The latest Texas Education Agency news from The Texas Tribune.
After much hand-wringing by public officials and business leaders over the dropout crisis, a patchwork of last-resort schools and programs has emerged statewide. Gauging their performance is tricky, but there's no question that the students they serve might otherwise be on the street or in jail. Full Story
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When public schools fail, students are allowed to transfer to better campuses. But only a tiny fraction ever do. Full Story
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School superintendent salary data offers a unique window into the vast diversity of Texas districts, from massive to miniscule, and the way they pay their chief executives. One new trend: Performance pay. Full Story
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Mindful of the down economy, more public school districts are paying their superintendents bonuses rather than giving them raises. Full Story
One education model — with unproven results — serves almost a third of pre-kindergarteners in Texas. Its grade? Incomplete. Full Story
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The feds want Texas to sign onto a movement toward national education standards in order to get up to $700 million in "Race to the Top" money. Texas officials say our students —and our curriculum — aren't for sale. Full Story
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The El Paso school board this week dumped a controversial policy requiring teachers to give automatic grades of 50 to students who didn't earn them. But teachers are still allowed to do so at their discretion. Full Story
The pro-charter National Center for Education Reform cites state's lack of financial support for facilities, a cap on the number of charters and a restrictive regulatory environment. Full Story
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It was a political week, with a full-court press from our staff on Bill White's switch to the governor's race and all of the fallout; the moves during the first week of filing for political races; Philpott's look at Republicans challenging Republicans; Hu's latest in the popular Stump Interrupted series; Ramshaw on emergency rooms, family doctors, and child protection; Stiles and Grissom mapping payday lending locations juxtaposed with family income data; Rapoport on the state budget and education; Thevenot on KBH's plans for schools; and Hamilton on the power (or not) of political endorsements. The best of the best from November 28 to December 4, 2009. Full Story
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Texas school chief calls requirements to adopt national curriculum standards "unprecedented intrusiveness" Full Story
Hoping to push a wide array of digital content and teaching tools to public schools, the Texas Education Agency has cut a deal with a division of The New York Times for an electronic curriculum portal and searchable access to the newspaper’s content since 1851. Full Story
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School district police departments use tasers, pepper spray, dogs and drawn handguns to control crime on campus. But most don't keep data on the incidents, leaving parents no way to track them. Many even refuse to turn over their “use of force” guidelines, saying parting with their policies could create a security threat. Full Story
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Texas will not adopt national school curriculum standards, risking its ability to get a $700 million federal grant. Full Story
The Dallas church community has vowed to forge 25 partnerships with high-poverty public schools and push for 700 units of housing for the homeless — a down payment on a larger effort to heal wounds left by racism and injustice. Full Story
The State Board of Education, which has showcased some intense philosophical fights, has drawn scrutiny for becoming a partisan battleground. For now, members are just trying to get along — but the rifts are as big as ever. Full Story
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A for-profit company hopes to get approval to start two charter schools in Texas. Thursday's SBOE meeting will set the precedent for dealing with this murkier side of the charter school system. Full Story
Amid handwringing over child obesity, SBOE likely will eliminate health and physical education requirements at this week's meeting. Full Story
KBH resigns herself to staying in the Senate, Grissom investigates the broken border, Ramshaw outs IT contractors who make gigabucks from state agencies, Hu gives Hutchison and Perry the Stump Interrupted treatment, the new head of the Foresenic Science Commission faces his critics, Stiles posts a searchable database of fines levied by the state ethics commission, and Hamilton discovers the consequences of party switching (none): The best of the best from November 9 to 13, 2009. Full Story
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Districts prepare to go to court with the TEA over minimum grades policies, prompting the question: How much should schools emulate the real world? And how many second chances should students get? Full Story
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The federal government is giving away $4.35 billion to state education systems through Race to the Top. But is Texas already out? Full Story
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