The runoff between John Frullo and Mark Griffin shares one important characteristic with the adjacent race in HD-83: It pits inside-the-tent Lubbock Republicans against a coalition of social and libertarian conservatives who are distinctly unhappy with government in Washington and Texas. In that frame, Frullo's the insurgent and Griffin represents the establishment. Full Story
Lobbyists and lawmakers are fighting to preserve the terms of the contracts signed by parents who enrolled in the Texas Tomorrow Fund prepaid college tuition plan. Full Story
As part of a class assignment, a Tarleton State University theater student decided to direct an award-winning play in which the son of God is heralded as the "King of Queers." Then came the protests and threats of violence and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst's press releases, and suddenly it was curtains for the whole production. Full Story
Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, sent a congratulatory note to Brian McCall, the challencellor-apparent of the Texas State University System. Wentworth was also in the running for the job. Full Story
Brian McCall will apparently be the next chancellor of the Texas State University System. The board of regents picked the state representative, a Plano Republican, as the sole finalist to replace Charles Matthews in that job. They made the announcement on Monday. Full Story
Members of the UT-Austin University Democrats said goodbye to a Spring Break filled with fun in the sun... and hello to the vacant stares of congressional staffers today. Full Story
Thevenot on the non-stop wonder that is the State Board of Education and its latest efforts to set curriculum standards, E. Smith's post-election sit-down interview with Bill White at TribLive made some news and got the November pugilism started, Ramshaw on whether it makes sense for the state to call patients and remind them to take their pills, and on the state's botched attempt to save baby blood samples for medical research, Hamilton's interview with Steve Murdock on the state's demographic destiny, M. Smith on whooping cranes, fresh water, and an effort to use the endangered species act to protect them both, Grissom on potties, pickups, and other equipment purchased with federal homeland security money and Stiles' latest data and map on where that money went, Aguilar on the "voluntary fasting" protesting conditions and treatment at an immigrant detention facility, Kreighbaum on football, the new sport at UTSA, and Philpott on Rick Perry and Bill White retooling their appeals for the general election. The best of our best from March 8 to 12, 2010. Full Story
At Thursday's State Board of Education meeting, as conservatives had their way with social studies standards, voting to limit the discussion of race and gender issues and to challenge the notion of separation of church and state, Democratic members were left to sulk and seethe — and walk out. Full Story
Democrat Bill White said he won't rely on "Soviet-style budgeting" and "hot air politics" if he's elected governor, and said the state should make education its first priority and would be better off with a governor who's got business experience when it comes to economic development. Full Story
The cost of higher education at UT schools will rise between 9 and 12 percent over the biennium, one in which officials fear steep cuts in the state portion of higher education financing. Full Story
About three-fourths of the Higher Education Coordinating Board's budget is student financial aid, a large portion of which the board proposes to cut in a mandated 5-percent reduction plan for all state agencies. Full Story
Since 1999, the number of "dual-credit" students — those who take college courses while still in high school — across Texas has ballooned from fewer than 12,000 to more than 91,000. It's a trend that's likely to continue as state and local policymakers search for ways to better align curricula and to push more kids to continue their education. “Schools have started to look at it as great for kids who might not have thought they were college material,” says an official at the Higher Education Coordinating Board. “It’s both a gifted-and-talented program and a college-accessibility program.” Full Story
Texas, that famous bastion of conservatism, has become a leading exporter of agricultural products to communist Cuba — second only to Louisiana among the 50 states. Full Story
Kenneth Starr will be introduced tomorrow as the 14th president of Baylor University in Waco, confirming the rumors that began circulating widely over the weekend. Full Story
Find the salaries of more than 340,000 public employees with our enhanced data application, including those working at the largest state agencies as well as individual public schools, cities and mass-transit operators. And universities: Did you know, for instance, that of the 10 highest-paid professors at the state's two largest universities, nine are Aggies? Full Story
Waco's vibrating with a rumor that the Texas-born lawyer nationally known as the independent counsel who ran Bill Clinton to ground will be named president of Baylor University this week. Full Story
The recession has caused a spike in enrollment at two-year schools like Austin Community College, which now educates more than 40,000 students — within striking distance of the great behemoth, the University of Texas at Austin. Full Story