Among the most controversial issues in House Bill 1, the base budget, is its denial of state funding to four community colleges. While the bill does not represent a final decision, critics say presenting the proposed budget executions this way is as dangerous as the methodology behind the decision is misleading.
Higher Education
Coverage of universities, colleges, student issues, and education policy shaping Texas’ campuses, from The Texas Tribune.
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Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Innocence Clinics Dodge Budget Bullet, for Now
Texas innocence clinics escaped unscathed from the first round of budget cut recommendations, but at the Capitol today, advocates said they aren’t safe yet.
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Criminal Justice
A Stiff Cocktail of Budget Cuts
The Texas House has unveiled a $156.4 billion budget that’s $31.1 billion smaller than the current two-year spending plan — a drop of 16.6 percent. The proposed budget came with $1.2 billion in recommendations for savings and new revenue from the Legislative Budget Board.
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Higher Education
The Legal Limit
Texas produces more law school graduates than it has jobs for. But that hasn’t stopped some lawmakers from proposing that the state build a new law school in the Valley.
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Higher Education
Branch: Higher Ed Cuts Unavoidable
As state leaders grapple with a budget shortfall that could be as high as $27 billion, state Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, who chaired the House Higher Education Committee in 2009, offers up some possible cuts to higher education.
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Criminal Justice
Pomp, Circumstance, Consequences
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.
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Higher Education
TribBlog: Graduation Gains
Though graduation rates for community colleges are stagnant nationwide, a few Texas colleges have seen improvements. But don’t go busting out the champagne just yet.
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Higher Education
TribBlog: Professors Take Buyouts at UT, A&M
In the midst of state-mandated budget cuts, 135 tenured professors have accepted buyouts at the University of Texas and Texas A&M University.
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Demographics
Shades of Burnt Orange
In August, 60 years after the University of Texas admitted its first black student, the school welcomed the first incoming freshman class in its history in which white students were in the minority. The state’s flagship university passed the demographic milestone earlier than some had anticipated, reflecting a similar shift that is rapidly taking place at other top-level universities across the country. While the changing demographics of college campuses may grab the headlines, the more compelling issue is how the growing number of minority students presents serious social and academic challenges for financially strapped universities, even as they are under pressure to boost graduation rates.
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Criminal Justice
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
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.