The Midday Brief: May 2, 2011

Your afternoon reading:

• "Most Texas elected officials lauded both Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama today for their parts in bringing Osama bin Laden to justice. … But there were notable exceptions to the share-the-credit approach. Texas Gov. Rick Perry, in a statement released by his office, congratulated 'the brave men and women of our military and intelligence communities' but omitted the current and former presidents. And Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, did not include Bush in her praise for mission’s success." — Most Texas officials praise both Bush and Obama; Rick Perry ignores both, Sheila Jackson Lee doesn’t mention Bush, Texas on the Potomac

• "I’d like to know the thought process that led the Dew to put the name of a president who has been out of office for more than two years and who tried mightily, but failed, to bring bin Laden to justice, ahead of the sitting president of the United States, who mounted the successful operation that led to bin Laden’s death." — 44 goes before 43, BurkaBlog

• "State Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, was a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, assigned as an aide to a two-star general in the Pentagon on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. … Today, Birdwell solemnly reflected on the death of the man who organized that attack, saying he hoped that Osama Bin Laden’s death would send a message to potential enemies of the U.S. that 'the American public will be unrelenting.'" — Texas Senator/Pentagon Survivor Recalls Pain of 9/11, Texas Politics

• "Former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura were out having dinner in Dallas when news broke that Osama bin Laden had been killed." — Bush at Dallas restaurant when news broke about bin Laden, PoliTex

• "Senate budget writers are discussing the possibility of trying to 'over fund' public schools by Aug. 31 with $3 billion of rainy-day money, so that schools can cover the cost of rapid growth in student enrollment in the next two-year cycle." — Rainy-day maneuver on stopgap funding bill considered by Senate, Trail Blazers

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "Senate lawmakers tentatively passed a controversial measure to require women seeking abortions to receive sonograms — and have the details of the fetus described to them — prior to the procedure." — Abortion Sonogram Bill Clears Another Hurdle

• "The U.S. State Department is asking U.S. citizens traveling or residing abroad to avoid mass gatherings and demonstrations because of Bin Laden's death but no law enforcement changes are planned along the Texas-Mexican border." — Global Travel Alert Issued; No Change on Border

• "Michael Marder, the co-director of the University of Texas' UTeach program, which trains secondary school math and science teachers, looks at public education data and explains the significance of poverty, why he thinks charter schools are not necessarily the answer and how public education is like a Boeing airplane." — Is Poverty, Not Teacher Quality or Charters, Key to Student Outcomes?