The latest public education news from The Texas Tribune.
After 20 years, Scott Hochberg is bailing out of the Texas Legislature. He’ll get back his nights and weekends. But he also won't be at the Capitol to help sort out education policy and financing. Full Story
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After months of bubbling discontent among professors over the law school’s faculty compensation practices, University of Texas School of Law Dean Larry Sager was forced to resign his position Thursday. Full Story
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Aaronson maps the growth of poverty in Texas, Aguilar on the suicide of an illegal immigrant, Galbraith on the prospect of more rolling blackouts, Grissom on a prosecutor's memory lapse, Hamilton on the prospect of public universities undergoing a sunset review, Murphy's latest awesome redistricting interactive, Ramsey on a stumbling start to the 2012 election season, Root on Rick Perry's latest populist tirade, M. Smith on the boom in for-profit teacher certification programs and Tan on the fight against cervical cancer in ... Africa: The best of our best content from November 28 to December 2, 2011. Full Story
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The Legislature's foremost expert on school finance and one of its top public education advocates, state Rep. Scott Hochberg, D-Houston, confirmed this afternoon that he won't seek re-election next year. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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? Full Story
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Ramshaw and Root on the debate that dominated the nation's political news, Tan and Ramshaw on how it will affect Rick Perry's campaign, Philpott on what "oops" might mean for Perry in South Carolina, Root on what it means in Iowa, Dehn with the latest Weekend Insider video, Galbraith on the split fates of water-related constitutional amendments, Grissom on an arrest in a 1986 murder case, Hamilton on UT-Arlington's efforts to control tuition costs and M. Smith, Murphy and Gerdau on West Texas schools raising money with wind farms: The best of our best content from November 7 to 11, 2011. Full Story
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Hey, Texplainer: One of the federal agencies Rick Perry managed to remember during Wednesday's GOP debate is the U.S. Department of Education. He says he wants to close it. But what exactly would that mean? Full Story
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Energy development capitalizing on the high winds in West Texas has injected sluggish rural communities with new economic lifeblood. The “windfall” has bestowed hundreds of millions of dollars on mostly tiny schools. Full Story
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Energy development capitalizing on the high winds in West Texas has injected sluggish rural communities with new economic lifeblood. The “windfall” has bestowed hundreds of millions of dollars — an embarrassment of riches — on mostly tiny schools. Full Story
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It's Election Day, and voters across the state will decide whether to add 10 amendments to the Texas Constitution. Voters in several cities also will be picking mayors and city council members. Full Story
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Judges have been telling legislators what to do since we set up government to replace knife fights and bar brawls. And legislators use the courts to make them do unpopular but necessary things that voters don't like. School finance, for instance. Full Story
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