Aaronson tracks the latest on Medicaid expansion, Aguilar on lawmakers’ openness to driving permits for non-citizens, Batheja on surprising support for higher state spending, Root and Galbraith on the state’s search for answers after the West explosion, M. Smith covers the debate over high school standards, Grissom finds a shadow payroll at the Capitol, Hamilton on the man with a plan at UT, Rocha spots a special deal for lawmakers accused of crimes, KUT’s Philpott on obstacles to road funding and Ramshaw on the privileges of legislative membership: The best of our best for the week of April 15-19, 2013.
Public Education
Explore The Texas Tribune’s coverage of public education, from K-12 schools and funding to teachers, students, and policies shaping classrooms across Texas.
Posted in
Politics
Polling Center: Education Wasn’t a Silver Bullet for Democrats
A couple of Democrats won election in 2012 talking about education, but that doesn’t mean the issue was a silver bullet for the minority party. Lots of others talked about it and lost, and the two who won were victorious in districts favorable to them.
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Public Education
High School Curriculum Bill Headed to Senate Floor
At a hearing Tuesday, Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, slammed national media coverage of the Legislature’s effort to change high school diploma requirements and reduce high-stakes exams.
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Public Education
Guest Column: Use the Rainy Day Fund for Education
The Rainy Day Fund has been used for public education before and should be used for it now — to reverse drastic cuts made in education spending during the 2011 legislative session.
Posted in
Politics
Texas Weekly Newsreel: School Vouchers, Gambling, Drug Testing
This week in the Newsreel: An effort to legalize casinos is under way in the Texas Senate, Attorney General Greg Abbott wants a redistricting bill, and some lawmakers want to give drug tests to recipients of unemployment and TANF benefits.
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Public Education
Nixing Algebra II Not Out of the Equation in Texas
As Texas reconsiders whether all students should take algebra II to earn a high school diploma, it is bucking a national trend that it helped launch a decade ago toward more stringent math curriculum.
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Public Education
Plan to Expand Charter Schools Clears Senate
A significantly altered version of Senate Education Chairman Dan Patrick’s legislation expanding the state’s charter school system quickly passed out of the upper chamber Thursday afternoon.
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Politics
Polling Center: Education Cuts Mattered at the Ballot Box, if Not in the Polls
Polls might show a low interest in public education cuts made by lawmakers in 2011, but some of the candidates who ran in 2012 found a very receptive electorate.
Posted in
Energy
Senate Sets Up Debate on Rainy Day Fund Spending
The full Texas Senate will consider a plan to spend about half of the projected $11.8 billion balance in the state’s Rainy Day Fund for transportation and water projects, though Democrats plan to push for money for schools as well.
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Public Education
Education Chairman Urges Panel to Support “Noble Cause”
State Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, at a Tuesday hearing delivered an impassioned plea in support of the tax credit scholarship plan that is a critical part of the school choice reform package he has pushed this session.
