The latest public education news from The Texas Tribune.
Texas school districts are getting into the advertising game as they look for ways to make ends meet after major state budget cuts. But some researchers question whether schools fully grasp the consequences of creeping commercialism. Full Story
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With the state set to debut its new STAAR tests this spring, concerns about how the tests will impact students' final grades have begun to mount. And as Nathan Bernier of KUT News reports, parents aren't the only ones worrying. Full Story
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House Public Education Chairman Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, is planning to send a letter to the state education czar asking the Texas Education Agency to defer implementation of STAAR's 15 percent rule. Full Story
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State Sen. Florence Shapiro has sent a letter to the Texas Education Agency saying that she believes it has the power to delay a requirement that new exams count toward 15 percent of students' final grades. Full Story
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Aguilar on an environmental battle in South Texas, Galbraith on the impact of the drought, Grissom on the latest in the Michael Morton case, Hamilton and Theobald on plans for greater scrutiny of faculty performance, Murphy on Rick Perry's campaign donors and expenditures, Ramsey on where we stand on redistricting, Ramshaw on the intense interest in stem cell rules, Root on a congressman's controversial pipeline holdings, M. Smith on the backlash against student testing and Tan on the fight for a new medical school in Austin: The best of our best content from February 6-10, 2012. Full Story
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On this week's TribCast, Ben, Ross, Emily and Morgan discuss redistricting, public school accountability testing and the controversy involving Susan G. Komen for the Cure and Planned Parenthood. Full Story
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With the more-rigorous STAAR testing system set to debut this year, a backlash appears to building against standardized testing in the state. And some legislators are mulling how to postpone some of the tests’ consequences for students. Full Story
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A teachers group has urged Gov. Rick Perry to call a special session to address education funding. But as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, there's still plenty of disagreement on what fixing the school funding system would actually mean. Full Story
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Texas Education Agency commissioner Robert Scott touched off political controversy this week when he told a gathering of 4,000 school officials in Austin that standardized testing had gone too far in Texas. Full Story
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Morgan Smith explains how some parents are choosing not to let their children take the new and rigorous STAAR tests. And Kate Galbraith tells us how state officials may use money from BP for coastal restoration. Full Story
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Some high-profile members of the education community aren't pleased with Texas Education Agency chief Robert Scott's speech on Tuesday criticizing the role of testing in schools. Full Story
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The Dallas-based breast cancer prevention group Susan G. Komen for the Cure has halted its financial support of Planned Parenthood, yet another blow to the family planning organization that provides abortions in some of its clinics. Full Story
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Texas Education Agency Commissioner Robert Scott received a standing ovation today after he told a gathering of public school educators that the state testing system has become a "perversion of its original intent." Full Story
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At our Hot Seat conversation at the University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg on 1/24, state Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen, and state Reps. Veronica Gonzales, D-McAllen, and Aaron Peña, R-Edinburg, discussed cuts to public education, redistricting and other by-products of the 82nd Legislative Session. Full Story
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Tan and Dehn talk to some of Gov. Rick Perry's allies about his return to Texas, Aaronson maps (interactively!) the insured and the uninsured among us, E. Smith's TribLive interview with state Rep. David Simpson on Perry's race and TSA pat-downs, M. Smith on a Texas school so broke it's shutting down sports, Whitney on a split in the legal community over divorce forms, KUT's Philpott on abuse in state hospitals, Ramshaw reports on the governor's decision not to repay taxpayers for protection during his presidential campaign and Aguilar on the state's attempts to put its voter ID law in force: The best of our best content from January 23-27, 2012. Full Story
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The insiders think Ron Paul's biggest obstacle is Ron Paul, are pessimistic about Texas Democrats, and predict Democratic primaries focused on education and Republican primaries focused on spending and taxes. Full Story
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Emily Ramshaw explains how family planning clinics are complying with the state's new abortion sonogram law. Morgan Smith shows us a school district that is canceling its sports program. Full Story
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In a state where the football field is hallowed turf, Premont ISD has suspended all athletics — including football — to improve its struggling finances. Full Story
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In a rare move in a state where the football field is hallowed turf, Premont ISD has suspended all athletics — including football — to improve its struggling finances. But the decision has brought little backlash from the community in South Texas, perhaps a measure of how dire the school's circumstances have become. Full Story
In a daring and rare move in a state where the football field is hallowed turf, a superindent has suspended all athletics to help his South Texas district improve its struggling finances. Full Story
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