The latest public education news from The Texas Tribune.
Senators today amended an education finance reform bill to allow community college students to carry concealed handguns on campus, increase the cost of cigarettes and allow drastic changes to university administration. Full Story
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Aaronson on the latest attack on Planned Parenthood, Aguilar previews the sanctuary cities debate, Grissom on a death row inmate's unsuccessful appeal, Hamilton on the UT System's faculty "productivity" data dump, Philpott on the prospect of lawsuits over education cuts, Ramsey on puppies and other distractions, Ramshaw on a tobacco fight, my interview with the presidents of UT-Austin and Texas A&M, M. Smith on a former State Board of Ed member who may have violated state ethics law, Stiles interactively displays the effects of House redistricting and Tan on the Senate budget end game: The best of our best content from May 2 to 6, 2011. Full Story
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Lawmakers in the House took a second swing at state Rep. Rob Eissler's school mandate relief bill late Friday night. And once again, they whiffed. Full Story
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A bill in the Legislature aims to adjust the formula for assessing completion and dropout rates at dropout recovery charters, which supporters say penalizes the schools who serve challenging populations. Full Story
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With school districts across the state passing belt-tightening budgets due to cuts expected at the Legislature, Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports that some districts are gearing up for legal challenges. Full Story
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At a panel hosted by the Texas Public Policy Foundation, UT president Bill Powers, TPPF senior fellow Ronbald Trowbridge and speaker of the A&M faculty senate Robert Strawser discussed the conservative think tank's seven proposed reforms to higher education. Here is the full video. Full Story
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Did former State Board of Education member Rene Nunez violate state law when he encouraged four current board members to extend the contract with the company managing the state's $25 billion Permanent School Fund? Full Story
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Did former State Board of Education member Rene Nunez violate state law when he encouraged four current board members to extend the contract with the company managing the state's $25 billion Permanent School Fund? Full Story
The Texas Senate talks education funding, revenue and Rainy Day spending as members debate suspending the rules to bring up their substitute for House Bill 1, the proposed budget for the next biennium. Full Story
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On Tuesday night, House Bill 1942 by state Rep. Diane Patrick, R-Arlington, which seeks to reduce bullying in schools by providing what the bill analysis calls "a minimal framework" for how to address incidents of bullying, was tentatively approved by the House with a vote of 102-34. Full Story
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Michael Marder, the co-director of the University of Texas' UTeach program, which trains secondary school math and science teachers, looks at public education data and explains the significance of poverty, why he thinks charter schools are not necessarily the answer and how public education is like a Boeing airplane. Full Story
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Aguilar and Weber on a subdued debate over homeland security, Galbraith on rising concern about natural gas drilling, Grissom on a controversial psychologist, Hamilton on the aftermath of the Rick O'Donnell episode, Philpott on the comptroller's apology, Ramshaw with more on the statewide database of child abusers, E. Smith interviews Lance Armstrong, M. Smith on what House budget cuts would mean for school districts, M. Stiles on how redistricting would change things for each House member, Tan on the Senate's wobbly attempts to approve a budget and my interview with David Dewhurst: The best of our best content from April 25 to 29, 2011. Full Story
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A bill authorizing a major rethink of teacher evaluation in Texas public schools has teachers organizations scuffling with Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Florence Shapiro, R-Plano. Full Story
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The Senate passed a bill today designed to ensure that all public school educators make the grade — by creating a teacher evaluation system. Full Story
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With less than five weeks left to go in the session, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst sat down with the Tribune to talk about his future political plans, the status of the budget in the Senate and in the biennial parley between the Senate and the House, redistricting and the tug-of-war over the Rainy Day Fund. Full Story
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The House was set to debate a bill that would scrap a 27-year-old law mandating a 22-to-1 student-teacher ratio in kindergarten through fourth grade today — but before it got the chance, state Rep. Borris Miles, D-Houston, derailed the legislation with a point of order. Full Story
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House Bill 127 would make middle and high school students leave campus if they want to satisfy their soda fix. Full Story
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After a spate of bullying related suicides in Texas schools, state lawmakers introduced more than 15 bills this session to address the issue. Today, the Senate approved one of them — SB 205 from Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston. Full Story
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If the House has its way, there will be 7.8 billion fewer state dollars headed to Texas public schools. Here's our searchable database built from state Rep. Scott Hochberg’s projections of how the funding cuts would hit 1,024 school districts across the state. Full Story
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Dallas' top-notch magnet schools are at the heart of an identity crisis that has sent fissures through the state’s second-largest district, sparking emotional debates about how scarce funds should be spent during a time of financial reckoning. Full Story
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