Texas’ latest effort to address childhood obesity — a new law allowing a deeper study of student fitness data — could be blunted by the exemption lawmakers gave school districts from having to collect and report the data on a significant number of students.
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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Higher Education
Liveblog: Public and Higher Education at The Texas Tribune Festival
We’ll be liveblogging throughout the weekend from The Texas Tribune Festival’s public and higher education track — which includes panels on the role research should play at state universities and how to pay for public education.
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Public Education
Texas Still Undecided on No Child Left Behind Waiver
Despite more details from the Obama administration today about how it would exempt states from complying with the law’s signature requirements, the Texas Education Agency has yet to decide whether it will apply for a waiver on federal accountability requirements under the 2001 act.
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Energy
Texas Schools Feeling Effects of Drought, Fires
The drought and extreme heat are taking their toll on school districts across Texas. Costly problems include cracks in building foundations, increased maintenance costs and loss of vegetation.
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Criminal Justice
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Aaronson on the rise in the state’s unemployment rate, Aguilar on the push to mandate use of an electronic employment verification program, Galbraith on fears about the drought’s impact on lake levels, Grissom on the latest in the Duane Buck case, Hamilton on the possible end of physics (academically speaking), Murphy updates our public employee pay app, Ramsey on David “Mitt” Dewhurst, Ramshaw on Rick Perry’s campaign swing through Virginia and Iowa, Root on the deletion of gubernatorial emails and M. Smith on the teaching of safe sex where you’d least expect it: The best of our best content from Sept. 12-16, 2011.
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Public Education
SBOE Approves Charter School for Deion “Prime Time” Sanders
Former Dallas Cowboys cornerback Deion Sanders’ charter school application was among eight approved by the Texas State Board of Education today.
Posted inPublic Education
Interactive Map: Teen Birth Rate by County, 2009
From West Texas to the suburbs of Houston a number of schools are moving toward “abstinence-plus” education at the urging of health advisory committees made up of community members. To get a sense for which parts of the state have the most teen pregnancies, use our map to view the birth rate for girls ages 13 to 17 in 2009 by county.
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Public Education
More Texas Schools Teach Safe Sex With Abstinence
Abstinence still rules on a state policy level, but from Midland to Spring Branch, a quiet message is spreading through Texas schools: It’s time to start teaching students about contraception.
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Public Education
Some Teachers Left to Clean Up Budget Cut Mess
Dripping Springs ISD avoided laying off teachers as a result of state budget cuts. But it has eliminated custodial positions, and that has left teachers there with new tasks once the school bell rings: sweeping classrooms and taking out the trash.
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Criminal Justice
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
M. Smith on Rick Perry’s allergic reaction to federal school money, E. Smith elicits Ted Cruz’s take on David Dewhurst, Root and Ramshaw cover Perry’s first presidential debate, Ramshaw and Aguilar poke at Perry’s immigration record and how it plays among Republicans, Hamilton on the dash for top status among Texas colleges, Galbraith on an environmental ruling from the White House that got conservative applause and one that didn’t, Grissom has the latest on the Willingham arson case and the state’s plans to look at other fires and Aaronson’s widget for comparing the presidential candidates: The best of our best content from Sept. 5 to 9, 2011.