AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- A new Texas law offers $30 per day, per student, funding for school districts that accept students who are over 21 but no older than 26.
The level of funding, which was previously only offered to school districts for students under the age of 21, is aimed at curbing the dropout rate in Texas, the Houston Chronicle reported Friday.
"There are a lot of kids that leave, for good or bad reason, during their teenage years and then realize as young adults that they really need that diploma," state Rep. Scott Hochberg, D-Houston, who sponsored the legislatio, told the newspaper. "It's really all about the person who wants to come back to school."
The law gives Texas the highest age limit for public school students in the United States. Most states set the limit at 22, the Chronicle said.
"We'll be able to expand the scope of the folks we're able to serve," Monico Rivas, principal of Houston's Liberty High School, which serves many older immigrants, told the Chronicle. "I think it's going to have a significant impact on helping members of the community continue to reach their goals."
