Calendar
Categories
Archives
My linkage
Polling Texas 2020
UT/Trib, Apr 25: Trump 49, Biden 44
DT/PPP, Apr 29: Biden 47, Trump 46
UT-Tyler/DMN, May 3: Trump 43, Biden 43
Emerson, May 13: Trump 47, Biden 41
Quinnipiac, June 3: Trump 44, Biden 43
PPP, June 5: Trump 48, Biden 48
PPP/PT, June 23: Trump 48, Biden 46
Fox, June 25: Biden 45, Trump 44
UT/Trib, July 2: Trump 48, Biden 44
PPP/Emily’s List, July 2: Biden 48, Trump 46
UT-Tyler/DMN, July 12: Biden 48, Trump 43
CBSNews, July 12: Trump 46, Biden 45
Quinnipiac, July 22: Biden 45, Trump 44
Morning Consult, July 28: Biden 47, Trump 45
Morning Consult, August 3: Biden 47, Trump 46
Polling Texas 2018
WPA, Jan 5: Cruz 52, O'Rourke 34
PPP, Jan 27: Cruz 45, O'Rourke 37
Quinnipiac, April 19: Cruz 47, O'Rourke 44
Quinnipiac, May 31: Cruz 50, O'Rourke 39
PPP, June 8: Cruz 48, O'Rourke 42
GQR, June 16: Cruz 49, O'Rourke 43
CBS/YouGov, June 24: Cruz 44, O'Rourke 36
UT/Trib, June 25: Cruz 41, O'Rourke 36
Gravis, July 10: Cruz 51, O'Rourke 42
Lyceum, July 31: Cruz 41, O'Rourke 39
Quinnipiac, July 31: Cruz 49, O'Rourke 43
PPP, August 2: Cruz 46, O'Rourke 42
NBC News, August 23: Cruz 49, O'Rourke 45
ECPS, August 27: Cruz 38, O'Rourke 37
Crosswinds, September 12: Cruz 47, O'Rourke 44
Quinnipiac, September 18 (LV): Cruz 54, O'Rourke 45
Ipsos, September 19 (LV): O'Rourke 47, Cruz 45Polling Texas 2016
Beatty, Jun 22: Trump 37, Clinton 30
UT/TTP, Jun 27: Trump 41, Clinton 33
KTVT/Dixie, Aug 11: Trump 46, Clinton 35
PPP, Aug 16: Trump 44, Clinton 38
WaPo-SurveyMonkey, Sep 6: Clinton 46, Trump 45
ECPS, Sep 14: Trump 42, Clinton 36
Texas Lyceum, Sep 15: Trump 39, Clinton 32
YouGov, Oct 3: Trump 50,1, Clinton 41.5
KTVT/Dixie, Oct 5: Trump 45, Clinton 38
WFAA/SurveyUSA, Oct 14: Trump 47, Clinton 43
UH Hobby Center, Oct 17: Trump 41, Clinton 38
WaPo/SurveyMonkey, Oct 17: Trump 48, Clinton 46
CBS/YouGov, Oct 23: Trump 46, Clinton 43
Crosswind/Statesman, Oct 27: Trump 45, Clinton 38
UT/TT, Oct 27: Trump 45, Clinton 42
KTVT/Dixie Strategies, Nov 2: Trump 52, Clinton 39
NBC/WSJ/Marist, Nov 3: Trump 49, Clinton 40
ECPS, Nov 3: Trump 49, Clinton 34
YouGov, Nov 5: Trump 50.3, Clinton 42.4Polling Texas 2014
UT/TT, Nov 2013: Abbott 40, Davis 35, Glass 5
PPP, Nov 2013: Abbott 50, Davis 35
UT/TT, Feb 2014: Abbott 47, Davis 36
ECPS, Mar 2014: Abbott 49, Davis 42
Rasmussen, Mar 2014: Abbott 53, Davis 41
PPP, Apr 2014: Abbott 51, Davis 37
UT/TT, June 2014:Abbott 44, Davis 32
YouGov, July 2014: Abbott 50, Davis 34
Rasmussen, Aug 2014: Abbott 48, Davis 40
YouGov, Sep 2014: Abbott 56, Davis 38
Lyceum, Oct 2014: Abbott 49, Davis 40
Rasmussen, Oct 2014: Abbott 51, Davis 40
KHOU, Oct 2014: Abbott 47, Davis 32
UT/TT, Oct 2014: Abbott 54, Davis 38
YouGov, Oct 2014: Abbott 57, Davis 37Polling Texas 2012
PPP April 26: Romney 50, Obama 43
UT/TT May 22: Romney 46, Obama 38 (RV) - Romney 55, Obama 35 (LV)
WPAOR Sep 13: Romney 55, Obama 40
YouGov Sep 24: Romney 52, Obama 41
Lyceum Oct 2: Romney 58, Obama 39
YouGov Oct 17: Romney 55, Obama 41
UT/TT Oct 29: Romney 55, Obama 39
Baselice Oct 30: Romney 54, Obama 38
YouGov Nov 3: Romney 57, Obama 38-
Recent Posts
- May 2024 special election early voting, Day Five: More than halfway there
- Texas Medical Board’s abortion guidance is a mess
- Ted Cruz may owe taxes on his podcast payments
- Ogg brings in Paxton on Hidalgo aides case
- Parking meter extended hours proposal withdrawn
- Travis Scott remains in the Astroworld lawsuit
- Dispatches from Dallas, April 26 edition
- May 2024 special election early voting, Day Three: Still slow going
- SCOTUS hears the EMTALA case
- Harris County gets “Solar for All” grant
Recent Comments
- David Fagan on Ogg brings in Paxton on Hidalgo aides case
- Jason Y on Endorsement watch: One out of three ain’t good
- May 2024 special election early voting, Day Five: More than halfway there | Off the Kuff on A brief history of May elections in Harris County
- Texas Medical Board’s abortion guidance is a mess | Off the Kuff on SCOTUS hears the EMTALA case
- Ted Cruz may owe taxes on his podcast payments | Off the Kuff on Second complaint filed over Ted Cruz’s podcast payments
Tags
- Annise Parker
- Attorney General
- blog roundup
- budget
- Commissioners Court
- Congress
- coronavirus
- Dan Patrick
- Democratic primary
- Donald Trump
- Election 2009
- Election 2010
- Election 2012
- Election 2014
- Election 2015
- Election 2016
- Election 2018
- Election 2020
- Election 2022
- Governor
- Greg Abbott
- Harris County
- HISD
- Houston
- Houston City Council
- interviews
- judicial races
- Ken Paxton
- lawsuit
- linkdump
- Mayor
- polls
- President
- redistricting
- Rick Perry
- runoff
- schools
- SCOTUS
- Senate
- Sylvester Turner
- Texas
- The Lege
- TPA
- turnout
- videos
Blogroll
- ‘stina is a shiny special one
- 2 On The Beat
- A Perfectly Cromulent Blog
- AintNoBadDude
- alicublog
- Amygdala
- ArchPundit
- AS THE COURT TURNS
- Asian American Action Fund
- Austin Contrarian
- B and B
- Bald Heretic
- Baseball Musings
- Bay Area Houston
- BEYONDbones
- Big Pink Cookie
- Blog con Queso
- bloggin’ all things brownsville
- Blue Bloggin'
- BlueBloggin
- Booman Tribune
- Boots on the Bayou
- Boyd’s Blog
- Brains and Eggs
- Burkablog
- Burnt Orange Report
- BY THE BAYOU
- calle viena
- Campos Communications
- Capitol Annex
- Christine Quinones
- ConFrijoles
- Coyote Mercury
- Daily Kos
- DARE to LIVE in Farmers Branch
- David Ortez
- debutaunt.com
- Defending People
- Dig Deeper Texas
- Digby
- Dog Canyon
- Don Large Political Report
- DosCentavos.net
- DreamHost Blog
- Easter Lemming Liberal News
- Eschaton
- Eye on Williamson
- Ezra Klein
- FalkenBlog
- FiveThirtyEight
- Forrest For the Trees
- Frothing at the Mouth
- Greg’s Opinion
- Grits for Breakfast
- H-Town Chow Down
- Hair Balls
- Half Empty
- Hey Elise
- Home in the Heights
- Hopefully So
- Houston Calling
- Houston Politics
- Houston Strategies
- Houston’s Clear Thinkers
- Houstonist
- Houtopia
- Idiotprogrammer
- In The Pink Texas
- INSOLVENT REPUBLIC OF BLOGISTAN
- Insomniactive
- Intermodality
- Isiah Carey
- Jeff Balke
- Juanita Jean
- Julie Pippert: Using My Words
- Kevin Drum
- Kuff’s World
- Latinos For Texas Blog
- Laurie Kendrick
- Letters from Texas
- Lewisville Texan
- Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center
- Linkmeister
- Local Texans
- Lone Star Times
- Lost… and Gone Forever
- m e a n r a c h e l
- M1EK’s Bake-Sale of Bile
- Marc’s Miscellany
- Mark Evanier
- Matthew Yglesias
- McBlogger
- Mean Green Cougar Red
- MeMo
- Mike McGuff
- Miya Shay
- MOMocrats
- musings
- My Houston Family Lawyer
- MyDD
- Nail-Tinted Glasses
- neoHOUSTON
- Newsrack Blog
- nonsequiteuse
- North Texas Liberal
- Oliver Willis
- On the Move
- Ones and Zeros East
- Owls
- Page Break
- Pandagon
- Peter Sagal
- Poli-Tex
- PoliTex
- Political Animal
- Postcards
- Prof13
- Purple Texas
- racymind
- Ramblings of an HHSC Employee amidst chaos
- Rantings from 35,000 feet
- rc3.org
- Rep. Mike Villarreal
- Rhetoric & Rhythm
- Richmondrail.org
- Rick Perry vs The World
- Saint Arnold Brewhouse Blog
- Same Blog, Different Day
- SciGuy
- Sisyphus Shrugged
- slacktivist
- Slightly Rough
- Snarkout
- South Texas Chisme
- Suburban Guerrilla
- Swamplot
- Swing State Project
- Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire
- Talking Points Memo
- TalkLeft
- TAPPED
- TBogg
- TechBlog
- Texans Against Hunger
- TexansChick
- Texas Freedom Network
- Texas Liberal
- Texas Musings
- Texas on the Potomac
- Texas Politics
- Texas Vox
- Texas Watchdog
- the bill clerk
- The Bloggess
- THE BRAZOSPORT NEWS
- The Caucus Blog
- The Comics Curmudgeon
- The Contrarian
- The Dark Star Gazette
- The Futility Infielder
- The Great God Pan Is Dead
- The Heights Life
- The Lunch Tray
- The Poor Man Institute
- The Sanctuary
- The Sideshow
- The Texas Blue
- The Texas Tribune
- The Thicket at State Legislatures
- There… Already
- They are Building a Wal-Mart on My Street
- This Blog Is Full Of Crap
- Thomason Tracts
- Three Wise Men
- TRAIL BLAZERS
- TruthHugger
- Tubular
- Tx Capitol Report
- Uncertain Principles
- Unqualified Offerings
- Vigilant, the Common Cause Texas Blog
- Wait, Wait, Don't Blog Me!
- Walker Report
- Wampum
- What She Really Thinks
- What Would Jack Do?
- Whitless Humorings
- WP Support Forum
- Zippidy Doo Da
Utilities
Categories
Archives
Polling Texas 2016
Beatty, Jun 22: Trump 37, Clinton 30
UT/TTP, Jun 27: Trump 41, Clinton 33
KTVT/Dixie, Aug 11: Trump 46, Clinton 35
PPP, Aug 16: Trump 44, Clinton 38
WaPo-SurveyMonkey, Sep 6: Clinton 46, Trump 45
ECPS, Sep 14: Trump 42, Clinton 36
Texas Lyceum, Sep 15: Trump 39, Clinton 32
YouGov, Oct 3: Trump 50,1, Clinton 41.5
KTVT/Dixie, Oct 5: Trump 45, Clinton 38
WFAA/SurveyUSA, Oct 14: Trump 47, Clinton 43
UH Hobby Center, Oct 17: Trump 41, Clinton 38
WaPo/SurveyMonkey, Oct 17: Trump 48, Clinton 46
CBS/YouGov, Oct 23: Trump 46, Clinton 43
Crosswind/Statesman, Oct 27: Trump 45, Clinton 38
UT/TT, Oct 27: Trump 45, Clinton 42
KTVT/Dixie Strategies, Nov 2: Trump 52, Clinton 39
NBC/WSJ/Marist, Nov 3: Trump 49, Clinton 40
ECPS, Nov 3: Trump 49, Clinton 34
YouGov, Nov 5: Trump 50,3, Clinton 42.4
Polling Texas 2014
UT/TT, Nov 2013: Abbott 40, Davis 35, Glass 5
PPP, Nov 2013: Abbott 50, Davis 35
UT/TT, Feb 2014: Abbott 47, Davis 36
ECPS, Mar 2014: Abbott 49, Davis 42
Rasmussen, Mar 2014: Abbott 53, Davis 41
PPP, Apr 2014: Abbott 51, Davis 37
UT/TT, June 2014:Abbott 44, Davis 32
YouGov, July 2014: Abbott 50, Davis 34
Rasmussen, Aug 2014: Abbott 48, Davis 40
YouGov, Sep 2014: Abbott 56, Davis 38
Lyceum, Oct 2014: Abbott 49, Davis 40
Rasmussen, Oct 2014: Abbott 51, Davis 40
KHOU, Oct 2014: Abbott 47, Davis 32
UT/TT, Oct 2014: Abbott 54, Davis 38
YouGov, Oct 2014: Abbott 57, Davis 37
Polling Texas 2012
PPP April 26: Romney 50, Obama 43
UT/TT May 22: Romney 46, Obama 38 (RV) - Romney 55, Obama 35 (LV)
WPAOR Sep 13: Romney 55, Obama 40
YouGov Sep 24: Romney 52, Obama 41
Lyceum Oct 2: Romney 58, Obama 39
YouGov Oct 17: Romney 55, Obama 41
UT/TT Oct 29: Romney 55, Obama 39
Baselice Oct 30: Romney 54, Obama 38
YouGov Nov 3: Romney 57, Obama 38
My Linkage
Recent Comments
- David Fagan on Ogg brings in Paxton on Hidalgo aides case
- Jason Y on Endorsement watch: One out of three ain’t good
- May 2024 special election early voting, Day Five: More than halfway there | Off the Kuff on A brief history of May elections in Harris County
- Texas Medical Board’s abortion guidance is a mess | Off the Kuff on SCOTUS hears the EMTALA case
- Ted Cruz may owe taxes on his podcast payments | Off the Kuff on Second complaint filed over Ted Cruz’s podcast payments
- J on Ogg brings in Paxton on Hidalgo aides case
- SocraticGadfly on Dispatches from Dallas, April 26 edition
- Gary D on Endorsement watch: One out of three ain’t good
- Parking meter extended hours proposal withdrawn | Off the Kuff on Time to fight over Prop A implementation
- Travis Scott remains in the Astroworld lawsuit | Off the Kuff on Travis Scott makes his argument to get out of the Astroworld lawsuit
- Dispatches from Dallas, April 26 edition | Off the Kuff on Arlington nun mutiny update
- C.L. on Time to fight over Prop A implementation
- J on SCOTUS hears the EMTALA case
- C.L. on Supreme Court puts temporary pause on Uplift Harris
- Meme on Supreme Court puts temporary pause on Uplift Harris
-
Recent Posts
- May 2024 special election early voting, Day Five: More than halfway there
- Texas Medical Board’s abortion guidance is a mess
- Ted Cruz may owe taxes on his podcast payments
- Ogg brings in Paxton on Hidalgo aides case
- Parking meter extended hours proposal withdrawn
- Travis Scott remains in the Astroworld lawsuit
- Dispatches from Dallas, April 26 edition
- May 2024 special election early voting, Day Three: Still slow going
- SCOTUS hears the EMTALA case
- Harris County gets “Solar for All” grant
- Texas blog roundup for the week of April 22
- Time to fight over Prop A implementation
- Supreme Court puts temporary pause on Uplift Harris
- Zombie ReBuild lawsuit returns with a vengeance
- Seattle Children’s Hospital settles with Paxton
Tags
- Annise Parker
- Attorney General
- blog roundup
- budget
- Commissioners Court
- Congress
- coronavirus
- Dan Patrick
- Democratic primary
- Donald Trump
- Election 2009
- Election 2010
- Election 2012
- Election 2014
- Election 2015
- Election 2016
- Election 2018
- Election 2020
- Election 2022
- Governor
- Greg Abbott
- Harris County
- HISD
- Houston
- Houston City Council
- interviews
- judicial races
- Ken Paxton
- lawsuit
- linkdump
- Mayor
- polls
- President
- redistricting
- Rick Perry
- runoff
- schools
- SCOTUS
- Senate
- Sylvester Turner
- Texas
- The Lege
- TPA
- turnout
- videos
Blogroll
- ‘stina is a shiny special one
- 2 On The Beat
- A Perfectly Cromulent Blog
- AintNoBadDude
- alicublog
- Amygdala
- ArchPundit
- AS THE COURT TURNS
- Asian American Action Fund
- Austin Contrarian
- B and B
- Bald Heretic
- Baseball Musings
- Bay Area Houston
- BEYONDbones
- Big Pink Cookie
- Blog con Queso
- bloggin’ all things brownsville
- Blue Bloggin'
- BlueBloggin
- Booman Tribune
- Boots on the Bayou
- Boyd’s Blog
- Brains and Eggs
- Burkablog
- Burnt Orange Report
- BY THE BAYOU
- calle viena
- Campos Communications
- Capitol Annex
- Christine Quinones
- ConFrijoles
- Coyote Mercury
- Daily Kos
- DARE to LIVE in Farmers Branch
- David Ortez
- debutaunt.com
- Defending People
- Dig Deeper Texas
- Digby
- Dog Canyon
- Don Large Political Report
- DosCentavos.net
- DreamHost Blog
- Easter Lemming Liberal News
- Eschaton
- Eye on Williamson
- Ezra Klein
- FalkenBlog
- FiveThirtyEight
- Forrest For the Trees
- Frothing at the Mouth
- Greg’s Opinion
- Grits for Breakfast
- H-Town Chow Down
- Hair Balls
- Half Empty
- Hey Elise
- Home in the Heights
- Hopefully So
- Houston Calling
- Houston Politics
- Houston Strategies
- Houston’s Clear Thinkers
- Houstonist
- Houtopia
- Idiotprogrammer
- In The Pink Texas
- INSOLVENT REPUBLIC OF BLOGISTAN
- Insomniactive
- Intermodality
- Isiah Carey
- Jeff Balke
- Juanita Jean
- Julie Pippert: Using My Words
- Kevin Drum
- Kuff’s World
- Latinos For Texas Blog
- Laurie Kendrick
- Letters from Texas
- Lewisville Texan
- Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center
- Linkmeister
- Local Texans
- Lone Star Times
- Lost… and Gone Forever
- m e a n r a c h e l
- M1EK’s Bake-Sale of Bile
- Marc’s Miscellany
- Mark Evanier
- Matthew Yglesias
- McBlogger
- Mean Green Cougar Red
- MeMo
- Mike McGuff
- Miya Shay
- MOMocrats
- musings
- My Houston Family Lawyer
- MyDD
- Nail-Tinted Glasses
- neoHOUSTON
- Newsrack Blog
- nonsequiteuse
- North Texas Liberal
- Oliver Willis
- On the Move
- Ones and Zeros East
- Owls
- Page Break
- Pandagon
- Peter Sagal
- Poli-Tex
- PoliTex
- Political Animal
- Postcards
- Prof13
- Purple Texas
- racymind
- Ramblings of an HHSC Employee amidst chaos
- Rantings from 35,000 feet
- rc3.org
- Rep. Mike Villarreal
- Rhetoric & Rhythm
- Richmondrail.org
- Rick Perry vs The World
- Saint Arnold Brewhouse Blog
- Same Blog, Different Day
- SciGuy
- Sisyphus Shrugged
- slacktivist
- Slightly Rough
- Snarkout
- South Texas Chisme
- Suburban Guerrilla
- Swamplot
- Swing State Project
- Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire
- Talking Points Memo
- TalkLeft
- TAPPED
- TBogg
- TechBlog
- Texans Against Hunger
- TexansChick
- Texas Freedom Network
- Texas Liberal
- Texas Musings
- Texas on the Potomac
- Texas Politics
- Texas Vox
- Texas Watchdog
- the bill clerk
- The Bloggess
- THE BRAZOSPORT NEWS
- The Caucus Blog
- The Comics Curmudgeon
- The Contrarian
- The Dark Star Gazette
- The Futility Infielder
- The Great God Pan Is Dead
- The Heights Life
- The Lunch Tray
- The Poor Man Institute
- The Sanctuary
- The Sideshow
- The Texas Blue
- The Texas Tribune
- The Thicket at State Legislatures
- There… Already
- They are Building a Wal-Mart on My Street
- This Blog Is Full Of Crap
- Thomason Tracts
- Three Wise Men
- TRAIL BLAZERS
- TruthHugger
- Tubular
- Tx Capitol Report
- Uncertain Principles
- Unqualified Offerings
- Vigilant, the Common Cause Texas Blog
- Wait, Wait, Don't Blog Me!
- Walker Report
- Wampum
- What She Really Thinks
- What Would Jack Do?
- Whitless Humorings
- WP Support Forum
- Zippidy Doo Da
Utilities
Tag Archives: school finance
First look at how HISD will balance its budget
Seems to be fairly well-received. The Houston school district’s interim superintendent on Thursday rescinded his proposal to reduce funding for gifted students amid concerns from parents and board members. At the same time, Ken Huewitt proposed bolstering the budgets of … Continue reading
Lawsuits and low oil prices
Both are threatening the next Texas budget. Last week, lawyers for the state of Texas got the latest in a string of bad legal news. A lawsuit challenging the state’s foster care system as inhumane appeared to gain steam when … Continue reading
North Carolina takes a big step backwards on equality
Shameful. Wednesday was a whirlwind day in North Carolina’s government. The legislature convened a special session, a complicated multi-part bill was introduced, it passed through the House and Senate — both Republican controlled — and Gov. Pat McCrory (R) signed … Continue reading
We’re not so good at school funding
I know, I’m as shocked as you are. Texas earned the worst marks in the country for its funding of public education, according to a research report released Wednesday. Researchers with Rutgers Graduate School of Education and the New Jersey-based … Continue reading
On teaching kids who don’t speak English
From The Atlantic: Out of all the cities in Texas, this would seemingly have been the one where schools knew how to help Spanish-speaking students learn. El Paso is progressive and welcoming, and is more than 80 percent Latino. Its … Continue reading
What kind of ruling might we expect in the school finance case?
KUHF explores the possibilities. Four major scenarios to watch for: The Texas Supreme Court could not rule at all. Instead, it could send the case back to the lower court to see if the latest $2.5 billion dollars to the … Continue reading
HISD girds for budget cuts
Welcome to the job, Ken Huewitt. Isn’t this fun? Houston’s deputy superintendent on Thursday presented the school board with the deepest round of proposed budget cuts since 2011, leaving principals to decide between slashing staff, supplies, field trips or other … Continue reading
Things are tough all over
HISD faces a big deficit: Houston ISD leaders are bracing for a projected $107 million budget shortfall that, in a worst-case scenario, could prompt the district to slash jobs. During the school board meeting Thursday, however, officials pledged to try … Continue reading
Republicans sure are hoping to get a bailout on school finance
Am I the only one who thinks that a lot of this sounds like wishful thinking? The Texas Supreme Court may punt in a far-reaching school finance case, asking a lower court to assess the Legislature’s latest efforts on public … Continue reading
Two school finance stories
Tough times in the oil patch mean tough times for school districts in the oil patch. The U.S. shale boom flooded the state’s public schools with a gusher of cash, but that windfall is disappearing nearly as fast as it … Continue reading
School finance ruling expected soon
Hold onto your hats. For decades, the state’s 1,000-plus school districts vied against one another for a bigger piece of the financial pie. Now two-thirds of state districts have joined forces to say the system is unfair because it doesn’t … Continue reading
When might we get a Supreme Court ruling on school finance?
When they’re damn good and ready is the usual answer for Supreme Court rulings, but in the case of school finance lawsuits they usually act with some measure of speed. Given past rulings and politics — three justices on the … Continue reading
Once again to the Supreme Court for school finance
Like deja vu all over again, and again and again and… The Texas Supreme Court is again faced with determining whether the state’s method of funding public schools is unconstitutional, the latest in a series of school finance challenges stretching … Continue reading
Supreme Court to hear school finance appeal
We near the end of the road. This road, anyway. Shut out by lawmakers in their efforts to overhaul the state’s troubled education funding system, more than 600 school districts are now pinning their hopes for relief on the Texas … Continue reading
Supreme Court to hear school finance appeal in September
Mark your calendars. The Texas Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Sept. 1 in the long-running case challenging the state’s school-finance system. “We are very pleased that the court is moving so expeditiously,” attorney David Thompson, representing the Houston Independent … Continue reading
House passes AG butt-in bill
Boo. The state attorney general is on the verge of having new powers to influence cases on school finance and legislative redistricting, as part of the GOP’s latest efforts to diminish Democratic challenges to their policies. The House on Monday … Continue reading
Where the education reform bills stand
As we know, the attempt to take a first stab at school finance reform did not make it to the House floor. That doesn’t mean there wasn’t some action on school-related issues. This Chron story from the weekend recapped a … Continue reading
School finance bill dies
Alas. A months-long effort to reform the state’s problem-plagued school finance system before the Texas Supreme Court weighs in came to an end on Thursday. Facing a slew of amendments and attempts to kill his bill on procedural grounds, House … Continue reading
Three bad bills
Bad bill #1: State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, has been trying for months to pass legislation that would make it tougher for local entities to bring in more tax revenue by taking advantage of rising property values. On Thursday, he … Continue reading
Mostly positive reviews for the Aycock school finance plan
So far, so good. A plan from a top House lawmaker to overhaul the state’s public education funding system received largely favorable reviews from school districts during a marathon legislative hearing that ended late Tuesday night. “While this bill, some … Continue reading
Here comes the school finance bill
It’s a big deal. The House education chairman on Tuesday unveiled a $3 billion proposal he hopes will overhaul the way Texas funds public schools and derail a looming lawsuit in the process. “My objective when I began this was … Continue reading
Budget passes House as most amendments get pulled
It was a long day in the House on Tuesday and Wednesday but not a terribly bloody one as many of the budget amendments and riders that had been queued up got withdrawn. A brief recap of the action: Border … Continue reading
Let the budgetary games begin
The House takes up the budget today, with over 300 amendments and riders queued up for votes. A couple of things to watch for as the debate goes on: Killing vouchers. Lawmakers in the Texas House will have a chance … Continue reading
House will address school finance
Good. With a plan that would add $3 billion to the state’s public education budget, the Texas House has decided to take on school finance reform this legislative session. As he announced a deal Wednesday that would put $800 million … Continue reading
Voodoo economics
Also known as Dan Patrick’s budgetary contortions. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, joined by the Texas Senate’s lead budget writers, announced “a new bold proposal” Wednesday morning to allow lawmakers to cut property taxes and pay down the state’s debt without … Continue reading
More pre-K bills filed
The Observer has the best reporting on the latest pre-k bills that have been filed in the Lege. There’s widespread support around the Capitol for more state spending on pre-kindergarten programs, and much less agreement about how to do it. … Continue reading
Judge Dietz would like the Lege to please fix school finance already
So would the rest of us, Your Honor. In his first major appearance since finding the Texas school finance system unconstitutional in 2014, state District Judge John Dietz said Sunday that a solution to the state’s unequal and ineffective public … Continue reading
School finance case timeline announced
Mark “later this year” on your calendars. The Texas Supreme Court will hear the state’s appeal of last year’s far-reaching school finance decision later this year under a timetable laid out by the high court on Friday. Justices gave the … Continue reading
Aycock files school finance reform bill
Interesting. A key House Republican said Texas lawmakers should not wait for the outcome of a sprawling school finance lawsuit to discuss changes to the state’s current public education funding system. “While we do not know the final outcome of … Continue reading
Hegar’s first revenue estimate is in
We’ll see how it holds up. Amid concerns that tumbling oil prices could push the Texas economy into a recession, Comptroller Glenn Hegar offered a cautiously optimistic tone on the future of the Texas economy Monday, announcing that lawmakers will … Continue reading
The Lege is unlikely to do anything substantive on education this session
Oh, there will be lots of sound and fury, as well as various sideshow distractions, but in the end the main issue to resolve – school finance – will be at best “tweaked”. For anything more than that, we will … Continue reading
Abbott puts on a moderate act
He cares about education! During a Capitol news conference in which he announced the selection of his senior staff, Gov.-elect Greg Abbott said Monday that education will be his top policy priority. Abbott said he wants to improve the educational … Continue reading
House starts thinking about school finance
Good to see. For the past several weeks, state lawmakers have been meeting to discuss how to better fund public education in the wake of a court ruling calling Texas’ school finance system inequitable, inefficient and illegal. Education Committee Chairman … Continue reading
Chron overview of the AG race
Couple of interesting tidbits in here. A tea party darling with a dozen years in the state Legislature, Sen. Ken Paxton has avoided the media since admitting to a third-degree felony violation of state securities law in late April. Spokesman … Continue reading