public education

Voters to Decide City Elections, Amendments

By Lara Lapin Nov. 8, 2011

It's Election Day, and voters across the state will decide whether to add 10 amendments to the Texas Constitution. Voters in several cities also will be picking mayors and city council members. Full Story

Credit: Amy Qualls-McClure
Lawsuit Gives Cover to Texas Lawmakers

By Ross Ramsey Nov. 7, 2011

Judges have been telling legislators what to do since we set up government to replace knife fights and bar brawls. And legislators use the courts to make them do unpopular but necessary things that voters don't like. School finance, for instance. Full Story
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

By Ross Ramsey Nov. 5, 2011

The latest UT/TT Poll on the 2012 race and other issues, Root on Herman Cain's stumble, Ramshaw and Titus on Texas Republicans who don't support Perry, Murphy maps presidential fundraising in Texas, Philpott on changing the constitution for parks and education, Hamilton on a case of higher ed separation anxiety, Grissom on the state's breakup with a death penalty witness, Galbraith on a congressman's search for a big leak, Aguilar on the Border Patrol's effort to operate in environmentally protected areas and Aaronson on a dramatic drop in government employment in Texas: The best of our best content from October 31 to November 4, 2011. Full Story

Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman
Inside Intelligence: On the Issues

By Ross Ramsey Nov. 3, 2011

The insiders answered questions from the University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll for the second week in a row, this time on the death penalty, education, top issues facing Texas, and whether the people they know would vote for a Mormon candidate with whom they agree on issues. Full Story
Interactive: Budget Cuts Continue to Shrink Texas State Government

By Becca Aaronson Nov. 3, 2011

This interactive shows the dramatic drop in employment at Texas state agencies from the third quarter of fiscal year 2011 to the last quarter, right before $15 billion in cuts to the 2012-2013 biennium budget kicked in Sept. 1. Full Story

Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman
UT/TT Poll: Mormon Candidates Face Hurdle

By Ross Ramsey Nov. 3, 2011

More than one in five Texas voters say most of the people they know would not vote for a Mormon presidential candidate even if they agreed with him or her on the issues, according to the new University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll. Full Story
County Government Websites Earn F In Transparency

By Danny Guerra Nov. 1, 2011

Texas county government websites earned a failing grade from the Sunshine Review, a nonprofit organization that advocates for more online transparency on government sites. Texas state government performed better, and school districts got the highest marks. Full Story

Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman
Randy Neugebauer: The TT Interview

By Elizabeth Titus Nov. 1, 2011

The GOP congressman from Lubbock on Gov. Rick Perry, cuts in direct payments that could be headed for Texas farmers, his hopes for the supercommittee and what the 2012 elections will say about Americans' view of the economy. Full Story
Little Opposition to Measure That Would Increase School Funding

By Ben Philpott, KUT News Oct. 31, 2011

Proposition 6 on the Texas constitutional ballot would allow the land commissioner to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars to public education. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports that the measure has seen little opposition. Full Story
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

By Evan Smith Oct. 29, 2011

Galbraith and Collier on the drought's economic impact, Grissom on the latest in the Morton and Skinner cases, Hamilton on university regents' potential conflicts of interest, Murphy on spending by Ron Paul's presidential campaign, Philpott on Rick Perry's plans for Social Security, Ramsey on the dirty little secret about dropouts, Ramshaw on how Perry and his staff downplayed allegations of abuse at state centers for the disabled, Root on Perry's flirtation with birtherism, M. Smith on GOP candidates making public ed their focus and Tan and Hamilton on why students in Texas illegally get access to state financial aid: The best of our best content from October 24 to 28, 2011. Full Story

Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman
Drought Eases, but Schools Still Trying to Keep the Grass Green

By Nathan Bernier, KUT News Oct. 28, 2011

Fall weather conditions may bring a small amount of relief to the drought-stricken state, but as Nathan Bernier of KUT News reports, Texas' worst single-year dry spell still has school districts wondering what to do with their football fields. Full Story

Credit: Jussi Mononen
School Dropouts, Politicians and the Funny Arithmetic of State Budgets

By Ross Ramsey Oct. 28, 2011

Every time a student drops out of public school, taxpayers save money. That’s one fewer student, at an annual savings of more than $11,000 per year from state and local sources. Full Story
Schools and Taxes: The Next Big Thing

By Ross Ramsey Oct. 27, 2011

The primary elections come in less than five months. The general election is about a year away. When that's all out of the way, we'll all be talking about lawsuits — some that have been filed, some that will be filed later — on school finance and franchise taxes. Full Story
Schooling the GOP

By Morgan Smith Oct. 27, 2011

As the field of candidates shapes up for the March 2012 primaries, a new — at least since last election cycle — breed of GOP hopeful is emerging: the education Republican. Full Story

Credit: Todd Wiseman
Some GOP Hopefuls for Texas House Pick Education Message

By Morgan Smith Oct. 27, 2011

At least some Republican 2012 primary candidates for the Texas House hope to trade the anti-government cries of the last election cycle for a message with a decidedly different focus: the state of Texas public schools. Full Story

Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman
Anti-Tax Groups Oppose Constitutional Amendments

By Susannah Jacob Oct. 26, 2011

Texas voters started going to the polls this week to decide whether to add 10 amendments to the state's massive Constitution, potentially taking the total number of amendments to 477. A few of them have drawn the ire of anti-tax groups. Full Story

Credit: Jason Brackins
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

By Ross Ramsey Oct. 22, 2011

Hamilton on efforts to boost faculty productivity, Grissom on newly uncovered evidence in an old murder case, Galbraith on a wind-powered construction boom, Dehn unfurls the new Texas Tribune Weekend Insider, Aguilar on this year's record number of deportations, Ramshaw and Tan on budget cuts and cervical cancer screenings, M. Smith on local control over student grades, Root and Ramshaw on Rick Perry's latest debate performance, Philpott on an issue that didn't get its due in that debate and Titus and Murphy on fundraising and spending in congressional races: The best of our best content from October 17 to 21, 2011. Full Story

Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman
Education Board Could Give Schools More Control Over New Exams

By Morgan Smith Oct. 20, 2011

The State Board of Education may try to modify the state's rigid new standardized exams — the STAAR tests — in a way that allays school districts’ concerns that they're losing local control over grading. Full Story

Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman
Inside Intelligence: The School Finance Lawsuits Will...

By Ross Ramsey Oct. 17, 2011

For this week's nonscientific survey of political and government insiders, we asked about whether the latest round of school finance lawsuits is serious and how it will play during the elections and in the legislative session that starts in 2013. Full Story
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

By Evan Smith Oct. 15, 2011

Aaronson interactively asks if stimulus funds created jobs in Texas, Aguilar on new voter registrar rules that could decrease voter turnout, Galbraith on a UT professor's debunking of climate change "myths," Grissom on an epic clash of El Paso political titans, Hamilton on the right's new higher ed guru, Murphy maps household data from the 2010 Census, Ramsey on a coming rules fight in the Texas Senate, Root and M. Smith on Rick Perry's performance at the New Hampshire debate and M. Smith talks public ed cuts with the state's Superintendent of the Year: The best of our best content from October 10-14, 2011. Full Story

Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman