boost for education

Texas is responsible for educating 5.4 million students, about 10 percent of the nation’s schoolchildren. While students here are graduating at some of the highest rates in the country and outperforming peers in all but eight other states on the most recent National Assessment of Education Progress, Texas is lagging in other areas. The state’s shortfalls are evident early and continue through college. About 4 in 10 children are unprepared when they start kindergarten. Texas has slipped to 46th in the nation in fourth-grade reading. And just 28 percent of graduating seniors earn a post-secondary degree or credential in six years.