TO THE SUPERINTENDENT ADDRESSED:
As the school year ends, many parents and students turn their attention to our state's colleges and universities. One of the great opportunities in higher education for Texas students is the "top ten percent law." Any high school student graduating in the top 10% of his or her high school class is automatically eligible for admission at any Texas public college or university. In an effort to increase awareness of this opportunity, Governor George W. Bush has again agreed to send a letter to each of these potential students congratulating them on their academic achievements and encouraging them to consider higher education opportunities in Texas.
At each high school in your district, please identify the students in your current junior class, next year's seniors, who will begin the fall ranked in the top 10% of their graduating class. While the accuracy of this list is important, please be reminded that the letter from Governor Bush will not be an official guarantee of admission.
Please send to the agency the names and home addresses of the students ranked in the top ten percent. It is not necessary to include social security numbers, grade point averages or exact class rank; a simple list of names and addresses will suffice. Use the enclosed format and provide the list, preferably on disk, to the agency Office of Governmental Relations by July 15, 2000. Please note that there is a downloadable copy of the form at the TEA website: www.tea.state.tx.us. Navigate to "Bulletin 742" and select FIN-00100.
General questions may be directed to the staff of Governmental Relations at 512-463-9682.
Technical questions concerning data format should be directed to Eva Bayer at 512-463-9809.
Please submit all the campuses in your district in a single mailing- do not send forms for individual campuses.
It is never easy to complete a project such as this one at this juncture in the school year. Let me thank you in advance for devoting your resources to this effort at heightening awareness of opportunities for our students. A special thanks is due to the many fine high school counselors in the state. Their work is greatly appreciated by this agency.
Sincerely,
Jim Nelson
Commissioner of Education