Tuesday night was a wash for candidates hoping to capitalize on a backlash against the 2011 Legislature’s deep budget cuts to public schools. Some won and some lost, and there wasn’t a definite guiding narrative as to why.
school finance
Posted in
Public Education
Progress Texas Report: Virtual Schools Failing, Unaccountable
A report out Tuesday from Progress Texas blasts virtual schools for having high dropout rates, high student-teacher ratios and low academic performance — and using state money to fund schools run by for-profit businesses.
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Public Education
Aycock Unveils Website to Talk School Accountability
State Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock, R-Killeen, is launching a website to try to kickstart discussion on what will surely be a hot topic in the next legislative session: school accountability.
Posted in
Public Education
State Business Group Joining School Finance Lawsuit
The Texas Association of Business announced today that it has joined a school finance lawsuit against the state, demanding a study of school system efficiency.
Posted inPublic Education, State Government
Interactive: How Much Do Superintendents Make?
During the 2011 legislative session, we compiled a salary database of all the state’s highest-paid school administrators: superintendents. After a year and a $5.4 billion reduction in state funding to public education, we are doing it again.
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Public Education
TribLive: A Conversation with Eissler and Hochberg
Full video of my April 26 TribLive conversation with state Rep. Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, and state Rep. Scott Hochberg, D-Houston — the chair and vice chair, respectively, of the House Public Education Committee.
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Public Education
TribLive: Eissler and Hochberg on Per-Student Spending
At this morning’s TribLive conversation, House Public Education Committee Chairman Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, and Vice Chairman Scott Hochberg, D-Houston, disagreed over the theoretical correlation between per-student spending and academic performance.
Posted in
Public Education
Video: Is State System Helping Failing Districts?
In conjunction with Morgan Smith’s “Death of a District” series, the Tribune presents a special video report on the role of accountability and whether the state’s current standards are helping or hurting failing districts in Texas.
Posted in
Public Education
Six Years After District is Closed, Signs of Rebirth
Plagued by financial and academic troubles, Wilmer-Hutchins ISD was closed six years ago. Now, the area appears to be on the verge of academic transformation, with three new Dallas ISD campuses.
Posted in
Public Education
District Still Has Work to Do After Cutting Sports
Premont ISD in South Texas has made drastic moves to improve its finances — including cutting high school sports. But critics fault the state’s accountability and school finance systems, which they say punish districts that serve largely low-income populations.
