AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- About 600,000 fifth- and eighth-grade students take the high-stakes Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills on Tuesday.
Many will have to tune out the sounds of runoff-election voters trickling in and out of schools that also serve as polling locations.
The tests scheduled at the same time as the March 4th primary were changed to avoid the distraction. Now, state education officials have decided to allow the math tests to remain on Tuesday.
A Texas Education Agency spokeswoman says that because it's a runoff election, fewer voters are expected to come through the schools. TEA spokeswoman Debbie Ratcliffe says schools were allowed to ask for a waiver to change the test date, but only four did.
Tuesday's test is particularly pressure-filled because fifth- and eighth-graders must pass the math portion of the test to be promoted to the next grade. Meanwhile, the runoff includes two congressional seats, a statewide Railroad Commission contest and scores of state legislative and local races.
