Category Archives: School days

HISD ends lawsuit against TEA

Posted on March 11, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

A formality at this point. The Houston Independent School District board voted on Thursday night to end its lawsuit against the Texas Education Agency, effectively ending the district’s legal fight against an attempted state takeover.  The motion passed with support of eight of the … Continue reading →

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Wheatley’s fate

Posted on March 10, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

We may learn today of the TEA’s intentions with HISD. Whatever does happen, let’s remember that in the end this will affect a lot of people, and some of them are not happy with the position they’ve been put in. … Continue reading →

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“Shall” versus “may”

Posted on March 9, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Houston Landing touches on a subject I’ve mentioned before. As concerns grow about the Texas Education Agency ousting the Houston Independent School District’s elected board, a question with major practical and political implications has emerged: Are state officials legally mandated … Continue reading →

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Bills filed to stop the TEA takeover of HISD

Posted on March 8, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Feels too late to me, but it can’t hurt to try. State senators have filed the first bill to soften the law that triggers school district takeovers. State Sens. Carol Alvarado, Borris Miles and John Whitmire filed Senate Bill 1662 in response to the threat of … Continue reading →

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The past history of TEA takeovers

Posted on March 7, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

As of Monday afternoon there’s still no word from the TEA about the fate of HISD, so while we wait we ponder what history can teach us. Assuming that history doesn’t contain anything gay or CRT-related so we’re allowed to … Continue reading →

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I don’t see any issue with HCC campaign contributions and the Maldonado vote

Posted on March 7, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I appreciate the reporting in this story, but ultimately I think it’s a nothingburger. The four trustees who voted to extend Houston Community College Chancellor Cesar Maldonado’s contract received a combined $78,000 in campaign donations from a political action committee … Continue reading →

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So is there anything that can be done to derail the TEA takeover?

Posted on March 5, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Probably not. I mean, I really appreciate the engagement and the passion, but we’re at the end of the road here, a road that started almost six years ago. Sometimes you just run out of things to do. With time … Continue reading →

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Superintendant House speaks about the looming TEA takeover

Posted on March 4, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Not much one can say in this position. Superintendent Millard House II said it’s business as usual in the state’s largest school system until the Texas Education Agency pulls the trigger on its rumored takeover plan. He used the start … Continue reading →

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HCC will hire a new Chancellor

Posted on March 3, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. The Houston Community College System Board of Trustees voted on Wednesday not to extend the contract of Chancellor Cesar Maldonado. The trustees’ decision was close: Four voted in a special meeting to consider a new contract and five opposed. … Continue reading →

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So it looks like that TEA takeover of HISD is going to happen

Posted on March 2, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Welp. Mayor Sylvester Turner sounded alarm bells Wednesday when he announced that he has heard from multiple sources that the state intends to take over Houston ISD as early as next week. “I’m talking to legislators, and what they’re saying … Continue reading →

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HISD facing budget cuts

Posted on February 20, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Gonna be a rough couple of years. Amid declining enrollment and a looming $215 million deficit, the Houston ISD is eyeing budget cuts that would slash funding to the central administration and cut campus budgets, especially at high schools. The … Continue reading →

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Three stories on Uvalde and gun control

Posted on February 19, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

First, a story about locks and why an obsession with locking school doors is not really going to improve safety. In the aftermath of school shootings like the one in Uvalde, what can get overlooked is basic: Schools need doors … Continue reading →

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HISD in TEA limbo

Posted on January 24, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

No one knows how long this might take. Houston ISD is in limbo as the Texas Education Agency weighs how to proceed with a possible takeover of the state’s largest school system allowed under a recent Texas Supreme Court ruling. … Continue reading →

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Spring Branch ISD to discuss a book ban today

Posted on January 24, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t post stuff like this often – it’s not really my remit, and timeliness usually works against me – but this one really annoyed me, so here it is. Via Facebook: PLEASE CONSIDER SPEAKING ON TUESDAY @ 1PM! (If … Continue reading →

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Pushing the panic button

Posted on January 23, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This feels like security theater to me, but it’s what passes for progress these days. All school districts in Montgomery County will soon be using panic alert technology during emergencies, including an active shooter situation, a security measure Texas education … Continue reading →

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HISD asked to hold off on redistricting

Posted on January 8, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

There are still concerns about the proposed map. Community members and advocates are asking the Houston ISD board to redraw its redistricting plans to keep communities in southwest Houston together so that the votes of Latinos and immigrants are not … Continue reading →

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Katy ISD challenged over at large districts

Posted on January 4, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This was from before Christmas but I didn’t have a chance to write about it until now. The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund sent a letter Tuesday to Katy ISD accusing the district of disenfranchising Black and Latino voters … Continue reading →

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Department of Education investigating removal of LGBTQ books from Texas school library

Posted on December 27, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good. The U.S. Education Department’s civil rights enforcement arm has launched an investigation into a North Texas school district whose superintendent was secretly recorded ordering librarians to remove LGBTQ-themed library books. Education and legal experts say the federal probe of … Continue reading →

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More information about HISD redistricting, please

Posted on December 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

A reasonable ask. Several local nonprofit and advocacy groups penned a letter asking Houston ISD to postpone its decision on how to redraw trustee district boundaries. Initially, the board was set to vote on the plan Thursday, according to a … Continue reading →

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HISD to get funding for electric school buses

Posted on December 5, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Some good news. Houston Independent School District is hopping on the city’s net-zero carbon emissions bus, so to speak, thanks to more than $6.2 million in funding from the Environmental Protection Agency. The funds are part of the EPA’s Clean … Continue reading →

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If all we ever do are defensive measures, we’ll never make any progress

Posted on November 14, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I’m not saying we shouldn’t do these things, although some of them definitely should be questioned. I am saying we can’t just do things like these. The Texas Education Agency announced Thursday a plethora of proposals that would, among other … Continue reading →

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More on hoax school shooter reports

Posted on November 7, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know when this ends, but I continue to be worried that they will cause a major problem eventually. This year has seen a significant number of hoax calls across the country. In the three weeks between mid-September and … Continue reading →

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It’s really tough on LGBTQ students right now

Posted on October 29, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Not a surprise, unfortunately. Schools remain a hostile place for LGBTQ students, according to a new report from the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, which found a decline in access to resources, books and supportive clubs for those students. … Continue reading →

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Math test scores took a hit during the pandemic

Posted on October 27, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The decline started before the pandemic, but kept on going from there. Students in Houston and across the nation showed “appalling and unacceptable” declines on the 2022 Nation’s Report Card, adding to mounting evidence that the pandemic impacted young people … Continue reading →

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Reading and writing and DNA kits…

Posted on October 23, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I dunno, man. I just don’t know. Texas public school systems are set to distribute DNA and fingerprint identification kits for K-8 students to parents who wish to participate. The state Legislature passed a law in spring 2021 requiring the … Continue reading →

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There’s a wave of hoax school shooting reports around the country

Posted on October 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Weird and scary. When Emmi Conley first heard in September about a rash of hoax calls reporting active shooters in schools, she dismissed it. Conley, an extremism researcher who studies groups and people behind public displays of violence, said she … Continue reading →

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School enrollment in Texas declined in 2020-2021

Posted on October 12, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Blame it on COVID. Tens of thousands more students either dropped out or otherwise left Texas public schools during the 2020-21 school year, compared to previous years, according to the most recently available records from the Texas Education Agency. The number of students … Continue reading →

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Uvalde school district suspends its entire police force

Posted on October 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Um, wow. Uvalde school officials on Friday suspended all of the district police department’s activities following the firing of a recently hired district officer who was revealed to have been among the first state troopers to respond to the deadly … Continue reading →

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Another hoax shooting situation

Posted on September 24, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

And this one shows another challenge for school districts and law enforcement to reckon with. After a lockdown at Jefferson High School sent worried parents to the school, the San Antonio Independent School District says it will enhance communications with … Continue reading →

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Now we’re dealing with hoax shootings

Posted on September 19, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

A new thing we need to be prepared for. Texas and other states have experienced hoax shootings, but experts say these threats shouldn’t be taken lightly. Research shows that if someone is going to commit a mass shooting there is … Continue reading →

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The active shooter hoax at our neighborhood school

Posted on September 15, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This made for a super eventful Tuesday afternoon. Police and panicked parents scrambled to Heights High School Tuesday afternoon, in frantic response to a false report that a gunman had shot 10 people in a room on the 2,400-student Houston … Continue reading →

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The proposed HISD charter partnership policy change

Posted on August 16, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t have a lot of time to dig into this, but there are a couple of things I wanted to touch on. Parents, education advocates and a group of Houston elected officials including three Houston ISD trustees on Monday … Continue reading →

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First school ratings since 2019 released

Posted on August 16, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

All in all, not too bad. But for poorer schools and school districts, it remains a very hard go. The Texas Education Agency on Monday released its first public school ratings in three years and despite pandemic interruptions, the number … Continue reading →

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The book ban requests are coming from inside the house

Posted on August 15, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Typical “grassroots” campaign. The wave of book reviews and removals that swept across Texas in the last year was driven more by politicians than parents, a Houston Chronicle analysis found, contradicting claims that recent book bans were the result of … Continue reading →

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