Another thing I learned

about education in Texas, where 'book larnin' ain't that important', is that even though the state passed minimum academic standards for student athletes, the schools found a way around the rules. For example, a player had to have passing grades to play on Friday night, SO, the schools would include a class on 'Football' where the jock got 100%, but that wasn't enough. They then initiated a program, called the SIP, or School Improvement Plan, where just showing up for any class counted as 'participation' which counted for 50% of the grade. Still wasn't enough, as student athletes didn't even show up for classes. In a landmark court case it was decided that even if you didn't show up for a class, the lowest SIP score you could get was 50%, which enabled the athletes to meet the minimum standards. The 'high standards' of education obviously permeated the entire system, which explains how Texas, even with the huge amount of oil money in the system ranked 46th in the nation in SAT scores, and liberal (educated) political candidates don't stand a chance.