Tag Archives: deficit

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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Thanks for helping us balance the budget, fishermen

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron’s Shannon Tompkins explains how budgetary shenanigans have an adverse effect on Texas’ hunters and fishers. Every year, tens of millions of dollars in hunting and fishing license fees are left sitting in the state account used to fund … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

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 →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

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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Noted for 2013

Posted on August 14, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

When the next Texas Legislature gets gaveled in and hears the bad news about the ten-figure budget shortfall it will have to deal with, remember that at least one Republican involved in the budget-writing process this year says we won’t … Continue reading →

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Sugar Land prison set to close

Posted on August 11, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This has been a long time coming. Texas joins a nationwide trend of shutting expensive state prisons, driven partly by red ink in state budgets, partly by a drop in convict numbers (with the lowest crime rate since 1973) and … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Lawsuit filed against business margins tax

Posted on August 10, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Allstate Claims Service, L.P., which is based in Boerne, has filed a lawsuit alleging that the business margins tax is an illegally-passed income tax in Texas. Oh, boy. Nikki Laing, a CPA and third-year Baylor law student, studied the structure … Continue reading →

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HISD to hire back some teachers

Posted on August 10, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

More good news. More than 300 teachers and other educators in the Houston Independent School District have been rehired since the massive round of layoffs in the spring, according to newly released data. Additional HISD teachers could get their jobs … Continue reading →

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Don’t forget Texas’ debt

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Now that Perry’s Prayerpalooza is behind us and we breathlessly await his Presidential decision, keep this op-ed by former State Rep. Jim Dunnam in mind whenever you hear Perry pontificate about the national debt. Before Rick Perry became governor, Texas … 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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You get the policies you voted for

Posted on August 5, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I hate to sound like a broken record, but these people need to quit complaining about getting what they voted for. Midland County officials are appealing to the state for reconsideration after it stripped $1.2 million in funding from the … Continue reading →

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The city and county would like to cooperate, but…

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

…it’s hard to do when there’s no money to do it with. City and county officials have not met for months to discuss a joint booking facility, long touted as a way to save taxpayers money. It would get the … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Tough times for teaching hospitals

Posted on July 30, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Oh, who needs doctors, anyway? Texas teaching hospitals are bracing for a big hit in the federal deficit-reduction plans under consideration, just a few weeks after the state Legislature slashed funding to the same doctor-training programs. The cuts will exacerbate … Continue reading →

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The job market for teachers

Posted on July 30, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

There are still some jobs available for new teachers and teachers looking for a new gig, but not nearly as many as there have been in the past. Because of the Legislature’s initial $4 billion cut from public school funding, … Continue reading →

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Talking about the T word

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Scott McCown brings up the subject of taxes but leaves it short of where to go from here. If a stronger economy, honest budgeting and pitting priorities against each other aren’t the answer, what is? Texas must modestly increase taxes. … Continue reading →

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Are there West Texas pickup opportunities available?

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Depends on how you look at it, I suppose. Former Potter County Democratic Party chairman Abel Bosquez said he plans to run for the same Texas House seat he did not win in last year’s election. “I am ready to … Continue reading →

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Better times are coming (we hope)

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

So says City Controller Ronald Green in the Chron’s op-ed pages. Officially, the U.S. recession has ended. We have certainly rounded the corner here in Houston. And while there is a loss here of public sector jobs, the private sector … Continue reading →

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Day One at the SBOE

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s your TFN Insider coverage of today’s SBOE science hearings. In Part I of the hearings, we find that the SBOE may not be such a major factor in school curriculum any more: 10:20  – Board members are quizzing the … Continue reading →

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That next school finance lawsuit is coming

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Look for it when school starts this fall. Texas lawmakers who left town recently after cutting public education and doing little to fix school funding disparities have guaranteed another school finance lawsuit, according to educators and lawyers involved in the … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Does Perry get any credit?

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

What credit, if any, should Rick Perry get for Texas’ relatively good economic condition? This Statesman story aims to find out. As Gov. Rick Perry’s flirtation with running for president puts the Texas economy under a microscope, there’s no question … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Austin braces for job losses

Posted on July 17, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Ready or not, here they come. The Texas Education Agency said Tuesday that it is laying off 178 employees this week. Those are among the first of thousands of state government layoffs expected in the coming weeks. The TEA decision … Continue reading →

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Steroid prevalency: Opinions differ

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Richard Justice writes about steroids in sports, in particular steroid use among high school students, and quotes a familiar source. [Don Hooton] cites a Procter & Gamble Co. study in which 2,000 kids were asked if an adult, parent, coach … Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Our debt is good, your debt is bad

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Oh, the humanity! For all the controversy over the national debt ceiling, here’s a surprise: Since 2001, the debt load in conservative Texas has grown faster than the federal debt. Texas has been borrowing more than most other states, too. … Continue reading →

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RIP, Department of Rural Affairs

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

People say they want to shrink government, except when it happens to them. The Texas Department of Rural Affairs, the office that helps keep rural Texas communities afloat, is scheduled to close in October, and the lawmaker who wrote the … Continue reading →

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Why not put solar panels on school rooftops?

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

EoW asks a good question: As the debate over the Texas GOP’s cuts to public education funding raged, and the summer sun started to heat up, it became apparent that at least one opportunity was being missed. That’s when a … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Opening bids on the next deficit

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Do I hear $7 billion? Ten billion? How about $15 billion? Early projections indicate that when the Legislature convenes in 2013 it could face another revenue shortfall. Not as severe as this year’s $27-billion gap, but still problematic. “I think … Continue reading →

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The HISD/charter school “talent war”

Posted on July 6, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This sounds more alarming than it should be. KIPP, in competition with HISD for students, increasingly is wooing high-level staff, too. Mike Feinberg, cofounder and superintendent of KIPP Houston, calls the contest for administrators “a talent war.” Since last year, … Continue reading →

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One more thing the Lege failed to do

Posted on July 3, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Anyone keeping a list? Texas lawmakers adjourned without fixing the state’s prepaid college tuition program, which now faces a $600 million shortfall and could go broke as early as 2014 by some estimates. If that happens, state taxpayers may have … Continue reading →

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Sine Die, take two

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The House followed the Senate out the door yesterday, leaving a bit of unfinished business behind. The Senate’s version of a bill to criminalize intrusive pat-downs by federal agents with the Transportation Security Administration has died in the House, after … Continue reading →

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From the “Work smarter, not harder” files

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

So far, deep cuts in local budgets not yet led to equivalent reductions in service levels. The city of Houston just cut spending by $100 million in the budget that begins next month. The average Houstonian may have to look … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

News flash: The Amazon sales tax problem requires a federal solution

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

How many times do we have to say it? State governments across the country are laying off teachers, closing public libraries and parks, and reducing health care services, but there is one place they could get $23 billion if they … Continue reading →

Posted in Bidness | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Non-robust job numbers in Texas

Posted on June 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

As goes the country, so goes the state. The Houston area is showing signs of a slowdown after coming off some fairly strong job gains during the winter months. “It’s very consistent with the national pattern,” said Barton Smith, professor … Continue reading →

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