Tag Archives: schools

As always, the hole is bigger than we thought

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Remember how the Republicans in the Lege underfunded Medicaid by $4.5 billion, which they will have to tap the Rainy Day Fund in 2013 to deal with, in order to make the budget for this biennium appear to be “balanced”? … Continue reading →

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Don’t go counting school finance lawsuit money yet

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The state of Texas is very likely to have to do something about school finance soon, but “soon” is not the same as “right now”. Houston ISD counsel David Thompson was exuding confidence Saturday that Texas school districts will prevail … Continue reading →

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New school food coming

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

No more mystery meat. School lunches, long saddled with an unhealthy reputation, are getting a makeover. Instead of salt-doused fried foods, highly processed white bread and sugar-laden desserts, cafeteria trays will be carrying whole wheat pizza, leafy green and orange … Continue reading →

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Job growth in 2012

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Depending on how you look at it, there’s good news, or fair-to-middling news for the Texas job market next year. Texas job growth in 2012 will reach about 2 percent for the third consecutive year, Federal Reserve Senior Economist Keith … Continue reading →

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A field guide to the school finance lawsuits

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib has a handy overview of the school finance lawsuits – who the plaintiffs are, who their lawyers are, and on what grounds they are suing. Among other things, it shows that I was correct in saying that there … Continue reading →

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TCEQ denies Valero tax break

Posted on December 23, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Texas environmental regulators have rejected Valero Energy Corp.’s request for a tax break that cities, counties and school districts feared would lead to devastating cuts to their budgets. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality denied the request because the … Continue reading →

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Another reason to support local food

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Bettina Elias Siegel of The Lunch Tray takes to the op-ed pages to give another reason for supporting local businesses, by changing HISD’s practices for how school lunches are provided. Food service management companies (FSMCs) like Aramark are, above all … Continue reading →

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Make sure you measure everything

Posted on December 18, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

A lot of groups are measuring a lot of things related to the state’s cuts to public education funding, but there’s one big thing not mentioned in this story that needs to be accurately tracked as well. In March, the … Continue reading →

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On calculating graduation rates

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Education Agency publishes graduation rates for all Texas public schools every year. Some people and organizations disagree with their methodology, saying they assume too many departing students wind up in school elsewhere or are homeschooled rather than counting … Continue reading →

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Second school finance lawsuit filed

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

We’re just getting warmed up. A coalition of property wealthy school districts jumped into the school funding fray Friday, filing a separate lawsuit claiming the current system has created another illegal statewide property tax and does not provide children with … Continue reading →

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Teacher evaluations

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

HISD is gearing up to implement a new teacher evaluation system, but not without a fight first. The Houston Federation of Teachers has launched what is expected to be a protracted battle to void the new evaluation. It starts with … Continue reading →

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More schools join the lawsuits

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Lubbock: The Lubbock Independent School District announced Monday they will join the Texas Taxpayer and Student Fairness Coalition in an equity lawsuit against the state. Simply put, LISD is receiving less money per student because they are one of the … Continue reading →

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Back to magnet schools

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

It’s Magent Awareness Week in HISD, and the Board of Trustees will be reviewing a new magnet school policy along the way. A proposed new policy, released by HISD last week, calls for the creation of a new funding model … Continue reading →

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More school districts looking at school finance lawsuit

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

From San Antonio. Trustees of the area’s two largest school districts — North East and Northside — on Tuesday deliberated about joining a lawsuit against the state over what some consider to be an inadequate and inequitable education funding system. … Continue reading →

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Class size issues are everywhere

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

We know that waiver requests to exceed the 22 student class size limit are way up. But that mandated limit is only for grades K through 4. What about higher grade levels? Patricia Kilday Hart reports that those classrooms are … Continue reading →

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McAllen ISD goes digital

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a look at the future, coming to a school near you. A Rio Grande Valley school district plans to equip every one of its 25,000 students with Apple iPads, rolling ahead with a digitally enhanced curriculum effort that’s among … Continue reading →

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More classrooms with more kids

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

We all knew this was coming, but the numbers are more than I expected. Thousands of Texas public schoolchildren are in more crowded classes this year as districts claim financial hardship following state budget cuts. The number of elementary school … Continue reading →

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First school finance lawsuit filed

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

More will follow, it’s just a matter of when and how many. A coalition representing public school districts, taxpayers and parents filed a lawsuit against the state in Travis County district court Monday night. The Texas Taxpayer & Student Fairness … Continue reading →

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Another school finance lawsuit update

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib brings some news about the impending school finance lawsuits. Yes, lawsuits – there are two in the works. The Equity Center’s lawsuit will focus on fairness, attacking the target revenue system established in 2006 when lawmakers reduced the … Continue reading →

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More districts will join in school finance lawsuit

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Coming soon to a courtroom near you. School districts will throw everything short of the kitchen sink into their upcoming lawsuit against the state of Texas for shortchanging public education, a lead attorney in the case said Tuesday. “We are … Continue reading →

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Giving tax breaks to those that don’t need them

Posted on September 30, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

You can add this to the list of things schools might have to pay for that they don’t have the money to pay for. Three environmental commissioners appointed by Gov. Rick Perry are considering whether to grant some of the … Continue reading →

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More things that schools have to deal with that isn’t in their budgets

Posted on September 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Droughts and wildfires. The drought across Texas has lasted nearly 12 months, and it doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon. In fact, La Niña, the intermittent Pacific Ocean phenomenon that caused the drought, is back and strengthening. … Continue reading →

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Even in Midland

Posted on September 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Fact-based sex education replaces mythical thinking in Midland. And they said it couldn’t be done. In the spring, public school students in Midland will cross what until very recently was the political third rail of sex education. For the first … Continue reading →

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High school firefighting classes

Posted on September 17, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This is interesting. Seeking to tighten spending, the Austin Fire Department last year decided to ax a program at LBJ High School that allowed students to become certified to be firefighters upon graduation. But the Austin school district has decided … Continue reading →

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The high school football tax

Posted on September 3, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

You may not be paying more in property taxes, but if you have a kid in public school, or maybe if you just know someone who has a kid in public school, you’re probably paying more for something. High school … Continue reading →

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Inevitable school finance lawsuit update

Posted on August 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Duly noted. Superintendents from several low and medium-wealth school districts appear ready to sue the state over its school finance system as early as October. Wayne Pierce, executive director the Equity Center – a group representing 690 districts – said … Continue reading →

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Back to school

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Time to do more with less, kids. Just don’t expect to be cut any slack on those standardized tests. When Texas students return to public schools this week, some will see a slight uptick in class sizes and fewer teachers, … Continue reading →

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Texas’ unemployment rate spikes

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Texas unemployment rate hits its highest mark since 1987. That’s probably not the kind of headline Rick Perry wants to read right now. As Gov. Rick Perry touts job creation and limited government on the campaign trail, the Texas’ unemployment … Continue reading →

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The back to school letter

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Every year at the start of school, the local district superintendent sends home a letter to the parents of each student telling them about what to expect in the new year. This is the sort of letter they should be … Continue reading →

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Please place the blame where it belongs

Posted on August 18, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Stories like this concern me. Public opinion of the Houston Independent School District plummeted this year amid severe state budget cuts, while support of the superintendent also dropped, according to a new survey. Among parents surveyed this spring, 54 percent … Continue reading →

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School bus ads come to Comal County

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Given the budget cuts from the Legislature, I figure we’ll see a lot more school districts hop on the bus, as it were. This year, 10 Comal school district buses that deliver students to school and home also will be … Continue reading →

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Where’s the response for this?

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This was bigger than Rick Perry’s Prayerpalooza in terms of attendance. It should have been bigger in terms of news interest as well. Some families camped out for hours to gain admittance into the Houston’s first-ever, citywide back-to-school event at … Continue reading →

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Austin ISD rehiring some teachers

Posted on August 7, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

A little bit of good news. The Austin school board voted Monday to abandon plans to expand class sizes to save money, reverting to the ideal student-teacher ratio of 22-to-1 for classes in kindergarten through the fourth grade and prompting … Continue reading →

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Higher standards mean lower ratings

Posted on July 31, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Schools across the state have seen their academic ratings drop as a result of changes made in how the Texas Education Agency computes them. The new accountability ratings released Friday for public school campuses in the state’s 1,228 districts and … Continue reading →

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