It’s almost the end of the school year and countless high schools across the State of Texas will be holding graduation ceremonies.  However, some parents are just finding out that their son or daughter will not be “walking” at the graduation ceremony because their child has not yet met the standards for the Exit level TAKS test.  Those same parents are faced with a plethora of mixed emotions–everything from feeling that they have somehow failed their child to confusion to anger at the school board for having such a policy.  However, the policy of refusing Seniors the “walk” at graduation is an individual, board by board interpretation of House Bill 72, more commonly known as “no-pass, no-play.”  It was originally written to encourage student athletes to keep their grades at a passing level if they intended to play sports or participate in extra-curricular activities.  Many saw this law as an insult to coaches who favored winning games at all costs, but others saw it as a reform that would favor the academic needs of students over the extra-curricular needs.  The law is now in its 28th year.  I don’t believe it will be going away.  And should it?  Yes, it is true that many students give up and drop their extra-curricular activities the first time they fail a six weeks grading period, but, on the other hand, this no-pass, no-play situation keeps other students working hard enough to do all that they want in school.   When parents are faced with the graduation issue, especially when the TAKS standards are the problem, please consider that your school board is giving your student one of his or her first adult lessons in life.  If you want to walk the walk of graduation, you first must talk the talk of TAKS.  Graduation from a public high school in Texas is an honor and a privilege granted to those who have met ALL of the requirements–there is no entitlement to the ceremony.