public education

Agenda Texas: What's Left To Do?

Ben Philpott, KUT News — Tue, 07 May 2013 22:30:00 +0000

When the Texas legislative session started in January, lawmakers came to Austin with money to spend and a specific set of priorities. House Speaker Joe Straus laid out those goals during an opening press conference with Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst.

In Texas, Nixing Algebra II Not Out of the Equation

Morgan Smith, Texas Tribune — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 15:36:20 +0000

As Texas re-examines what students should learn in order to earn a high school diploma, no part of the state’s curriculum has attracted more attention than a single advanced math course.

Texas Senate Considers School 'Voucher' Bills, Despite House Ban (Update)

Filipa Rodrigues and Andrew Weber — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 19:46:07 +0000

UPDATE 5:59 The Senate Committee on Education heard SB 1575 this afternoon from educators and parents supporting the so-called voucher program that would give parents money to move their children from public to private schools.

The bill’s author Senator Donna Campbell of New Braunfels said that parents and students should have a choice in schooling and claim that failing public schools set back children across the state.

Texas House, Senate to Iron Out Budget Differences

Veronica Zaragovia, KUT News — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:25:24 +0000

Texas lawmakers in the House and Senate will soon begin working out differences between their budgets.

The longest and probably most heated debate over the budget happened last Thursday. That’s when the House passed its amended version of the state spending plan for the next two years.

Every session, House and Senate members disagree on how much to spend and which line item should get how much funding. Kate Alexander said this session will be no different.

Texas Education Experts Weigh Proposals' Impact on Students

Veronica Zaragovia, KUT News — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 12:44:08 +0000

The Texas Legislature is debating bills intended to help more students graduate from high school, by reducing the emphasis on standardized tests and increasing the emphasis on the kinds of education they need to be productive members of the workforce.

This week, the House passed House Bill 5, which would let high school students take a path to college or take a route intended to lead them more quickly to work. The bill also would drop the number of STAAR exams from 15 to 5.

Texas House Passes Public Education Requirements Bill

Veronica Zaragovia, KUT News — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 12:06:24 +0000

After roughly 9 hours of debate, Texas House lawmakers passed a bill that would change the requirements high students must meet in order to graduate. The House voted 145 to 2 in favor of the legislation authored by Republican State Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock.

Lawmakers debated amendments, and amendments to amendments, on the House floor Tuesday, as they decided the public education reform bill they’d send on to the Senate.

Senate Passes Budget That Reverses Some 2011 Cuts

Trey Shaar, KUT News — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 22:34:47 +0000

The Texas Senate approved a budget for the next two years today, one that would restore some of the cuts from two years ago.

A balanced budget is the one thing the Texas Constitution requires lawmakers to pass when they meet in Austin every two years.

Much of the attention this session is on funding for public education, which lost about $4 billion in the budget passed in 2011.

New AISD Elementary School Named After Former Teacher

Nathan Bernier, KUT News and Laura Rice, KUT News — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 12:00:14 +0000

Update: The new elementary school being built in north Austin now has a name: Dr. Janis Guerrero Thompson Elementary. The Austin Independent School District Board voted last night to approve the name.

Dr. Guerrero Thompson was a native Austinite who taught high school in AISD and later worked as the district’s Executive Director for Planning and Community Relations.

Senate Panel Approves More Money for Public Schools

Morgan Smith, Texas Tribune — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 18:55:24 +0000

A panel of senators voted to put $1.5 billion in additional funding for public education in the two-year state budget on Thursday — including $40 million for pre-kindergarten programs, $20 million for the state's Virtual School Network and $4 million to support Teach for America.

'Save Texas Schools' March Heads to Capitol Saturday Morning

Bobby Blanchard — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 22:30:00 +0000

"Save Texas Schools" will march to the Texas State Capitol tomorrow morning. The group hopes to encourage Texas lawmakers to support public education by restoring funding cut from Texas schools last legislative session.

The march will begin at 10:30 a.m. at Congress Avenue and Riverside Drive. The group will march north on Congress to the capitol.

Bastrop ISD 'Welcomes' Look Into Discrimination Charges

Bobby Blanchard — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 15:00:00 +0000

In a letter to parents titled "BISD Welcomes OCR", Bastrop Independent School District Superintendent Steve Murray says his school district welcomes an investigation from the United States Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR).

The investigation is over allegations that Bastrop ISD has practiced "class-wide discrimination" against African-American and Hispanic employees and students.

Tribcast: Breaking Down the Texas School Finance Ruling

Ben Philpott, KUT News — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 16:34:51 +0000

On this week's KUT/Texas Tribune Tribcast, we go over the Texas public school finance ruling, which includes a call to add around $10 billion to the state's school budget.

AISD Transfer Deadline Today

Laura Rice, KUT News — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 17:07:23 +0000

Today is the deadline to apply for priority school transfers in the Austin Independent School District for next school year.

Non-priority transfers to be considered during the first-round lottery selection are also due today. All applications need to be delivered in person to the Office of Student Services at the Carruth Administration Center by 5 p.m. or postmarked by today’s date.

Applications that aren't received by today will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis when space is available at the desired school. All transfer requests for the fall of 2014 must be received by Aug. 12.

Weigh-In Tonight on AISD's $900M Bond Proposal

Laura Rice, KUT News — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 16:47:00 +0000

The Austin Independent School District is inviting the public to weigh-in this evening on a potential bond package.

The nearly $900 million bond proposal could go before voters as soon as May. Among other things, it proposes adding four new elementary schools to address overcrowding.

Education Budget-Building Begins

Ben Philpott, KUT News — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 11:05:00 +0000

When the House and Senate filed base budgets last week, advocates for programs that were cut in 2011, including public education, were upset the budgets didn’t restore funding. Lawmakers countered that the budget was expected to grow.