The latest public education news from The Texas Tribune.
Senators tried to improve the funding picture for public education on Thursday when the Senate Finance Committee voted 13-2 to add $5.7 billion to its initial proposal. But that's still about a $4 billion reduction from current levels. Full Story
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Republican senators say the state's budget shortfall will mean educations cuts, but they said schools should focus first on eliminating non-classroom expenses and keeping as many teachers as possible. Full Story
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The state’s 1,030 school districts have — in total — $10.2 billion in reserves and another $2.1 billion in unspent federal stimulus money. Can they use that money to avoid draconian cutbacks? It's not that simple. Full Story
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At Tuesday's Senate Education Committee hearing on a trio of anti-bullying bills, the parents of children who committed suicide after being picked on by classmates asked lawmakers to fix a system they say failed their families. Full Story
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A disk holding the Social Security numbers of thousands of current and former students in the Laredo Independent School District — a total of 24,903 — has gone missing, according to the Texas Education Agency. Full Story
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Grissom on threats to re-entry programs for criminals, Hamilton on the tempest over the direction of UT, E. Smith's interview with Joe Straus, Stiles and Chang's new lobbying app, M. Smith and Weber on where state officeholders send their children to school, Aaronson on allowing new nuclear power plants, Aguilar on how Hispanic Republicans are handling immigration issues, Ramshaw talks abortion with Planned Parennthood's Cecile Richards, Tan and Dehn on tapping the Rainy Day Fund and Galbraith on San Antonio and its water: The best of our best content from March 14 to 18, 2011. Full Story
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Legislators have to choose between mobs — one under the Gadsden Flag with the snake and motto “Don’t Tread on Me”, the other a recent phenomenon under signs like, “If you can read this, thank a teacher.” Full Story
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Tribune readers, wondering what was personally at stake for the state’s education policy makers, asked us to check where lawmakers send their children to school. We obliged, and posed that question to all 181 members of the Legislature and 15 members of the State Board of Education. Full Story
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Tribune readers, wondering what was personally at stake for the state’s education policy makers, asked us to check where lawmakers send their children to school. We obliged, and posed that question to all 181 members of the Legislature and 15 members of the State Board of Education. Full Story
Some small school districts in Texas still paddle poorly behaving students, and protesters at the Capitol today said they want the swatting to stop. Full Story
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The past few days have seen thousands of students, educators and parents at the Texas Capitol to protest the budget cuts they say will do long-term harm to Texas students. Here are some images of the action. Full Story
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Legislation banning “sanctuary city” policies in Texas was voted out of the House State Affairs Committee today, sending the controversial bill to the full House for consideration. Full Story
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The Travis County District Attorney's Public Integrity Unit has concluded Thomas Ratliff has not committed a crime in serving on the State Board of Education while employed as a lobbyist. Full Story
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Beth Martinez, who saved her young son's life after an allergic reaction to something he ate, has joined with other parents across the state to support bills they say would help schools deal with an increasing number of students with food allergies. Full Story
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Who will be blamed for what are expected to be enormous cuts in public education funding? There will be blood. It’s undeniable, especially when the governor goes out of his way to say that he doesn’t have any on his hands. Full Story
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For the latest installment of our nonscientific survey of political and policy insiders, we asked whether there will be special sessions this summer and what issues would force lawmakers into overtime. Full Story
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Want to get the attention of 11,000 Texans? Propose a $10 billion spending cut to public education. Full Story
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Conversations about the coming Hispanic majority and the 82nd session from our New Day Rising symposium, M. Smith on the latest tort reform battle, Galbraith on greater scrutiny of the gas industry, Ramsey on whether lawmakers will cut their own pay and benefits, Ramshaw and Aguilar on what's holding up abortion sonogram legislation, Aguilar on the ag commissioner's controversial new website, Philpott on what $9.8 billion in public education cuts looks like, Hamilton on a snippy exchange of higher ed letters and Grissom on the latest court decision in the Hank Skinner case: The best of our best content from March 7 to 11, 2011. Full Story
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No time to follow every twist and turn of the Texas Legislature? We've made it easier for you with our weekly recaps of the action under the dome. Full Story
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The Texas Tribune's rundown of capitol politics for the week of March 7-11, 2011. Full Story
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