The latest Texas Education Agency news from The Texas Tribune.
This week's episode of the TribCast features Evan, Ross, Ben and Matt on the supermajority in the Texas House, possible federal court challenges, the coming Census numbers, the Howard/Neil election challenge and the public school budget battle. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/DanAndDonnaHouseFloor.jpg)
A report from a conservative education think tank says social studies standards in Texas give students a distorted and politicized view of history that, in one case, resembles "Soviet schools harping on the glories of state socialism." Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/us-textbooks.jpg)
In an interview with KRLD's Scott Braddock in Dallas, David Anthony, the departing superintendent of the state's third-largest school district, said districts are in a "difficult situation" as they try to meet new student achievement measures while coping with cuts. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Education-Funding.jpg)
Gov. Rick Perry's State of the State speech on Tuesday was part pep rally, part budget proposal, with a dash of national politics. And, as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, Democrats weren't charmed. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/20100626_Wendy_Davis_S.S._036.jpg)
At the Texas Education Agency's first appearance before the Senate since the release of a budget that reduces school funding by $9.3 billion, senators called for a "full picture" of the state's spending on public education. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/_KCB7840.jpg)
With Texas public schools facing cuts of as much as $10 billion in state funding, predictions of the consequences have been dire: teacher layoffs, bigger class sizes, fewer instructional days. One topic conspicuously absent from the conversation: athletics. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/SPORTS_Triptych.jpg)
"Now is not the time to point fingers and scream and yell. Now is the time to solve the problem," Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott told more than 6,000 public school leaders from across the state today. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/_KCB7820.jpg)
Just how important is full-day pre-kindergarten for the state’s youngest and most disadvantaged kids? Is it more important than after-school tutoring? Than canceling music and art classes? As public school officials brace for a proposed $10 billion less in state funding, that’s one decision they'll have to make. “It's choosing between bad and worse and bad and bad,” says one superintendent. “It's definitely not a good day when we are sitting around talking about whether class size going up could help salvage all-day pre-K, or vice-versa.” Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/PreKCuts2_1.jpg)
Texas public schools are facing what could be $10 billion less in state financing — a stark prospect that could empty school buildings across the state as districts consolidate campuses to reduce costs. What should happen to these structures, which are built with taxpayer money? Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TXT_8558.jpg)
The 82nd Texas Legislature convenes in Austin this week, and while it’s not as much fun as the circus — usually — it’s more important and does have its share of comedy and drama. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/CapitolComputers.jpg)
Ramshaw on how hard it is to sue over emergency room mistakes, Galbraith on paying for roads in an era of fuel-efficient vehicles, Aguilar on a disagreement about gun regulation, my interview with tort reformer Dick Trabulsi, Grissom on Perry's parsimonious pardoning, Hu and Chang interactively look at House committee chairs, M. Smith on an election challenge and who'll settle it, Ramshaw and Stiles on Dallas County's blue streak and Hamilton on a Valley school district that leads the nation in preparing kids for college: The best of our best from Dec. 20 to 24, 2010. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/tribweek-dec242010.png)
In the 1980s, when the state’s education accountability systems were first put into place, Hidalgo’s high school was ranked among the bottom 10 percent of all schools in academic performance. Today, its students graduate at higher rates than the state average, and 98 percent complete a recommended or distinguished curriculum — all thanks to an unprecedented level of collaboration between local leaders in public and higher education that has permeated Hidalgo for the last five years and is taking hold elsewhere in the Rio Grande Valley, providing new opportunities in some of the country’s poorest counties. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/ef6a20e12d932dc9e9b4369460b43ada/BD%20INC%20HISD%202010)
The Austin Independent School District says it will need to cut tens of millions of dollars from its budget over the next several years — and it wants local parents to help figure out where to start the trimming. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TT-Audio.png)
The budget shortfall — estimated to be as much as $28 billion — will require the Legislature to take a paring knife and possibly a machete to government agencies and programs. The largest single consumer of state dollars is public education, so it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which funding for teacher salaries, curricular materials and the like isn’t on the chopping block, especially if lawmakers want to make good on their promises of no new taxes. But where is that money going to come from? Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/c6a2a3fa90eb46d95249c9b92bf8132e/BD%20INC%20San%20Antonio%20Classroom%202010)
Penny-pinchers at the State Board of Education opted to incorporate changes to the high school science curriculum via lower-cost electronic supplements to existing textbooks instead of spending up to $500 million to have new ones printed. Trouble is, many schools lack the technological capability to use them. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Creation-Darwin_2.jpg)
Hu on the Perry-Bush rift, Ramshaw on the adult diaper wars, Ramsey's interview with conservative budget-slasher Arlene Wohlgemuth, Galbraith on the legislature's water agenda (maybe), M. Smith on Don McLeroy's last stand (maybe), Philpott on the end of earmarks (maybe), Hamilton on the merger of the Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Texas Education Agency (maybe), Aguilar on Mexicans seeking refuge from drug violence, Grissom on inadequate health care in county jails and my conversation with Houston Mayor Annise Parker: The best of our best from November 15 to 19, 2010. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Tribweek.jpg)
The State Board of Education is scheduled to vote Friday on approving the purchase of new textbooks at a cost of almost half a billion dollars. But state legislators are facing a budget gap of as much as $28 billion in the next biennium, and some observers fear that textbook spending could be on the chopping block. Nathan Bernier of KUT News reports. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/110509_bookstack001_rr.jpg)
This week marks the final meeting of the State Board of Education before former chair Don McLeroy's GOP primary opponent, Thomas Ratliff, takes his seat. But the unapologetic creationist and skeptic of the church-state wall says you haven't seen the last of him yet. “Oh, gosh, no,” he says. “I’m thinking that maybe God’s got something else for me to do.” Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Screen_shot_2010-04-14_at_2.12.33_PM.png)
The co-founder of the KIPP charter school network on why its approach to education reform has flourished in Texas, whether the model can work for any kid or any family and if teachers' unions are really the villain they're made out to be in Waiting for Superman. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/73eb6e9f9d8377eecf6b3499469f3c32/.mikefeinberg)
Tension between Texas and the federal government has been a major focus of Rick Perry's re-election campaign. But on Monday, two top Democratic leaders in the Texas House ganged up on Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott and, by proxy, the governor over the recent federal education funds fight. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports. Full Story