As Texas education officials predicted when objecting to federal Race to the Top grant rules, the feds may now be moving to tie billions more in federal funds to the adoption of national curriculum standards, according to an Education Week report.
Texas Education Agency
Posted in
Politics
Primary Color: SBOE District 5
Forget about Don McLeroy vs. Thomas Ratliff. The most interesting fight for a State Board of Education seat may be in San Antonio, where well-funded lawyer-lobbyist Tim Tuggey is challenging incumbent Ken Mercer — and the big question being asked is, ‘How conservative is conservative enough?’
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Reform Follows Function
The federal push for accountability at “persistently low-achieving” schools across Texas is running smack into the hard, slow work of improvement at the local level.
Posted in
Public Education
TribBlog: Who’s He In Bed With Now?
The Obama administration — which is one of the ways Mark Sanford and Rick Perry are not alike.
Posted in
Public Education
TribBlog: States Echoing Texas on National Standards
State school leaders from across the West are complaining of too much federal intrusion into local curriculum decisions, along with inflexible rules – including that national standards be adopted “word for word.”
Posted in
Economy
No Experience Necessary
Few members of the State Board of Education have finance expertise. Should we be concerned that they manage the investments of the $23 billion Permanent School Fund?
Posted in
Public Education
Charter Churn
Teachers quit Texas charter schools at nearly three times the rate of traditional public school districts, according to state data. Dozens of individual schools lost well over half their teachers in the latest year.
Posted in
Public Education
TribBlog: Will Obama Put Texas Schools Back in the Race?
The president announced he would ask Congress for an additional $1.35 billion for the Race to the Top education grant program — which Gov. Perry spurned last week — along with more flexibility in doling it out to individual districts. He also took a swipe at Texas.
Posted in
Public Education
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
A big week, with the State Board of Education working on social studies textbooks — Thevenot was all over that this week, starting with a story that got national attention — and then the first debate between the GOP gubernatorial candidates, a story we tag-teamed with poll analysis, Hu’s and Ramsey’s live-blogging, Philpott’s audio, and video. Our first TribLive event coaxed some news out of House Speaker Joe Straus, and E. Smith also interviewed Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson on beaches, politics, and, um, politics. We featured M. Smith on athletes in politics, Aguilar on the pack of Republicans chasing U.S. Rep. Ralph Hall, Rapoport on women in campaigns, and Hamilton on candidates outside the spotlight. The best of our best from January 11 to January 15, 2010.
Posted in
Public Education
TribBlog: SBOE = State Board of Editors
When the State Board of Education finally got to amending the social studies curriculum, members burrowed deeply into the weeds, holding extended debates over the parsing of seemingly innocuous phrases, like “citizens” vs. “good citizens.”
