Search Results for: murdock

Interview with Steve Murdock

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Dr. Steve Murdock is a former State Demographer of Texas and director of the US Census, now the founding Director of the Hobby Center for the Study of Texas at Rice University. He’s the man to go to if you … Continue reading →

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Murdock on the cuts to public education

Posted on February 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Not too surprisingly, former state demographer Steve Murdock thinks that the looming cuts to public education are a long-term disaster for the state. He singled out pre-K and TEXAS grants as the top two items of concern. “I am very … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Steve Murdock gets a new gig

Posted on June 20, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

State demographer Steve Murdock is getting a new gig. President Bush has nominated the state demographer of Texas, Steven Murdock, to be director of the Census, the White House said Monday. Murdock would replace current Census Bureau Director Louis Kincannon, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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We’re still growing

Posted on March 26, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The collapse of the oil boom has not slowed down Texas’ rapid population growth. The Houston area added more people last year than any metropolitan region in the country, continuing its exceptional growth of the last decade and a half, … Continue reading →

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White return flight

Posted on July 9, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Some interesting demographic trends going on. Between 2000 and 2010, [Harris] county, like much of the U.S., saw a sharp decline of its white population, losing about 12 percent of Anglos or about 83,000 people. The drop mirrors demographic shifts … Continue reading →

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Another trip down Demography Lane

Posted on April 15, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From the Sunday Chron op-ed pages: Texas is headed for the ditch, but few people are aware of the state’s perilous path. The demographers have seen the future, though, because it’s foretold in their numbers. And they’ve been sounding the … Continue reading →

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Another petition filed against Lehmberg

Posted on June 3, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The filer is a former colleague as well as a former opponent of Travis County DA Rosemary Lehmberg. Rick Reed, who ran against Lehmberg in 2008 and is now a defense attorney in Austin, filed the petition with the district … Continue reading →

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Yet another report saying we should expand Medicaid in Texas

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

It’s the fiscally responsible thing to do, in addition to being the morally correct thing to do. Expanding Medicaid is a “smart, affordable and fair” decision for Texas, according to a report issued by Billy Hamilton, a non-partisan consultant commissioned … Continue reading →

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Children continue to be our future

Posted on October 26, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The mother of all school finance lawsuits, which commenced on Monday, will take many weeks to conclude. I don’t expect to follow it every day since there’s just so much else going on, but I wanted to point out a … Continue reading →

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The face of the country continues to change

Posted on May 19, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

This is our future. For the first time, as of 2011, more than half of the children under age 1 in the U.S. were minorities, the newest benchmark illustrating the widening age gap between mostly white, older Americans and fast-growing, … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Brown versus gray

Posted on August 12, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This is an old, familiar story, but it really can’t be said often enough: When Gov. Rick Perry showed up in San Antonio earlier this summer to deliver brief remarks to the annual gathering of the National Association of Latino … Continue reading →

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Census stories: Dallas and its neighbors

Posted on March 5, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The city of Dallas isn’t growing. Despite a surging state population and double-digit growth rates in Austin, Fort Worth and San Antonio, the city of Dallas grew by a paltry 1 percent in the last decade, according to the new … Continue reading →

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We get the college graduation rates we pay for

Posted on January 6, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Just a couple of related items of interest. First, from the man who would be Governor if we lived in a just world. In the last 30 years, Americans with only a high school diploma experienced a drop in average … Continue reading →

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What today’s budget cuts will mean tomorrow

Posted on December 30, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

We know cuts are coming to public education and higher education. Let’s turn once again to Steve Murdock, the former State Demographer who is now a professor at Rice University, to hear what that will mean for Texas’ future. Texas’ … Continue reading →

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Texas keeps growing

Posted on June 28, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Texas has four of the fastest-growing cities in the country, according to current Census reports. Among cities with more than 100,000 residents, four of the top 10 that experienced the greatest percentage increase in population were in Texas: Frisco, McKinney, … Continue reading →

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Rhetoric is the easy part

Posted on June 22, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

There are two things that I wonder about as I read this story about poverty and the Texas schools and the alarming trends we’re seeing in things like the dropout rate. First and foremost, will anyone ever listen to former … Continue reading →

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More on our Hispanic future

Posted on May 20, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

It’s not looking as good as it should. Data from a variety of state and federal sources show the Hispanic population in Texas is economically stagnating and may be falling behind Latinos in other parts of the United States: • … Continue reading →

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Our Hispanic schools

Posted on May 19, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Take a look at the future. If you want to see how profoundly the state’s population is changing, look at the faces of the children in Texas public school classrooms. In all but rural areas, Hispanic enrollment is rapidly surpassing … Continue reading →

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Census forms start arriving next week

Posted on March 13, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Fill out those forms and send them back, because redistricting and all that it entails will follow close behind. Experts’ early looks at Census estimates point to a potential new congressional district in northwest Harris County. That could be alluring … Continue reading →

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Our Hispanic future

Posted on February 21, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

It’s happening now. In a new report on population trends in public schools, the Texas Education Agency reports that Texas now enrolls 130,000 fewer white children than 10 years ago. For the first time, Hispanic children dominate first-grade classes, adding … Continue reading →

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Our Hispanic future

Posted on February 21, 2009 by Greg Wythe

It’s happening now. In a new report on population trends in public schools, the Texas Education Agency reports that Texas now enrolls 130,000 fewer white children than 10 years ago. For the first time, Hispanic children dominate first-grade classes, adding … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 2 Comments

Moving to Texas

Posted on December 24, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Lots of people keep migrating to Texas, from all over. Between July 2007 and July 1, 2008, nearly 141,000 people moved to Texas from other states, compared with about 92,000 international migrants, the bureau said. The data provide a fresh … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 3 Comments

Count everybody

Posted on October 12, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Former Texas State Demographer Steve Murdock, now the director of the US Census, sounds an alarm about that upcoming tasks. Fear of the government in some communities after the Sept. 11 attacks and years of debate over immigration policy could … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Shooting yourself in the foot, Irving-style

Posted on October 15, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Add Irving, TX to the cities that are hellbent on following the Farmers Branch path to obsolescence. The bottom dropped out of Mike Granger’s snack business almost immediately after the Mexican consul general in Dallas warned people to avoid this … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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The Hispanics are coming!

Posted on August 9, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Actually, they’re already here. In a powerful sign of the region’s growing diversity, more Hispanics than Anglos now live in Harris County as it led the nation in growth of minority residents, according to Census Bureau estimates to be released … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 1 Comment

Texas: Still growing like gangbusters

Posted on June 28, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Nothing unexpected here. Booming cities in the Lone Star state dominated the latest population estimates for cities as of July, 1, 2006, released by the census today. Six Texas cities were in the top 25 in the U.S, and three, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Farmers Branch and Hazelton

Posted on June 21, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

At last, we have an official injunction against the anti-immigrant ordinance in Farmers Branch, to replace the existing temporary restraining order. Agreeing with lawyers for residents and apartment owners who sued, U.S. District Judge Sam Lindsay wrote that the measure … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Not so clever Hans

Posted on June 20, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Unlike Steve Murdock, here’s a Bush appointee who shouldn’t get the job he’s being picked for. The 2003 Texas redistricting plan, engineered by Tom DeLay and blessed by the U.S. Justice Department, was a boost for Republicans. The new district … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Three hundred million

Posted on October 17, 2006 by Charles Kuffner

Say Hello to the three hundred millionth American. When America passed 300 million in population this morning, according to at least one expert, the milestone may well have been reached by a baby boy born to a Mexican immigrant at … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Society and cultcha | 1 Comment

Texas poverty

Posted on August 31, 2006 by Charles Kuffner

The problem, in a nutshell. Eighteen percent of Texans, and 25 percent of Texas children, lived below the federally defined poverty level, according to the 2005 American Community Survey. The nationwide percentage below poverty level was 13 percent. […] Overall … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 1 Comment

City Council redistricting off the agenda

Posted on August 16, 2006 by Charles Kuffner

Looks like the earlier reports of City Council redistricting were premature. Apparently, there’s not a definitive answer to the question of whether or not Houston’s population now exceeds 2.1 million, which would trigger a requirement to redistrict and add two … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | 1 Comment

Grow, San Antonio

Posted on June 22, 2006 by Charles Kuffner

Way to go, San Antonio. Only perpetually booming Phoenix added more people than San Antonio and Fort Worth in the year ending in July 2005, according to the Census Bureau’s annual city population estimates released Tuesday. However, the figures don’t … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 1 Comment

Welcome to Texas

Posted on January 9, 2006 by Charles Kuffner

Lots of people moved to Texas in 2004 and 2005, and that’s before you count hurricane evacuees. According to recent U.S. Census Bureau figures, Texas saw an estimated net gain of 51,067 residents in the year ending July 1, 2005 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 2 Comments

Minority majority

Posted on August 11, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Texas is now officially a minority-majority state. Fueled largely by the burgeoning Hispanic population, Texas joins the ranks of California, New Mexico, Hawaii and the District of Columbia as areas where minority residents as a whole have become the majority. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 1 Comment