Thousands Protest Education Cuts at Texas Capitol
Want to get the attention of 11,000 Texans? Propose a $10 billion spending cut to public education.
Full StoryMorgan Smith reports on politics and education for the Tribune, which she joined in November 2009. She writes about the effects of the state budget, school finance reform, accountability and testing in Texas public schools. Her political coverage has included congressional and legislative races, as well as Gov. Rick Perry's presidential campaign, which she followed to Iowa and New Hampshire. In 2013, she received a National Education Writers Association award for "Death of a District," a series on school closures. After earning a bachelor's degree in English from Wellesley College, she moved to Austin in 2008 to enter law school at the University of Texas. A San Antonio native, her work has also appeared in Slate, where she spent a year as an editorial intern in Washington D.C.
msmith@texastribune.org
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Want to get the attention of 11,000 Texans? Propose a $10 billion spending cut to public education.
Full StoryIn advance of today's bill filing deadline, lawmakers have introduced two bills that would require losing parties to pay attorneys' fees in a variety of civil lawsuits.
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State Rep. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio, filed a bill today that would require two-thirds of the State Board of Education to reject recommendations from experts during the approval process for curriculum standards and textbooks.
Full StorySen. Bob Deuell, who chairs the Senate Nominations Committee, says Gail Lowe has not been scheduled for a hearing as chairwoman of the State Board of Education because she lacks the votes for a confirmation on the floor.
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Advocates say requiring the losing parties in litigation to pay their opponents’ legal fees is the cure for courts choked with the costs of “junk” lawsuits.
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A bill filed by state Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, has an unusual group turning out to education committee meetings: environmentalists.
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During Tuesday's Senate Education Committee meeting, senators considered legislation that could dramatically change the way school districts operate — including two bills that target the dreaded "unfunded mandates."
Full StoryThirteen-year-old Asher Brown’s death has given momentum to the more than 15 anti-bullying bills filed in the Legislature this session. The legislation is supported by teacher organizations and advocacy groups but has drawn opposition.
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During day two of the Legislature's debate on House Bill 15, state Rep. Sid Miller's abortion sonogram bill, House Democrats made their displeasure known with a parade of amendments.
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The Obama administration’s education budget includes $900 million for the Race to the Top program. And this time around, there’s a twist: Individual districts — as opposed to states — can apply for the funds.
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Corpus Christi's Flour Bluff ISD has blocked extracurricular clubs from meeting on campus to make sure it's complying with federal law after denying approval of a gay-straight alliance.
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For lawmakers scrutinizing every possible saving, “administrative costs” presents an easy mark. But there may be less to cut than they imagine.
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With major state funding cuts looming, for many school districts, it's not a question of if — but how and when — teacher layoffs will occur. A new bipartisan bill from education leaders in the state Senate could temporarily change how schools go about that.
Not even two months into his first term, U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi, is the subject of an ad campaign from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
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In his biennial State of the Judiciary address on Wednesday, Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson urged the Legislature to protect legal aid funding — and renewed his call for the reform of judicial elections.
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