Texas has a long history of school finance lawsuits, many of them fought over the same themes. But in the latest round, one phrase has been conspicuously absent from the discussion: Robin Hood.
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
A Nontraditional Route to Teaching Becomes More Common
For-profit, alternative certification teaching programs are booming in Texas. Every year since 2007, the two largest programs have produced far more teachers than any other traditional or alternative program.
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Economy
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Root and Tan on the restoration of the Governor’s Mansion and on the Perrys’ expensive replacement digs, E. Smith’s TribLive interview with three freshman legislators in El Paso, M. Smith on tough financial standards for local school districts, Ramshaw and Murphy on Texas docs paid by drug companies, yours truly on new congressional and legislative redistricting maps, Hamilton on the biggest competitive endeavor in Brownsville’s schools and Aguilar on how border mayors feel about military equipment in their cities: The best of our best content from November 21 to 25, 2011.
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Public Education
In Spite of Budget Cuts, Brownsville Schools Protect Chess Legacy
Budget cuts may have taken more than $30 million out of the Brownsville Independent School District’s budget for the next two years, but administrators say they are working to preserve financing for one key pot of money: the chess budget.
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Public Education
Weekend Insider: Redistricting, For-Profit Teacher Certification
In this episode of Weekend Insider, Executive Editor Ross Ramsey describes where Texas’ legislative redistricting stands, and reporter Morgan Smith explains how Texas became the industry leader in for-profit alternative teacher certification.
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Public Education
Schools Face Tough New Rules on Financial Hardship
The TEA has released new guidelines that set tough thresholds for school districts hoping to take advantage of special legal exemptions passed by the Legislature and intended to help schools cope with significant budget cuts.
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Higher Education
TribLive: El Paso’s Freshmen on the 82nd Session
At our TribLive conversation at the University of Texas at El Paso on 11/16, state Sen. Jose Rodriguez, D-El Paso, and state Reps. Naomi Gonzalez, D-El Paso, and Dee Margo, R-El Paso, discussed cuts to public and higher education and other byproducts of the 82nd Session.
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Public Education
Survey: Teachers Say Working Conditions, Class Sizes Getting Worse
The Texas branch of the American Federation of Teachers has released the results of a web survey that reports extensive teacher layoffs, increasing class sizes, and deteriorating work conditions following state budget cuts.
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Public Education
With Control at Stake, State Board of Education Races Could Get Ugly
The official filing period for State Board of Education races hasn’t even begun, but the mudslinging certainly has. That’s no surprise: Political control over the divisive board hangs in the balance.
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Economy
Memo to Voters: There’s No Free Lunch
Voters clearly want good schools and nice roads and low taxes. It’s a political and policy question straight out of a business textbook: What’s the right balance of price and quality?