Tag Archives: schools

Let them sleep

Posted on March 24, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Jilly Dos Santos is a hero to teenagers everywhere. Jilly Dos Santos really did try to get to school on time. She set three successive alarms on her phone. Skipped breakfast. Hastily applied makeup while her fuming father drove. But … Continue reading →

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Dodson to be closed, Jones to be revamped

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

In the end, only one school was closed by HISD, but a lot of people are still upset about the whole thing. During a rowdy meeting where police had to quiet shouting protestors, the Houston school board narrowly agreed Thursday … Continue reading →

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Last stand against school closures

Posted on March 13, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Last chance, too. Community activists called Tuesday for HISD to spare two schools from closure in a last-ditch effort that included filing a federal civil-rights complaint alleging racial discrimination. Charles X. White, president of the city’s South Park Super Neighborhood … Continue reading →

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Three of five schools escape closure

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

For now, at least. The other two are still on the block. Three small schools will be spared from closure at the urging of Houston school board president Juliet Stipeche, but Jones High and Dodson Elementary remain on the potential … Continue reading →

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The state of HISD

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

HISD Superintendent Terry Grier assesses the district in his State of the Schools address. While not mentioning the closure controversy Wednesday, Grier touted the district’s progress – being named the nation’s top urban school district in 2013, for example – … Continue reading →

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On schools and neighborhoods

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Efforts to revitalize neighborhoods in the Fifth Ward are running into HISD’s proposal to close five schools. Nearly half the students who attend Nathaniel Q. Henderson Elementary School live steps away from campus in an aging, rundown apartment complex. The … Continue reading →

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Help HISD review its design plans

Posted on February 24, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

HISD would like your input in determining the designs for the schools to be built or rebuilt with the 2012 bond money. The Houston Independent School District is hosting another series of community meetings for the first 17 schools slated … Continue reading →

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Tracking diplomas

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From the Texas Tribune: Among young Texans who started eighth grade in 2001, less than one-fifth went on to earn a higher education credential within six years of their high school graduation. And rates were even lower among African-American and … Continue reading →

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HISD gets more diverse

Posted on February 16, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Which in this case means it’s getting a little whiter. After decades of free fall, Houston ISD’s white enrollment is inching upward, suggesting that more families with the resources to choose are selecting Houston public schools. Enrollment of non-Hispanic white … Continue reading →

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Lots of pushback on HISD’s school closure proposal

Posted on February 15, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

People don’t like it when schools get closed. With the temperature near freezing, Maria Salazar bundled her three young children in jackets on Tuesday and walked them eight blocks to Port Houston Elementary School. She dropped off Joaquin, 7, and … Continue reading →

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School finance retrial wraps

Posted on February 11, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

We’re back where it all began. The Texas Legislature failed to bridge funding gaps between wealthy and poor school districts despite partial restoration of funds that were cut, lawyers representing schools told a state district judge Friday. “They have put … Continue reading →

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KIPP departs Galveston

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I have two things to say about this. The popular KIPP charter school chain is pulling out of Galveston, where it operates two campuses with about 900 students combined under a contract with the school district. Because of statewide school … Continue reading →

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HISD on HB5

Posted on February 9, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Good information on the changes made to school curricula and graduation requirements. With most details of the state’s new reform of public education – known as House Bill 5 – settled only last week, HISD is ready with a multimedia … Continue reading →

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HISD proposes closing five schools

Posted on February 8, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Not sure about this. Houston ISD officials are proposing to close five small schools at the end of this academic year, a move likely to set off protests from parents and alumni. Some on the school board – which ultimately … Continue reading →

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School districts deal with ACA paperwork

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The headline for this story says that Texas school districts are “struggling” to deal with requirements of the Affordable Care Act, but there’s not much evidence of actual struggles in the story itself. Texas school districts are scrambling to meet … Continue reading →

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School finance retrial, Day One

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

And they’re off, again. Back in the courtroom after a 2013 legislative session in which lawmakers added money back to the state public education budget, lawyers representing nearly two-thirds of Texas school districts argued on Tuesday that the funding boost … Continue reading →

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School finance retrial starts today

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Back in the saddle again. A fight over the state’s controversial school funding system is headed back to court Tuesday before the same judge who declared it unconstitutional nearly a year ago, with state lawyers hoping they can persuade him … Continue reading →

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Teaching creationism in Texas

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Zack Kopplin reports on some unconstitutional behavior by a national charter school operator that has several campuses in Texas. When public-school students enrolled in Texas’ largest charter program open their biology workbooks, they will read that the fossil record is … Continue reading →

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Funding after school programs

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

This should be a no-brainer. To combat youth crime, a former Houston police chief says the city must first solve another problem: unstable and inadequate funding for after-school programs. City Councilman C.O. Bradford said it is more urgent than ever … Continue reading →

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HISD gives final approval to revised mascot/nickname policy

Posted on January 19, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

That’s that. Four HISD campuses will have to adopt new mascots after the school board gave final approval Thursday to a policy banning certain nicknames, such as the Redskins. The proposal from Superintendent Terry Grier drew some debate among students, … Continue reading →

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Rolling out the laptops

Posted on January 17, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I look forward to seeing how this goes. Tens of thousands of local students will receive taxpayer-funded laptops or tablets this month as the Houston and Clear Creek school districts join the national movement toward digital education. School leaders say … Continue reading →

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New accountability standards, more schools on the failing list

Posted on January 13, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Not a good headline. The number of officially faltering public schools in Texas almost doubled last year, in part because of higher accountability standards imposed by state education policy. The Texas Education Agency released Thursday a list of 892 schools … Continue reading →

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SBOE backs down on Algebra 2

Posted on November 23, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

So much for that. Only high school students who pursue an honors plan or a diploma specializing in math and science will have to take algebra II under recommendations that the Texas State Board of Education preliminarily approved Thursday. Despite … Continue reading →

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More on the Fort Bend ISD iPad failure

Posted on November 17, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The Observer presents a good overview of the disastrous iPad experiment at the Fort Bend Independent School District. An audit of Fort Bend ISD’s iAchieve program released last month, details the ways the effort was cursed. (You can read the … Continue reading →

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Magnet reprieve

Posted on November 16, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This was unexpected. HISD Superintendent Terry Grier has reversed course and decided to give 20 struggling magnet programs another year before eliminating all their extra funding. The sudden switch from the plan he unveiled last month comes after some parents … Continue reading →

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There are no new ideas, but there are plenty of bad ideas

Posted on November 1, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

There’s so much wrong with what Greg Abbott wants for Texas that it’s hard to know where to begin. In his first major policy address as a gubernatorial candidate, Attorney General Greg Abbott proposed tighter constitutional limits on state spending … Continue reading →

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Mostly good news for Apollo

Posted on October 25, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

That’s the story so far. A three-year, multimillion-dollar experiment to improve 20 struggling HISD schools yielded big gains in math and limited progress in reading, according to partial results of a study released Wednesday. Now, Superintendent Terry Grier and the … Continue reading →

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Demagnetized

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Some unhappy changes are about to occur at Houston schools. HISD officials unveiled a plan Thursday to cut funding and end bus rides next year for transfer students at 20 struggling magnet schools, tackling a politically tough topic that has … Continue reading →

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Fort Bend ISD halts iPad program

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This is a surprise. Widespread problems found by a consultant have prompted Fort Bend school district officials to shelve a $16 million initiative to integrate thousands of iPads into the classroom experience at 14 schools. A review commissioned by the … Continue reading →

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School finance trial still moving ahead

Posted on September 20, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Ready or not, here it comes again. A Travis County District Judge has decided to move forward with the state’s school finance trial despite some wavering about re-opening the case. Earlier this month Travis County District Judge John Dietz revisited … Continue reading →

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A new day in North Forest

Posted on September 2, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

I’m really really rooting for this to work out well. [Maria] Cortez used to teach at Burbank Elementary in the Houston Independent School District but agreed to follow her principal to a tough new assignment – and to transfer her … Continue reading →

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Ratliff and Patrick spar over CSCOPE

Posted on August 31, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Sounds like fun. The state curriculum system known as CSCOPE — little known until recently — can now add two hours of lively and at times testy debate to a long list of public appearances that includes State Board of … Continue reading →

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Just so we’re clear, cities don’t run the schools

Posted on August 30, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Lisa Falkenberg does some fact checking. Houston Mayoral Candidate Ben Hall seems to have done his homework before he began claiming that, if elected, he’d have statutory authority over local schools. But he apparently didn’t check his interpretation of the … Continue reading →

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On selling junk food in Texas schools

Posted on August 28, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Every session, there’s at least one bill that gets passed with little to no notice that has completely unforeseen effects. The Lunch Tray breaks a story about one such bill from this past regular session, which has to do with … Continue reading →

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