Education has emerged as one of the more contentious fronts in the gubernatorial campaign, with Kay Bailey Hutchison this week releasing a barrage of school proposals and attacks on the status quo. But the differences between the candidates have more to do with execution than with design.
Economy
Get the latest on jobs, business, growth, and policy shaping the state’s economy with in-depth reporting from The Texas Tribune.
The Brief: December 1, 2009
Ladies and Gentlemen, step right up for your chance to see the incredible, shrinking Rainy Day Fund.
Cloudy with a Chance of Money
The Rainy Day Fund seems like weather word play waiting to happen. It can plug holes in the budget, defend against an economic perfect storm and keep the deficit clouds at bay. That’s certainly how some see it when looking at the next biennium’s projected shortfalls.
Stymied by Stimulus?
The stimulus money increased funding for education last session. But can the state keep it up next session without more federal money?
Beyond Textbooks and Tests
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.
Gattis is Out, says Ogden is In
State Rep. Dan Gattis, R-Georgetown, is dropping his bid for state Senate and won’t seek reelection to the Texas House next year, he said Sunday. Gattis said State Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, will seek reelection after all.
TribBlog: The (Very) Skinny
Comptroller Susan Combs says the state will have $77.7 billion in general revenue for the current budget, which calls for $77.6 billion in general revenue.
Upwardly Mobile
The number of Mexican-born professionals living in the United States has more than doubled since 1995. They’re not the undocumented workers you see in evening-news mug shots or aerial photographs of a littered and barren desert. They’re college graduates — some with multiple degrees — who join their blue-collar counterparts in their journeys north.
Texas Weekly: Simple Math, Complex Problem
Balancing the next state budget may be more a political exercise than a technical one.
Texas Weekly: Reversal of Fortune
We should pay attention to what my old boss, Bob Bullock, used to call the thorns among the roses here in Texas.

