Aaronson interactively charts the legal wrangling between Texas and the feds, Aguilar on what Obama’s budget means for the border, Galbraith on congressional ambivalence about a wind tax credit, Grissom on cuts to crime victims services, Hamilton on UT-Austin’s plan to boost graduation rates, Ramsey on our woefully low voter turnout, Ramshaw on a new Super PAC targeting incumbents of both parties, Root on conservative opposition to the Keystone pipeline and M. Smith on cash-starved school districts in the advertising game: The best of our best content from February 13-17, 2012.
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.
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Public Education
Texas Education Agency Delays STAAR’s 15 Percent Rule
Education Commissioner Robert Scott said today that he will postpone for a year a controversial requirement that new exams count for 15 percent of students’ final grades.
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Public Education
Turf for Sale: Schools Turn to Ads for Money
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.
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Public Education
Concerns About Final Grades Hang Over STAAR Debut
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.
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Public Education
Eissler Circulates Letter Asking for Delay of STAAR Rule
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.
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Public Education
Shapiro Says TEA Has Authority to Waive STAAR Requirement
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.
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Energy
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
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.
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Health care
The Weekly TribCast: Episode 118
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.
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Public Education
In Texas, a Backlash Against Student Testing
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.
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Politics
Little Agreement on How to Fix School Finance System
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.