The latest state agencies news from The Texas Tribune.
For the latest installment of our nonscientific survey of political and policy insiders on issues of the moment, we asked whether public education is sufficiently funded in Texas — and how deep the coming cuts are likely to be. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/inside_intelligence-logo_1.png){kind=logo}
Cutting $10 billion public education funding could push more than two-dozen school districts from the group that receives state financing into the group that writes checks to the state to even things out between richer and poorer districts. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Education-Funding.jpg)
Charter schools want access to the state's Permanent School Fund, which guarantees bond issues for traditional public schools, allowing them to secure advantageous interest rates. Not everyone is on board — including the traditional public schools. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TxTrib-AusDiscoverySchool-SM007.JPG)
The best of our best content from Feb. 14 to 18, 2011. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TribeekFeb192011.png)
Triblive: Evan Smith interviews Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/Screen_shot_2011-02-18_at_3.26.57_PM.png)
What’s in a name? The Texas Railroad Commission — and the elected officials who run it — may soon find out. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/RailRoadCommissioner_2.jpg)
Law enforcement authorities worry that some immigration-related legislation would silence immigrant crime victims and witnesses, who may stop cooperating with the police out of fear that their undocumented status will be discovered. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/CrimeScene-Ask.jpg)
More than two years after an arsonist torched the Governor's Mansion, the Department of Public Safety still hasn't made any arrests, but investigators say they have identified persons of interest in the case. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/governors_mansion_fire.jpg)
Chaplains have been a part of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice since at least 1910, providing spiritual guidance and programs. Under the proposed House budget, all 121 Texas prison chaplains would lose their jobs. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/_KCB8927.jpg)
The 2010 official state musician of Texas sat down with the Tribune to talk about Gov. Rick Perry's proposal to suspend funding for the Texas Commission on the Arts and what it could mean for the state's students. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Hickman_Video_Still.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/Screen_shot_2011-02-16_at_2.16.44_PM.png)
To solve the state’s budget crisis, lawmakers are considering sweeping cuts to almost everything, from school funding to child welfare services. But a $300-million-a-year cancer institute championed by Gov. Rick Perry and Lance Armstrong has so far escaped the budget knife. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Cancer-Research.jpg)
This week's episode of the TribCast features Evan, Ross, Ben and Matt on the supermajority in the Texas House, possible federal court challenges, the coming Census numbers, the Howard/Neil election challenge and the public school budget battle. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/DanAndDonnaHouseFloor.jpg)
Put state Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, on the "maybe" list for Texas railroad commissioner — if there is such a thing when the job comes open. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/3130c9670fc2165857973909a8082e27/BD%20INC%20Warren%20Chisum%20001%202010)
Today, a week before his son is scheduled to die, Columbus Adams and a host of religious leaders asked the state to forgive Timothy Adams. His son, he said, never committed a crime before the day he lost control during an argument with his wife and killed their son. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/timothy_wayne_adams_2.jpg)
A report from a conservative education think tank says social studies standards in Texas give students a distorted and politicized view of history that, in one case, resembles "Soviet schools harping on the glories of state socialism." Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/us-textbooks.jpg)
At a state Senate hearing this morning on Texas's rolling blackouts earlier this month, ERCOT released the first list — albeit a very partial one — of power plants that failed during the Feb. 2 crisis. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/dd2c67489f7bbf610ad24056c8cd9f7d/BD%20INC%20Power%20150%202011)
In an interview with KRLD's Scott Braddock in Dallas, David Anthony, the departing superintendent of the state's third-largest school district, said districts are in a "difficult situation" as they try to meet new student achievement measures while coping with cuts. Full Story
Texas' superlatives are nothing to brag about, according to the fifth edition of "Texas on the Brink," an annual review that ranks the state on dozens of factors ranging from health insurance to voter turnout. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TexasOnTheBrink.jpg)
For the latest installment of our nonscientific survey of political and policy insiders on issues of the moment, we asked whether colleges can deliver on Gov. Rick Perry's prompt for a $10,000 bachelor's degree. Full Story