“Not even Jesus could save everybody,” one teacher laments.
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.
Guest Column: The 2010 Agenda: Business
To restore jobs lost during the recession and to prepare for those ready to enter the job market, Texas must create more than two million jobs in the next decade. A key factor in achieving this target is having educated employees available to fill positions as they become available.
Hijacking History
Was America ordained by God to lead the world? Are our public school students taught enough about the African American and Hispanic experiences? Was Joseph McCarthy an American hero? The always controversial State Board of Education meets this week to take up such questions as it revises Texas’ social studies standards.
Still Restrained
Texas educators forcibly pinned down students with disabilities as many times in 2009 as they did in 2008, despite efforts to curb the practice.
Guest Column: The 2010 Agenda: Public Health
Three strategies can move Texas in the right direction, health-wise: a statewide indoor smoking ban, statewide universal K-12 coordinated school health programs, and the serious consideration of all available options to reduce the number of uninsured Texans.
TribBlog: Washington Monthly vs. Don McLeroy
The venerable D.C. magazine takes on the State Board of Education — and its former chair.
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Roll your own political videos … interactive travel maps of your federal and state legislators … scary movies, to keep the kids out of the border’s scary drug wars … puttting dropouts back in class … rates squeezing families out of home health care … how many lobby and trade associations do teachers in Texas need? … enjoying the silence before an expected two-month siege of political advertising … the dean of Texas political writers gets shut out of the gubernatorial debates … and we have an interactive database of the state’s best and worst public schools. The best of our best for a short news week, from December 19 to 26, 2009.
Sibling Squabbles
Four Texas teachers groups offer similar benefits and want the same basic things. So what’s the fuss about?
Data Apps: Best/Worst Public Schools
Find the highest and lowest performers in Texas. Learn why nearly 500 campuses failed to meet minimum standards — and how the state inflated the rankings in the top category.
TribBlog: Hunger Season
More than 2.5 million Texas students are enrolled in the School Lunch Program, but just a fraction of those participate in the federally funded Summer Food Program, according to a report the Center for Public Policy Priorities released toay.
