This is an important decision for millions of Texas schoolchildren and the future of Texas. The Texas Supreme Court’s decision validates the quality of the foundation of our education system. The evidence showed – and the Supreme Court recognized – that high standards set by the Texas Legislature were being achieved at school districts around the state.

 In 2004-05 the average operating expenditure per student in Texas was $873 less than the national average of $8,208.

 In 1903, only 3% of public school students graduated from high school. That number didn’t reach 50% until the late 1940s. In 2003, 83% of public school students graduated from high school, and an additional 8% completed requirements through the GED program.

 When scores were expected to fall in spring 2004 due to the release of a more rigorous TAKS exam, Texas third graders in fact exceeded expectations, scoring 91 percent passing in reading.

 A substantially higher percentage of Texas students take the SAT than do students nationally. While 57 percent of Texas graduating seniors took the SAT, only 48 percent nationally took the exam.

 When Texas students go toe-to-toe with their peers nationally, they consistently earn higher scores. Each major ethnic group in Texas schools scored seventh or higher among their peers around the country on the fourth-grade National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) math exam.

 Asian American students in Texas fourth-grade classes outscored Asian-American students in all the other 52 states and jurisdictions.

On the fourth-grade mathematics test, Texas ranked in fourth place nationally with 87 percent of its students at or above the basic performance level, which includes performance at the basic, proficient and advanced levels. Only Massachusetts, New Hampshire and North Dakota had higher performance levels.

Fourth-grade students showed significant gain on the overall scale score on the exam too, earning a score of 242, up from 237 in 2003. The national average scale score was 237. Texas’s white, African- American, Hispanic and Asian-American students all outperformed similar ethnic groups nationally, according to information from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), which administers the NAEP program.

In 2005, Texas eighth-grade students earned an average scale score of 281 on the NAEP mathematics test, up from 277 in 2003. This year’s score exceeded the national average scale score of 278.

Like the fourth-grade students, each major ethnic group at eighth-grade outperformed the national average. White students earned an average scale score of 295, compared to a score of 288 for whites nationally. African-American students in Texas earned a score of 264, 10 points higher than the national average for this group. Hispanic Texans with a score of 271 also had a 10 point lead over Hispanics nationally. Asian-Texans earned an average scale score of 308, 14 points higher than their peer group across the country.

In fourth grade reading, once again, students in Texas’ major ethnic groups outperformed their peers across the country. Texas’ white students earned a score of 232, compared to a scale score of 228 for white students nationally. African-American students in Texas achieved a scale score of 206, compared to 199 nationally. Hispanic Texans received a score of 210, compared to 201 for Hispanics students across the country. Asian Texans received an average score of 234, versus 227 for this group nationally.