Tag Archives: schools

If class size doesn’t matter…

Posted on January 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

…then why do private schools boast about their small classes and low student-teacher ratios? That’s the question former Lite Guv and State Sen. Bill Ratliff asks in the Chron. When confronted with public decision-making, many people find it instructive to … Continue reading →

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The state of school food

Posted on January 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Bettina has a feature story in Houston Family magazine about the current state of school food, which takes into account recently passed legislation by Congress and what’s going on in HISD. She also has a report from an HISD “Nutrition … Continue reading →

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A few thoughts from Opening Day

Posted on January 11, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Just a few random bits from today’s festivities… – In the end and despite the teabagger footstomping, the Speaker’s Race turned out to be a big nothingburger, which was what most rational people expected all along. There were a few … Continue reading →

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The pushback on class size limits

Posted on January 6, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The DMN continues its commendable work on the upcoming legislative fight over class size limits by writing about the skeptics of smaller class sizes. The most comprehensive assessment dates back just as far as the Texas law, to a four-year … Continue reading →

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Still more on class size limits

Posted on January 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Real good article in the Press about class size limits and the possible effects of raising them, which I’ve written about before. A couple of points: A famous education study done in Tennessee in the 1980s shows class size matters. … Continue reading →

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Teach For America grants

Posted on January 2, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

In other education and budget news, there’s this. Texas lawmakers have ordered a study of Teach for America to help determine if the Peace Corps-like program, which recruits top college graduates to work in needy schools, is worth the state’s … Continue reading →

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The coming fight over class sizes

Posted on December 30, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

We’ve discussed the looming cuts to public education, in which the focus of the battle will be class size limits, which are currently mandated at 22 students per classroom. That was part of the sweeping 1984 overhaul of the education … 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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Teaching safe social networking skills

Posted on December 29, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

This seems like a good idea. The all-boys San Antonio Academy has long used an internal e-mail system provided by a company called Gaggle. So when Gaggle launched the Social Learning Wall application this year, the private academy’s administrators jumped … Continue reading →

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Will HISD close low-enrollment schools?

Posted on December 23, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

As if there weren’t enough politically charged agenda items out there for next year. Like dozens of campuses in the Houston Independent School District, Jones is losing students and brimming with empty seats. HISD trustees must make politically tough choices … Continue reading →

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Update on the next school finance lawsuit

Posted on December 15, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

It’s coming, but schools are going to wait to see what the Lege does before proceeding with the inevitable. “School districts right now are in a state of shock,” [Austin litigator Buck] Wood said. “Things are much worse than even … Continue reading →

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Getting kids to try new foods

Posted on December 11, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The following was co-written by my wife Tiffany Tyler, who is the chair of the board of the Central City Co-op and Carolyn Lambeth, the Director of Operations for Central City. It appeared on Monday as a guest post on … Continue reading →

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The coming cuts to public education

Posted on December 10, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

We know that public education is a huge part of the state’s budget, and in the absence of any willingness on the part of the Republicans to ensure that it’s properly funded, we know there will be cuts coming. How … Continue reading →

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First they came for Medicaid

Posted on November 21, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Then they came for public education. School districts are being told they should expect to get an estimated $3 billion to $5 billion less in the next two-year budget as lawmakers begin wrestling with a $24 billion revenue shortfall in … Continue reading →

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“Lunch Line”

Posted on October 23, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Want to understand the history of the school lunch program and what’s going on with it today? Then you’ll want to see the documentary “Lunch Line”, for which The Lunch Tray is, fittingly enough, a sponsor: Here’s a trailer of … Continue reading →

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The case for using social media in the schools

Posted on October 16, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Sounds good to me. A year after seventh grade teacher Elizabeth Delmatoff started a pilot social media program in her Portland, Oregon classroom, 20% of students school-wide were completing extra assignments for no credit, grades had gone up more than … Continue reading →

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A bill for Asher

Posted on October 5, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Representatives Garnet Coleman and Jessica Farrar announced [Friday] that they would again file and work to pass the Dignity For All Students Act to prohibit discrimination or harassment against students and employees of Texas public schools. Recent … Continue reading →

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Cutting the budget means cutting education

Posted on September 30, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

No two ways around it. As the single biggest consumer of state money, the Texas public education system stands to lose millions of dollars as the state grapples with a looming budget shortfall. Education Commissioner Robert Scott has suggested more … Continue reading →

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State sues over education stimulus funds

Posted on September 24, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

So much for a peaceful resolution. Texas went to federal court [Thursday] to pry loose $830 million in federal aid intended to help avert teacher layoffs. The funds — Texas’ share of a $10 billion jobs package Congress approved last … Continue reading →

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Scrap it and start over

Posted on September 21, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Good to hear. Texas needs to scrap its school funding system and start all over, Senate Education Chair Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, said Thursday, as other members of a special school finance committee agreed that the existing system is hopelessly broken. … Continue reading →

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Helping middle schoolers

Posted on September 16, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

You’d think this would be a pretty basic thing to do. Texas Sen. Florence Shapiro was stunned a few years ago when state auditors answered her request with a white surrender flag: They could not tell her which programs designed … Continue reading →

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Feds reject Texas’ application for education funds

Posted on September 13, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Oops. The U.S. Department of Education has rejected Texas’ application for $830 million in federal money for schools and asked the state to resubmit its request without conditions. The rejection was based on a line in the state’s application that … Continue reading →

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Donating unused school food

Posted on September 8, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

If you spend any time in a public school cafeteria, you will see a lot of food getting thrown out. Much of it is stuff that has to be thrown out, of course, such as all cooked food. But that … Continue reading →

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Perry asks for federal education funds

Posted on September 7, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

About time. Gov. Rick Perry on Friday submitted the state’s application for the money, which is intended to help school districts save teacher jobs now. But Texas faced a bigger hurdle than other states because of an amendment authored by … Continue reading →

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Still more on the new school lunches

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Bettina Elias Siegel, the lady behind The Lunch Tray, gets her op-ed on HISD’s healthier lunch choices published in the Chron. One critical piece of the puzzle is student food education. But HISD now has only about 15 dietetic interns … Continue reading →

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School social media policies

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The DMN has an interesting look at how Dallas-area school districts handle social networking by its employees. [S]chool districts and teachers trying to reach and engage students and parents find that using the latest and most popular technology is faster, … Continue reading →

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More on the new school lunches

Posted on August 25, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron published a Sunday story about the changes to school lunches that we can expect this year. Among the items debuting on Houston-area school lunch menus this academic year: yams, Brussels sprouts, acorn squash, edamame and bok choy. Sushi, … Continue reading →

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Smartphones in the schools

Posted on August 23, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

This makes a lot of sense to me. While most [San Antonio] area school districts maintain policies that ban students from using cell phones on campus, a few districts are breaking the mold and beginning to admit smart phones into … Continue reading →

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What your kids have to look forward to in the cafeteria this year

Posted on August 23, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Today is the first day of school for HISD and other districts around the state. Among other things, this means a whole bunch of kids will be eating school food at least some of the time again. For HISD at … Continue reading →

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Where in the Constitution is that?

Posted on August 18, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I’m reading this story about the just-passed federal legislation that would provide some $850 million in extra funds for public school districts in Texas to help prevent layoffs and whatnot, conditional on Texas agreeing to actually use the money on … Continue reading →

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More preschool, please

Posted on August 10, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Want to improve how high-risk children will do in school and later in life? Get them into preschool. [P]reschool seemed to improve performance on a variety of “non-cognitive” abilities, such as self-control, persistence and grit. While society has long obsessed … Continue reading →

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Interview with Rep. Scott Hochberg

Posted on August 9, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

State Rep. Scott Hochberg, who represents HD137, is generally considered the Legislature’s leading expert on public education and school finance. He’s the Vice Chair of the House Public Education Committee, and he chairs the Appropriations Subcommittee on Education. With so … Continue reading →

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That sound you hear is another school finance lawsuit coming

Posted on August 4, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

It may be sooner rather than later, but one way or another it’s coming. Despite numerous challenges and Band-Aids to Texas’ school funding system over the past three decades, school leaders say another school finance lawsuit is imminent. If it … Continue reading →

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How the schools are really doing

Posted on August 3, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I think I’m just going to let the picture tell the story: If you want the words, go read the Trib story. I get that the TPM is supposed to measure growth, and that growth can and does occur with … Continue reading →

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