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Students at some HISD schools lack textbooks for homework Houston Chronicle The hard part? They don't have textbooks. Numerous principals in the Houston Independent School District don't allow students to take home textbooks unless their parents come to campus once a year to sign out the material. Three months into the school year, some students say they are struggling to do homework without textbooks. For working parents or those without cars, arranging a special trip to campus can be difficult. The principals say the rule - which they break in special circumstances - is an attempt to get parents more involved and to accept responsibility for the books. Lost books cost schools tens of thousands of dollars a year. Christian Ortega, a freshman at Westbury High School, said his mom works at a hospital and hasn't had time to pick up his textbooks, so he walks to a friend's house when he has algebra homework. "I've had to borrow someone else's book. It's kind of difficult," he said. To continue reading, Click here Stressing About STAAR CBS 7 KOSA-TV (Midland, Odessa, TX) Midland, TX -Students are preparing for a test unlike any they've taken before. To continue reading, Click here Ed board members leave test rule alone Dallas Morning News State Board of Education members indicated Thursday they will not get involved in a dispute over the new high school end-of-course exams and how much they must count toward student grades in the 12 subjects that will be tested beginning this year. Several board members said they were unwilling to modify a law passed by the Legislature that says the new test must count for at least 15 percent of the final grade in each of the core subjects. Under the 2007 law, high school students must get a passing average on the three end-of-course tests in each of four subject areas — English, math, science and social studies — to receive a diploma. The law also spells out how the test results will be calculated into the final grade in each course. School superintendents across the state have complained that the testing law is unclear about how such things as course credits, grade-point averages and class rankings should be determined after inclusion of the end-of-course test scores — and the Texas Education Agency has been reluctant to issue guidelines on the 15 percent requirement. State Board of Education member Thomas Ratliff, R-Mount Pleasant, proposed Thursday that the board adopt a rule that students failing an end-of-course test still be given credit for a course if they had a grade of 70 or better in the course — exclusive of what they scored on the end-of-course exam for the subject. To continue reading, Click here Texas school districts struggle with fund cuts Dallas Morning News School districts across Texas are increasing class sizes, scrapping student field trips and scaling back remedial classes in response to massive funding cuts by the Legislature this year, according to a survey of more than 3,500 teachers, school employees and parents. The Web survey by the Texas AFT also showed that 92 percent of the respondents reported the loss of jobs by teachers or other employees in their school districts in the wake of the unprecedented funding reductions. While the survey was not scientific, it did get responses from 3,549 school employees and parents — with nearly 14 percent of the total coming from the Dallas school district. That was the largest bloc of respondents in the survey. “The numbers reported for layoffs and larger classes confirm the direct impact on classroom instruction,” Texas AFT President Linda Bridges said in releasing the survey findings on Thursday. To continue reading, Click here Texas Teachers Say Classes Growing, Layoffs Widespread Texas Tribune Since the Legislature's intention to cut $5.4 billion from public education became a reality, one question has dominated the conversation: just how bad will it be? Not everyone comes up with the same answer. But the Texas American Federation of Teachers, the state branch of the nationwide teachers association, has released the results of a web survey that reports extensive teacher layoffs, increasing class sizes and deteriorating work environments. To continue reading, Click here Some Texas GOP Candidates to Make Education a Priority Texas Tribune When Republican lawmakers talk about the cuts to public education made in the last session, a common refrain emerges: It could have been worse. The $4 billion reduction the House and Senate finally agreed on wasn’t nearly as frightening as the $10 billion slashed in the plan passed by the lower chamber with its Tea Party-fueled supermajority. At the time, lawmakers at the Capitol said they were taking seriously what they viewed as the mandate of the 2010 election: Voters wanted no new taxes and a reduction in government spending. But there are GOP candidates who hope that if they come to Austin in 2013, it will be with different instructions. In several Republican state House 2012 primary races across the state, the conversation may yet turn from invective against government spending to worry over increasing school class sizes and more rigorous student testing. There are at least a few candidates emerging who've traded in the anti-Washington cries of the last election cycle for a message with a different focus: the state of Texas public schools. Whether that messaging ultimately gets them into office remains unclear — the next general election is a year away, of course — but the success of their candidacies will be an effective gauge of the electorate’s mood. To continue reading, Click here New State Test Raises Concerns For Teachers, Educators Austin American Statesman When the new state achievement test rolls out this spring, students will notice several key changes from its predecessor. Not only will the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness be tougher, have more questions and come with a time limit, but the end-of-course exam scores for high school students will count for 15 percent of their grade. The old standardized test — the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills — did not, and unanswered questions about the change have caused confusion among school district administrators and concern among parents worried about the effect on class rank. Lawmakers approved the switch to the STAAR in 2007. However, the state was not explicit about how districts should convert test scores to grades. Though the test is rolling out in high schools this year only with ninth-graders — upperclassmen will continue taking the TAKS until they graduate — it will affect the grade-point averages for those students, and thus class rankings. To continue reading, Click here STAAR Adds Rigor, Does Away With Idea of 'Teaching The Test' Corpus Christi Caller Times Forget about educators just teaching the state-mandated test. The new State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, are expected to increase rigor and critical thinking standards that won't leave much room for yawning in the classroom. Students are being held to higher expectations. They are being told to review their textbooks even if they don't have homework and think about how their lessons in class relate to their lives outside of school. Students are doing more hands-on activities to build their problem-solving skills and understanding of new concepts for the tests, which replace the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, or TAKS. In ninth-grade math, Moody High School teacher Melanie Puente said her Algebra I students work on team projects and trial-and-error activities to hone their skills. "We're trying to get them past why things work, but how things work," she said. "That gets them to that higher order of thinking." To continue reading, Click here SBOE Could Give Schools More Control Over New Exams Texas Tribune In early February, Texas Education Agency chief Robert Scottstood before 6,000 school administrators who had just seen an initial budget from the Legislature that cut $10 billion in state funding from public education. One question drew cheers from the otherwise grim crowd: If there was no money, would the state still have to roll out STAAR, the new, more rigorous student assessment system? The answer, it turns out, was yes. Now, eight months later, the State Board of Education may try to modify the system in a way that allays school districts’ concerns. The first Texas ninth graders to take the new end-of-course exams will do so this spring. To graduate, they will have to receive a passing cumulative score on 12 exams in four subject areas over their high school years — and the exams will count 15 percent toward their final grades. To continue reading, Click here Proposition 6 increases Public School Funding San Antonio Express News Texas public schools took a big hit last legislative session and could use more state funding. Proposition 6 on the November ballot allows an increase in the amount of the Permanent School Fund endowment to be used for public schools without harming the principal. Money distributed from the Permanent School Fund, which is managed by the State Board of Education, comes from state land and mineral rights. It is earmarked for funding instructional materials and classroom technology and provides money to school districts on a per-student basis. Distribution of the funds is capped at 6 percent of the investment returns annually and is prohibited if the principal drops below a certain level, the House Research Organization noted. At present, land managed, sold or bought by the School Land Board, a panel that includes the general land commissioner, is not included in determining the PSF market value used to determine the amount of money that would be distributed for public education. To continue reading, Click here BISD Gearing Up for Change In State Test The Eagle The Bryan school district is working quickly to get a grasp of the requirements for the state's new standardized tests so that students can be prepared for the changes, the district's superintendent told school board members Monday. "In essence ... if we don't get something in place relatively soon, we're doing to students what [the Texas Education Agency] does to us," Thomas Wallis said. The first year of the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness assessments comes with several questions for the districts to answer, including how the test will factor into students' grade point averages and class rank. "This is another example of school districts having to fly by the seat of their pants and adjust on the run because we don't know the rules of the game when the game's already started," Wallis said. To continue reading, Click here Schools Are Bracing for New Kind of State Tests Fort Worth Star-Telegram In the spring, high school freshmen will take end-of-course exams being phased in to measure academic achievement of Texas students. But teachers won't know how the exams will be scored until February, about a month before students take the new State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness tests. Passing standards on tests for younger students won't be established until October 2012, after results from this spring's round of testing are in. To continue reading, Click here Schools Prepare For STAAR -- State Readies New Test Brenham Banner Press Brenham school district has started preparing its educators and students for the introduction of the new State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) test. Educators are participating in staff development, conferences, webinars and distance learning classes to stay abreast of all the resources available to the district, said Bonnie Brinkmeyer, the district’s coordinator of instructional services. STAAR is the state’s new assessment test for public schools. “Our educators’ job is to meet students’ needs with the right resources and to make sure students have every opportunity to be successful,” Brinkmeyer said. To continue reading, Click here Districts: Not Enough Info To Prepare For New Tests Amarillo Globe News Amarillo metro-area school district leaders say the Texas Education Agency hasn’t given them enough information to prepare students for new standardized tests that will be administered this spring. River Road Independent School District Superintendent Randy Owen said the agency has told school districts they must use the new State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness tests, but hasn’t told them how to prepare for them. “This is ludicrous to have to take a test that nobody has seen so (the Texas Education Agency) can go, ‘Aha, got you!’” Owen said at the September board of trustees meeting. Owen compared the agency’s approach to the situation to making a person take a driver’s license test without having a chance to study from the driver’s safety book. To continue reading, Click here KISD Applies For 61 Class Size Waivers Fort Worth Star-Telegram As part of millions of dollars in budget cuts over the past two years, the number of students each teacher instructs is creeping up at many Keller district schools. At the Sept. 15 board meeting, trustees approved an application for 61 class size waivers in second, third and fourth grades. In the past, Keller officials have applied for just a few waivers each year. State law caps student-teacher ratios for kindergarten through fourth grade at 22-to-1 and requires school districts to apply to the Texas Education Agency for a waiver for a larger class. During the 2011 session of the Texas Legislature, lawmakers discussed changing the 22-to-1 ratio from a required cap to an average to help districts adjust to lower state funding, said Penny Benz, assistant superintendent of human resources. While the bill didn't pass, many districts made staffing plans with higher ratios. To continue reading, Click here Texas Schools, Publishers Adjust to Power Shift Texas Tribune A new state law that decentralizes the selection and purchase of instructional materials for public school students has sparked significant discussion about how it will affect the power of the politically charged State Board of Education to control what’s taught in Texas classrooms. But its most dramatic impact may be on the state’s relationship to the textbook industry, since companies must now compete for bids from individual districts instead of being able to rely on a single big and largely guaranteed state contract. School districts are also using the same money to support technological hardware like iPads and salaries for technology training and support staff. While the Board of Education still approves textbooks for students to use, Texas' 1,237 districts and charter schools are free to ignore its recommendations and purchase what they want in order to teach to the state's standards. The intent of the new law, its proponents say, is to give more local control to parents and administrators and to free districts to update their technology more frequently and as they see fit. “We're only just seeing the first stirring of how the marketplace is going to address the new-found options to districts,” said Michael Soto, a Democratic board member from San Antonio. On Aug. 3, the Texas Education Agency distributed $750 million among the state’s districts and charter schools to spend on textbooks of both the ink-and-paper and digital variety. That sum also includes money for technology hardware and salaries. Districts received 70 percent of these funds for the biennium this year, with the remaining 30 percent to come next year. What the districts don’t spend will carry over to their next budget. For publishing companies, the change in law means they face much more competition, said Ron Reed, an Austin-based sales and marketing consultant to publishers and a former textbook company executive. To continue reading, Click here Texas Education Agency Says It Can’t Clear Up Confusion About High School End-Of-Course Exams Dallas Morning News More than a month into the fall term, school districts across the state are complaining they still don’t know how state-required end-of-course exams must be folded into their grading systems. That means parents and students of ninth-graders can’t be sure about how the new EOC tests will apply to graduation requirements for low-performing students or to grade point averages and class rankings for students planning to attend college. And the Texas Education Agency has said it lacks the authority and is not planning to explain to districts how to follow the rule that the tests constitute 15 percent of the final grade in a course. Compounding the confusion, the state said last month that it may eventually allow students to use the results of ACT, SAT or AP tests to satisfy the EOC requirements. To continue reading, Click here Texas Education Agency Urges Schools to Order Instructional Materials Texas Curriculum New Instructional Materials Essential for New High-Stakes Standardized Tests Prompted by the State Board of Education (SBOE), the Texas Education Agency (TEA) is urging schools to order instructional materials that students need to prepare for the new STAAR end-of-course assessments. In a September 16 letter to all Texas school superintendents, TEA Commissioner Robert Scott wrote “I would like to remind school districts to take advantage of this opportunity to order instructional materials for this school year.” At the September meeting, SBOE members expressed concern after learning many schools across the state have delayed ordering instructional materials under the new allotment system created by Senate Bill 6. The bill establishes priorities for using the allotment and asks school districts to use the allotment first to support student performance on the state assessment. SBOE member Ken Mercer, of San Antonio, found it troubling that “only 33 percent of 9th grade English materials had been ordered as of Tuesday” because schools know that students entering the 9th grade are the first high school class required to take the STAAR end-of-course assessments. SBOE member Lawrence Allen Jr. of Houston suggested the board also send its own letter encouraging districts to implement the new programs. A Texas Curriculum analysis of current TEA data shows that as of September 20th just over 30 percent of schools have placed orders for the updated instructional materials. “It is unfortunate that fully one half of the schoolchildren in Texas do not have the new instructional programs aligned to the stronger curriculum standards that are reflected in the STAAR test,” said Mark McDonald, executive director of Texas Curriculum Legislators included provisions giving priority to proclamation 2011 subjects in this new allotment system, because they are aligned to the new STAAR end-of-course assessments or cover new standards to prepare students. The district superintendent is required to certify that every student has instructional materials that cover all elements of the essential knowledge and skills of the required curriculum, other than physical education, for each grade level as required in the Texas Education Code, Section 28.002. Additionally, the new instructional materials are replacing programs that are 8-18 years old, in the subjects of English Language Arts, including handwriting and spelling, English as a Second Language, and Pre-Kindergarten. All of these materials contain the building blocks for effective college and career readiness. Updated PreK materials emphasize much higher expectations in early reading and math skills. Stronger ESL materials are built around new proficiency standards and are designed to improve English comprehension of students with limited English proficiency. “With end-of-course tests looming this school year, there must be more urgency to getting the education materials into students’ hands so they can succeed. As of now, just over 40 percent of the funds made available by the Texas Legislature to procure the materials have been spent,” McDonald said. To continue reading, Click here In Classroom of Future, Stagnant Scores New York Times Amy Furman, a seventh-grade English teacher here, roams among 31 students sitting at their desks or in clumps on the floor. They’re studying Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” — but not in any traditional way. In this technology-centric classroom, students are bent over laptops, some blogging or building Facebook pages from the perspective of Shakespeare’s characters. One student compiles a song list from the Internet, picking a tune by the rapper Kanye West to express the emotions of Shakespeare’s lovelorn Silvius. The class, and the Kyrene School District as a whole, offer what some see as a utopian vision of education’s future. Classrooms are decked out with laptops, big interactive screens and software that drills students on every basic subject. Under a ballot initiative approved in 2005, the district has invested roughly $33 million in such technologies. To continue reading, Click here Some DFW schools are Making Do Without New Textbooks Fort Worth Star-Telegram The textbook case seemed grim back in June: The Legislature still hadn't approved school funding during its special session, and district planners who usually order books in April wouldn't be able to access the state's new ordering system until August. Now, a week into the new school year, publishers and districts report that textbook ordering and distribution are proceeding smoothly, and despite current delays, months-long waits aren't likely. "We've seen about 25 percent of the orders we anticipated come in so far," said Eve Myers, Southwest region vice president for publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. "About 75 percent of districts have not placed a complete order." To continue reading, Click here New Textbooks Will Be Absent As School Starts San Antonio Express-News New instructional materials in these subjects may be delayed in reaching local schools: • Pre-kindergarten curriculum Cracking open a new English textbook on the first day of school today won’t be an option for some area students. The same goes for students who should begin flipping through the pages of new handwriting, spelling and Spanish textbooks. To continue reading, Click here DFW School Districts Work To Shelter Pre-Kindergarten From Budget Cuts Fort Worth Star Telegram As state cuts in education funding begin to ripple throughout the public school system, educators are concerned that the youngest and most vulnerable students could be among those most affected. The cuts include $1.4 billion in discretionary grants that fund full-day pre-kindergarten programs for the children of low-income, homeless, foster and military families. If the programs are scaled back further, educators say, nearly 100,000 full-day preschoolers in Texas could fall behind their peers as early as kindergarten, and their parents could face challenges in finding and affording substitute care for their children. To continue reading, Click here Texas School Cuts To Be Felt In Ways Big And Small Fort Worth Star Telegram In one fast-growing Texas district, two new schools will sit empty this year because there's no money for teachers. Another district's cuts mean students who want to take the bus will have to pay $185 a semester for the ride. In yet another district, the bands won't travel to away football games. As students return to school next week, the impact of cuts made by the Texas Legislature to education funding will be felt in ways big and small. Some students will notice larger classes, others will miss out on field trips. Districts have eliminated teaching jobs and administrative positions. "When you suffer a blow like what's been dealt to public education in Texas, there's no way to completely shield parents and students from the hit," said Texas Association of School Administrators spokeswoman Jenny LaCoste-Caputo. To continue reading, Click here Challenges Ahead For Austin District As School Year Starts Austin American-Statesman New backpacks, empty grade books, clean chalkboards. The beginning of a new school year is always a fresh start. But as much as Austin school district officials have tried in recent days to start the new year on a positive note, they acknowledged there's still a lot of hard work and tough decisions ahead. Superintendent Meria Carstarphen said future budget expectations will drive the key decisions in the 2011-12 school year. And, unfortunately, those budget projections paint a "pretty depressing picture." To continue reading, Click here Labeling Campuses As 'failing' Doesn't Accurately Reflect Progress Fort Worth Star Telegram Labels have always bothered me, especially when they are placed on children. The branding of our young people can be a degrading exercise that results in negative outcomes rather than the positive effects we desire. And yet that's exactly what we do by labeling public schools based on test scores whose outcomes are often difficult to explain to educators, much less parents and an entire community. To continue reading, Click here Schools May Struggle With Textbook System Changes Houston Chronicle When little Jennifer goes back to school, something will be different. It won't just be the new teacher or the new classroom or the new bulletin board. It's the way she gets her books and other instructional materials she needs to learn. Between the time that school ended and the time it opens for the fall, the Texas Legislature completely overturned the way little Jennifer — and the 4.5 million other kids in Texas schools - get instructional materials. Texas has a historic commitment to providing instructional materials to its schoolchildren. A state constitutional provision, dating from the 19th century, requires the State Board of Education to set aside enough money from the Permanent School Fund "to provide free text books for the use of children attending the public free schools of this State." To continue reading, Click here Day 13: Textbook Affordability Measures Kick In Texas Tribune A law authored by House Higher Education Chairman Dan Branch, R-Dallas, that aims to bring down the costs of textbooks at Texas colleges and universities takes effect. In February, Texas State University freshman Caitlin Clark wrote a piece for The University Star about a bill authored by state Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas. "If the Legislature is doing anything right this session, this is it," Clark wrote. "I hope they pass this bill for the sake of my (parents') wallet and the wallets of other Texas college students." She got her wish. Sponsored in the upper chamber by Senate Higher Education Chairwoman Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, House Bill 33 passed, was signed by Gov. Rick Perry, and will technically take effect on Sept. 1. It's no surprise that the bill might be a hit with the students. By codifying new federal rules, it puts into place a number of measures aimed at bringing down the cost of college textbooks. To continue reading, Click here AG Not Clear on SBOE Member San Antonio Express-News Registered lobbyists are not eligible to serve on the State Board of Education, Attorney General Greg Abbott said Friday in a legal opinion aimed at the qualifications of new member Thomas Ratliff. Ratliff is a registered lobbyist, whose clients include Microsoft. Abbott's opinion, however, said his office cannot appropriately determine the question of whether Ratliff lobbies on business related to the board, which would make him ineligible to serve on it. To continue reading, Click here Teaching and Learning: A Never-Ending Test Fort Worth Star-Telegram At Fort Worth's academy for new high school teachers this past week, the training focused on communicating effectively and positively with students, making expectations clear and planning carefully to avoid disruption and disorder that deter learning. More than a few of those educators worry about the stigma of recently released poor accountability ratings that have school board members grumbling, and not just in Fort Worth. Campuses in Arlington, Eagle Mountain-Saginaw and Crowley were among those that missed the passing bar for the final year of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. The TAKS is being replaced statewide for 2011-12. And when federal ratings came out last week, none of the high schools in Arlington, Mansfield or the Birdville district met the standard of adequate yearly progress. Neither did Grapevine High. To continue reading, Click here Public Schools Will Open Throughout North Texas, And Teachers Will Be There Fort Worth Star-Telegram With the new school year scheduled to begin a week from today, the sense of gloom and financial disaster that hung over local districts for months has largely dissolved into acceptance and a feeling of something akin to "it could have been worse." That, fortunately, is typical of educators. When it's time to open the school doors, they go to work devotedly and focus on the job to be done. To continue reading, Click here Dallas Christian High School takes iPad School-Wide Dallas Morning News Distribution of $500 iPad 2s to each of the more than 200 students at Dallas Christian High School brought a buzz to the campus Monday night that school leaders hope will carry straight to opening day on Thursday. “Everyone’s pretty excited about it and messing around with it already,” said Clayton Arnold, a sophomore from Rowlett. “It’s easier to do homework and things that require the Internet. It’s maybe a little easier to understand than a laptop would be.” The size and portability of the iPad is a distinct advantage over a 20-pound backpack filled with textbooks, or even the laptops issued in districts such as Forney, Irving and Richardson. To continue reading, Click here Day 8: Texas Students Switch to STAAR Testing Texas Tribune Throughout the month of August, The Texas Tribune will feature 31 ways Texans' lives will change come Sept. 1, the date most bills passed by the Legislature — including the dramatically reduced budget — take effect. Check out our story calendar here. Day 8: Armed with fewer resources, teachers prepare students for rigorous new STAAR test. In the fall, educators will begin to prepare students for a new series of test known as STAAR, the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness. STAAR will replace TAKS, the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. Lawmakers passed the mandate to begin STAAR testing back in 2009. They will finally be implemented during the next school year despite a $4 billion cut to public education. KUT News' Kelsey Sheridan recently filed a report on how educators are feeling anxious about the rollout. Listen to her story below. To continue reading, Click here Austin School Board Votes to Reduce Class Sizes, Clearing The Way To Hire Teachers Austin American Statesman 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 a need to hire dozens of teachers. The move, which will cost the district $2.5 million, comes about seven months after trustees approved raising the staffing formula guidelines to 24-to-1 as part of an effort to cut expenses. Anticipating drastic state cuts and possible changes to state rules on the 22-1 classroom cap, district administrators had recommended the larger classes for the 2011-12 school year, saying they would save the district $9.8 million. To continue reading, Click here School Ratings Are Quite An Industry Corpus Christi Caller Times Texas' school accountability system is a noble cause. If only the same could be said for its effectiveness. "We have multiple accountability systems that have produced inconsistent ratings based on different measures of performance, different student groups and different performance standards," the Texas Association of School Boards said Friday, as the state released school ratings. Add to the confusion that the federal government also assesses schools and that its ratings often contradict the state's. To continue reading, Click here Editorial: Revamped School Ratings Offer a Needed Dose of Reality Dallas Morning News The reality of statewide student testing can’t be papered over any longer, and last week’s dose was a jolt for many school communities across North Texas. Campuses and districts that traditionally pride themselves on excellence lost bragging rights under the revamped school rating system. The news was especially grim in Dallas ISD, where the number of academically unacceptable schools more than doubled, based on 2011 test scores. A majority of regular high schools in Dallas are now in the state’s rock-bottom category of performance. The news is bitter but necessary. To continue reading, Click here School Finance Heading To Court San Express-News It looks like the courts will once again be called upon to fix the public school finance problem our lawmakers in Austin could not. The less-than-stellar efforts of the Texas Legislature to provide equitable funding have resulted in some school districts currently receiving $1,000 less per student each year than other districts with identical tax rates. That's just not right. To continue reading, Click here Do Texas, Federal School Accountability Ratings Mean Anything? Fort Worth Star Telegram In late May and early June, nearly 5 million Texas schoolchildren ended another academic year and began their summer vacation with report cards in hand. Whether it was a "letter grade" or a "numerical grade," the report card was, for virtually every student, a fair and accurate accounting of how that child performed in language arts, mathematics, science, history, foreign language, fine arts and other subject areas. Now it's about time for the Fort Worth school district and more than 1,000 other public school systems statewide to receive annual "report cards." State accountability ratings, compiled by the Texas Education Agency, will be released Friday. Federal accountability ratings, compiled according to provisions of "No Child Left Behind" and the U.S. Department of Education, will be released a week later, on Aug. 4. To continue reading, Click here TAKS Run Shows Big Gains For Texas Students, But National Measures Do Not Dallas Morning News As Texas schools bid farewell to nearly a decade of TAKS testing, state education officials look back with pride. Every year, they note, scores show that Texas students have learned more about math, reading and science. Just-released Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills scores from the 2010-11 school year show the upward trajectory in student passing rates continued to nudge up in most subjects and grades. “I don’t think there’s any doubt the increased scores on TAKS show increased learning across the state,” said Gloria Zyskowski, deputy associate commissioner at the Texas Education Agency. To continue reading, Click here For Some, School Ratings Change Increases the Worry Texas Tribune On Friday, the Texas Education Agency will publicly release its annual accountability ratings for the state’s 1,000-plus school districts. School officials always eye this day with nervous anticipation, but this year many are feeling more than a twinge of dread. This will be the first year the official ratings — which categorize schools as “exemplary,” “recognized,” “acceptable” or “unacceptable” based on academic performance — will not contain the mechanism known as the Texas Projection Measure since it was implemented in 2009. Instead of using students’ actual scores on standardized tests, the ratings formula gauged students’ future test scores based on a campus-wide average, which boosted ratings statewide. For instance, in the 2009-10 school year, 245 schools were rated “unacceptable” with the projection measure factored in. Without it, 603 would have fallen into that category. So whether or not schools’ actual passing rates have changed, many school leaders will be forced to explain lower ratings to parents and taxpayers. To continue reading, Click here New Science E-books Approved by State Education Board Dallas Morning News State Board of Education members Thursday tentatively adopted new supplemental science materials for Texas schools, dismissing complaints by social conservative critics that the materials are too one-sided when it comes to evolution and key principles of Charles Darwin. Although one leading textbook publisher — Houghton Mifflin Harcourt — was told to make several changes to get its high school biology e-book approved, eight other biology e-books were adopted unanimously by the board. Three were approved after minor changes were agreed to by their publishers. A potential source of disagreement was eliminated when state Education Commissioner Robert Scott excluded a creationist-backed biology e-book from his list of recommendations to the board. Scott and an educator review team determined that the material, published by International Databases, did not meet state curriculum standards. To continue reading, Click here SBOE Gives Tentative OK to Science Supplements Texas Tribune Without much of its accustomed quarrelling, the Texas State Board of Education moved toward approving a list of publishers for supplemental science materials today. "Somebody might want their ticket refunded, because there wasn't a fight," exclaimed member David Bradley, R-Beaumont, at the end of the meeting. Today and tomorrow the board is considering a list of reccomended vendors for the supplemental materials that will update textbooks to the science standards it adopted in 2009, which include the requirement that students learn “all sides” of scientific theories like evolution and natural selection. To continue reading, Click here Cargill, Peerwani Should Learn Lessons Of Predecessors Austin American-Statesman It's the common refrain of the disenchanted, disillusioned and those generally disappointed with some of democracy's outcomes: It's all politics. Often, it is. And, when measured against the alternatives, that's not a bad thing. As former U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt and others have pointed out, politics trumps gunplay as a way to settle differences. But even within the boundaries of politics, there are places where politics should play as little a role as possible. Two important political appointments made by Gov. Rick Perry fit into that world. To continue reading, click here Perry's New Education Board Chair Brings Mixed Reactions San Antonio Express-News Barbara Cargill expects to be a fair leader of the State Board of Education after Gov. Rick Perry nominated her to lead the often contentious 15-member board — after his last two choices failed to win Senate confirmation. “I expect to facilitate the meetings with a lot of character and a listening ear because we all represent our various districts, so we certainly want to hear from every board member on the issues,” the former public school science teacher said Tuesday. “I hope to do a great job in leading the board as we focus on students and education.” Cargill's nomination drew conflicting reactions from groups that closely monitor the State Board of Education. To continue reading, click here Cargill Named Chairwoman of State Bd. of Ed. Austin American-Statesman State Board of Education member Barbara Cargill, R-The Woodlands, will take the helm as the board’s new chairwoman, Gov. Rick Perry announced Friday. She will follow Gail Lowe, who was appointed chairwoman two years ago but did not win Senate confirmation during the just-concluded legislative session. Lowe, who returns to her seat as an elected member of the board, also got the position when her predecessor, Don McLeroy, failed to get Senate confirmation in 2009. Cargill was first elected to the board in 2004. A former biology teacher, Cargill founded the Wonders of the Woodlands Science Camp, which she still runs. To continue reading, click here Gov. Rick Perry Appoints Chairmen For Texas Education Board Dallas Morning News Republican Barbara Cargill of The Woodlands was appointed chairwoman of the board, which governs textbook and curriculum content, for the next two years. Cargill was a science teacher in the Garland and Hurst-Euless-Bedford school districts and was also a curriculum coordinator in the H-E-B district. She is the founder and director of the Wonders of the Woodlands Science Camp. Cargill, who has served on the panel for more than six years, is one of six members on the board who generally side with social conservative groups on key education issues. She will take over as chairwoman when the board meets this month. To continue reading, click here Possible Textbook Delay Adds To Worries Fort Worth Star-Telegram The new state-mandated assessment program that begins this school year will not only be more rigorous for students but will require high schools to allot up to a quarter of the school year for testing. High schools could spend up to 45 days out of the 180-day school year testing and re-testing students under the new State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) accountability system. The testing schedule will not increase for grades three through eight. “From my standpoint, a testing calendar that includes a quarter of the year is excessive,” said Dr. Stephen Waddell, superintendent of the Lewisville school district. “We have a lot of testing already. With the STAAR system, we’re going to get more testing than we’ve ever had.” To continue reading, click here School Administrators Concerned About New STAAR Testing Dallas Morning News The new state-mandated assessment program that begins this school year will not only be more rigorous for students but will require high schools to allot up to a quarter of the school year for testing. High schools could spend up to 45 days out of the 180-day school year testing and re-testing students under the new State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) accountability system. The testing schedule will not increase for grades three through eight. “From my standpoint, a testing calendar that includes a quarter of the year is excessive,” said Dr. Stephen Waddell, superintendent of the Lewisville school district. “We have a lot of testing already. With the STAAR system, we’re going to get more testing than we’ve ever had.” To continue reading, click here Texas Curriculum Praises Legislators for Funding Critical Classroom Materials Texas Curriculum Mark McDonald, executive director of Texas Curriculum, today praised Texas legislators for funding critically important instructional materials in the 2012-13 state budget during these tight fiscal times. “We applaud the Legislature for working so hard throughout this budget crisis, and standing up for Texas schoolchildren by funding classroom basics, which will be delivered straight to Texas classrooms. The updated instructional materials were developed to align to a stronger curriculum required by the state’s new higher standards and new end-of-course exams that the Legislature, educators and parents all wanted,” said McDonald. Lawmakers budgeted $300 million for the new digital and print instructional materials that will replace supplies that are 8-18 years old, in the subjects of English Language Arts, including handwriting and spelling, and English as a Second Language. Additional budget bills allocated funds for newly aligned Pre-K, continuing contracts for new students entering Texas schools and all-digital Supplemental Science material. The new English and Language Arts instructional materials contain the building blocks for effective college and career readiness and are based on new education standards to help students learn essentials such as grammar, punctuation, spelling, and the more heavily emphasized composition skills. Updated PreK materials are based on comprehensive, research-based guidelines that emphasize much higher expectations in early reading and math skills. Stronger ESL materials are built around new proficiency standards and are designed to improve English comprehension of students with limited English proficiency. “In any crisis it takes courage to stand up for what is right, and on behalf of Texas schoolchildren everywhere, I applaud the Legislature for not forgetting our most precious resource. There is widespread recognition that to strengthen our state we must invest in our children’s education in order to have an educated and skilled workforce. Senator Shapiro and other legislative education leaders never forgot that,” said McDonald. To continue reading, click here Lawmakers Approve Bill to Balance Budget El Paso Times High stakes drama played out in the Texas Legislature on Tuesday. Lawmakers gave final approval to a critical fiscal bill necessary to balance a $172-billion, two-year state budget, which also spreads $4 billion in cuts to public schools. But that came only after a breakdown in the Republican-led House nearly killed the measure, which would have forced the lawmakers back for a second summer session. To continue reading, click here Legislature Approves Budget bill, Nears End Of Special Session Lubbock Avalanche-Journal Only in the Texas Legislature. What had shaped up as a low-key end of a special session turned into confusion and disarray Tuesday afternoon when 31 Republicans in the House of Representatives, including Charles Perry of Lubbock and Jim Landtroop of Plainview, joined the Democratic minority to vote against a Senate bill that cuts $4 billion from public schools and is essential to balancing the state budget. "This could force us back into another special session," Rep. Four Price, R-Amarillo, said after the 79-64 vote against Senate Bill 1, authored by Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock. To continue reading, click here After Stunner, Texas House Approves School Finance Plan Fort Worth Star-Telegram House leaders overcame a scare in the final hours of the special session today as lawmakers voted 80-57 to approve a must-pass revenue and school finance bill that members rejected less than two hours earlier. The bill breezed through the Senate with little discussion today, but was surprisingly rejected by the House late Tuesday afternoon in an initial vote. Republicans, who hold a 101-49 majority in the chamber, huddled in a closed caucus to assess strategy and attempt to reverse the outcome. To continue reading, click here $4 Billion Cut From Texas Schools In Finance Plan Passed By Legislature Dallas Morning News Austin Bureau Lawmakers were close to turning out the lights on their special session Tuesday after approving a deficit-driven school finance plan that would slice $4 billion in funding for schools over two years. The funding plan includes unprecedented cuts of nearly 9 percent for Dallas and several other North Texas districts in the 2012-13 school year. To continue reading, click here Claim Of A State Increase In School Spending Is False Houston Chronicle Some of the leaders in our Texas Legislature are making the claim that the state budget expected to be signed by Gov. Rick Perry will give $1.6 billion to $3 billion more to our public schools than the previous budget. It's simply not true. In fact, the Legislature's own "fiscal note," which analyzes the financial impact of legislation, says that there is a "savings to the state" — meaning a reduction in aid to school districts - of $4 billion over the next two years. And some are proposing that those cuts be extended for three years after that - a total cut of $10 billion from our public schools. To continue reading, click here The 82nd Legislature Houston Chronicle The special legislative session nearly collapsed into disarray Tuesday when the Senate went home early and the House initially killed a must-pass school finance bill. But after first rejecting legislation imposing a $4 billion cut on public schools, House Republican leaders immediately called a caucus meeting and convinced 16 colleagues to change their votes, salvaging the final hours of the special session, which ends today. To continue reading, click here House OKs School Financing San Antonio Express-News The special legislative session nearly collapsed into disarray Tuesday when the Senate went home early and the House initially killed a must-pass school finance bill. But after first rejecting legislation imposing a $4 billion cut on public schools, House Republican leaders immediately called a caucus meeting and convinced 16 colleagues to change their votes, salvaging the final hours of the special session, which ends today. To continue reading, click here Capitol Digest: TEA Confirms Layoffs Coming Austin American-Statesman The Texas Education Agency expects a second round of layoffs in the coming weeks, a spokeswoman confirmed Tuesday. It is not yet clear how many jobs are to be eliminated or what the timing will be, said agency spokeswoman DeEtta Culbertson. But two people outside the agency who have been briefed on the layoff said the number will exceed 100 people. The agency lost about 200 "full-time equivalent" positions in the upcoming two-year budget, which begins Sept. 1, but that does not necessarily translate to another 200 people being gone. To continue reading, click here Senate Passes School Finance, Windstorm Bills, But House Doesn't Finish Austin American-Statesman The Texas Senate on Tuesday shut its doors on the Legislature's special session a day early after completing work on all the must-pass bills, but the House kept right on going. The House will return today to consider Senate Bill 29, the upper chamber's legislation criminalizing invasive airport pat-downs, a measure that is considerably tougher than the resolution to which the House previously agreed. To continue reading, click here How wet do you have to get before you realize it's raining? Austin American-Statesman Let's not beat around the bush or, in this case, Perry. As governor, George Bush elevated his national profile by forging bipartisan support for public education reform. In contrast, Rick Perry has pursued a political agenda that does nothing for our schools but underfund them. Complicit in that attack on Texas students are members of the House and Senate leadership who have misled the public with statements about how we have increased spending on public education this session. Though that is perhaps factual in the most technical sense, it's not the whole truth. To continue reading, click here Legislature Expected To Take Up Final Items Houston Chronicle The Texas Legislature is expected to take up the two most essential items of the special session. Both the House and the Senate are expected to make final votes Tuesday on a fiscal matters bill that will maintain school funding and one that will revamp a hurricane insurance program. Gov. Rick Perry first called the special session to pass these two bills 29 days ago. To continue reading, click here Legislature Passes Budget, Health Bills Austin American Statesman Moving to address key issues with just three days left in its special session, the Texas Legislature on Monday approved key budget and health care reform bills and appeared poised to approve a windstorm insurance measure for coastal areas. The Senate also passed a bill restricting invasive airport security pat-downs, and the House gave preliminary approval to a slightly different version that left both proponents and opponents unhappy. To continue reading, click here Lawmakers Change Spending On Teaching Materials San Antonion Express News The special session is down to the wire. Lawmakers must wrap up on Wednesday, with a few outstanding priorities left to tackle. Over the last several days, measures have moved like traffic — at times speeding through, at others stuck in a perpetual stop and go. Gov. Rick Perry has sole discretion over the special session agenda, and he's put a variety of topics on it, from somewhat mundane fiscal bills needed to balance the budget to emotional issues like prohibiting "sanctuary cities" and HB 41, an anti-groping bill aimed at the Transportation Security Administration. To continue reading, click here The Final Push: A Special Session Update Fort Wort Star-Telegram The special session is down to the wire. Lawmakers must wrap up on Wednesday, with a few outstanding priorities left to tackle. Over the last several days, measures have moved like traffic — at times speeding through, at others stuck in a perpetual stop and go. Gov. Rick Perry has sole discretion over the special session agenda, and he's put a variety of topics on it, from somewhat mundane fiscal bills needed to balance the budget to emotional issues like prohibiting "sanctuary cities" and HB 41, an anti-groping bill aimed at the Transportation Security Administration. To continue reading, click here Texas House Passes Bills On Budget, Teacher Pay Cuts Fort Wort Star-Telegram The Texas House shook off its malaise and sped through key legislation Monday, approving major budget, education funding and healthcare reform bills despite at-times heated debate over cutting schools to the bone. It was a far cry from last week, when a rash of absences twice left the 150-member chamber short of the 100 lawmakers needed to make a quorum -- halting all business. Republicans control 101 House seats and held together to pass a catch-all budget-balancing measure. A similar party-line vote in the Senate sent the bill to Gov. Rick Perry. It establishes where Texas will spend funds on education over the next two years, including what money to tap from the tobacco settlement fund and cancer research bonds. To continue reading, click here Keller School District To Save 113 Jobs Fort Wort Star-Telegram More than 100 employees will keep their jobs for another year as Keller school district officials plan to use $4.8 million in federal money to offset a failed election to raise taxes. At Monday night's board meeting, trustees said they favored a plan to retain 91 classroom teachers -- including 25 who teach fine arts -- 16 librarians and six middle school academic associates who coordinate testing for the 2011-12 school year to preserve the quality of education as long as possible. To continue reading, click here Texas Legislature Sends Teacher Furlough Bill to Gov. Rick Perry Dallas Morning News Legislators cleared the way Monday for financially strapped school districts to reduce teacher salaries and order furloughs next year when cuts in state funding slam most districts in North Texas and across the state. At the same time, Republicans said no to a Democratic-backed plan that could have eased the funding losses by earmarking extra money in the state’s rainy day fund for student enrollment increases over the next two years. Under that plan, districts would have received up to an estimated $2.2 billion to accommodate growth. That amount would have cut the education funding losses by roughly half. To continue reading, click here Legislature Ignores Greater Good Houston Chronicle Proudly, I arrived as a state senator in Austin in 2009, and again this January, with a certain rosy idealism. Rooted initially through parenting by a father who is a dramatist and hopeless romantic, that idealism became more entrenched while I was in law school and during my early work experience, where I was awed when learning of civil rights era legal minds and courage. My first job, as a clerk for federal Judge Jerry Buchmeyer, cemented that idealism because he could turn even the most hard-core cynic into a believer in the possibility of a greater good. It is perfectly understandable, then, that I arrived in elected office holding onto the dream that the greater good should win the day. Perhaps that explains why I find myself, at the end of the special legislative session, fighting the temptation to become disillusioned. Having exhausted the bulk of our legislative energy on a list of so-called emergencies meant to springboard political campaigns for some rather than address the true priorities of Texas families, such as job creation and education, we have failed to do the greater good. To continue reading, click here Special to the San Antonio Express-News San Antonio Express-News The unintended consequences of the Legislature's crusade to extract deep cuts in the education budget will have a far-reaching effect on Texas public schools in the next school year. One of those unintended consequences involves increased class size due to fewer teachers in the classroom. As a retired classroom teacher, I can assure you an adverse outcome on the quality of education of those students in soon to be overcrowded classrooms. To continue reading, click here Teachers Say School Flexibility Comes At Their Expense Ausitn American Statesman Even as local budget cuts forced some teachers out of their jobs this spring, the survivors felt lucky to have squeaked through Texas' regular legislative session with their pay and contract rights intact. But they probably won't escape unscathed from the Legislature's 30-day overtime session, which will end Wednesday To continue reading, click here Analysis: Why SBOE Authority Matters Texas Tribune An amendment from Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, that would have directed surplus money from the Rainy Day Fund to pay for enrollment growth in public schools has perished in conference committee. The House voted to attach the measure, which Howard argued was a practical approach that would allow Republican members to maintain their pledges to protect the savings account while providing what could be an extra $2 billion to public education, to SB 2 — an omnibus appropriations bill critical to balancing the budget. After outcry from fiscal conservatives, however, the lower chamber passed a resolution to strip the amendment when the bill went to conference committee to resolve key differences between the House and Senate versions. To continue reading, click here Measure Providing Extra Money For Schools Dies Texas Tribune An amendment from Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, that would have directed surplus money from the Rainy Day Fund to pay for enrollment growth in public schools has perished in conference committee. The House voted to attach the measure, which Howard argued was a practical approach that would allow Republican members to maintain their pledges to protect the savings account while providing what could be an extra $2 billion to public education, to SB 2 — an omnibus appropriations bill critical to balancing the budget. After outcry from fiscal conservatives, however, the lower chamber passed a resolution to strip the amendment when the bill went to conference committee to resolve key differences between the House and Senate versions. To continue reading, click here Texas Schools Will Suffer From Legislature's Funding Decisions Fort Worth Star Telegram Special to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram At the onset of the 82nd legislative session, Texans who sent us to Austin to serve their interests believed that we were capable of representing their priorities. Voters elected us to do just that. As a whole, voters tend to be idealists -- believing that casting their ballots will make a difference, by choosing their representatives and having their voices heard and appropriately reflected. Texas voters are particularly infected with this optimism. After all, as the saying goes, "Everything is bigger in Texas." To continue reading, click here How Mike Rawlings can become the education mayor Dallas Morning News Now that Mike Rawlings has won the Dallas mayor’s race, and has done so in part on the unusual angle of wanting to improve the city’s schools, how exactly does a fomer top executive at Pizza Hut become Dallas’ education mayor? The answer won’t be simple, especially since there is no real modern tradition of Dallas mayors stepping into the world of education. But even in some places where mayors don’t have super-strong powers, they are stepping into that world. They help create a road map for Rawlings to use as he rightly sets out to improve Dallas’ public schools, which matter more to families in our city — and the course Dallas takes — than all the tall buildings, modern bridges and fun sports teams: To continue reading, click here Elected Latinos take on educational issues San Antonio Express-News With an estimated 50 million Latinos now in the United States, making sure they aren't left behind in the educational system was a central focus of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials conference in San Antonio. The three-day convention ending today hosted about 1,000 officials and had five sessions on education, such as crafting budgets, anti-bullying efforts, helping English-language learners, completing college, and the Obama administration's outreach to Latinos. One of the sessions explained how school officials can weather a budget crisis. Suggestions included looking at using fund balances, paying some bills a month later to push them into the next fiscal year, and cutting any positions that are still vacant at mid-year. To continue reading, click here Senate Rejects Bid to Ease New High School Tests Dallas Morning-News House members’ efforts to ease new testing and graduation requirements for Texas high school students hit a roadblock Monday when senators voted to oppose the proposal after Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst ruled it was improperly added to Senate legislation. The testing changes were added by House members to a Senate bill on textbooks and instructional materials last week. They called for fewer new end-of-course exams that students will have to pass in the future to earn a high school diploma. To continue reading, click here Tax Reform Debate? Not This Time San Antonio Express-News Lawmakers entered the 2011 legislative session facing a chronically underperforming business tax, a school finance system in need of a revamp and pointed questions about billions of dollars in tax exemptions while the state faced a multibillion-dollar budget shortfall. They could enter the 2013 session the same way, having failed to come to agreement on any of the three, potentially guaranteeing themselves a repeat of the budget woes that bedeviled the regular session's 140 days. “Because of the ideological nature of this session, and because we have a bicameral Legislature, we didn't get a lot of the big reform ideas on the table and debated and resolved,” said Senate Finance Chairman Steve Ogden, R-Bryan. “And that's probably my biggest disappointment — that we basically kicked the can down the road in almost every area.” To continue reading, click here SBOE Vote Needs More Scrutiny San Antonio Express-News Whenever the Texas State Board of Education is at work, there's a potential for harm to public education. As currently composed, a hard-right faction on the board has the ability to adopt policies and materials that may suit its ideological interests but that don't serve educational interests. In 2008, an SBOE majority rejected the recommendations of experts and scholars from a two-year process to rewrite the English and reading curriculum. Instead, at the last minute this faction adopted a document that had never been publicly reviewed, one that established new language arts standards in Texas for the next decade. In 2009, the SBOE adopted new science standards that ignored the recommendations of leading scientists and educators. Last year, the board adopted politically-charged social studies standards that even a conservative educational think tank panned as “historically misleading and potentially damaging to our shared values as a nation.” To continue reading, click here Will The Other Shoe Fall on Republicans' School Budget Cuts? Austin American Statesman GOP legislators didn't budge this session from their commitment to reduce Texas' education spending even in the face of protests, negative ad campaigns and reams of criticism. The outcry didn't faze them because it wasn't coming from within their party. That might change, some Republicans say, once parents see the aftermath in their child's school of the state's $4 billion — or 5.6 percent — reduction in what is owed to local school districts. The fallout could include teacher layoffs, school closures and elimination of extra programs or higher property taxes. To continue reading, click here Shortened School Year Growing More Popular San Antonio Express-News Next year, summer vacation will start earlier for some students in the handful of local school districts taking advantage of a state law that allows a shorter academic year. At least five districts — Southside, East Central, Southwest, Medina Valley and Pleasanton — plan to release students up to 10 days early at the end of the next school year. It's permitted through what's called the Optional Flexible Year Program, created after the Legislature passed a law in 2003 that allows early dismissal of students in good academic standing. School districts' officials say students are motivated to do better during the school year to qualify for early release, while teachers can focus on other students who are struggling academically. To continue reading, click here Commentary Houston Chronicle Most days, lawmakers arrive on the floor of the Texas House with a script to follow: Democrats vote one way, and the 101 Republicans trounce them. Once in awhile, a proposal is so common-sense that no one bothers to check with the party apparatus, and that seemed to be the case when State Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, proposed dipping into the state's rainy day fund to fully pay for enrollment growth in public education. Under Howard's amendment, schools would only get the money if the economic recovery boosts the fund beyond the state comptroller's current expectations. The House collectively shrugged and said, sure, why not? To continue reading, click here Texas Still Has Time to Stop Disastrous Spending Cuts Houston Chronicle The 82nd legislative session has ended and the biggest issue facing Texas — the budget crisis — was not resolved, so we are now in special session. This is actually a positive development because it gives us another chance to get the budget right and to move away from reckless cuts that would be disastrous to Texas families, our schools and the future of our state. Let me be clear from the start: Texas is choosing to irresponsibly cut vital services for Texas families to the bone. We don't have to cut so severely. Texas is choosing to sacrifice our children's educational opportunities or kick the elderly out of nursing homes, while continuing multimillion-dollar corporate giveaways, because those are the priorities of those in charge. A budget is a moral document; it makes our principles and priorities clear. Do we stand with Texas families by investing in our schools and in health programs for kids and seniors, or do we stand with billion-dollar corporations and protect inefficient, irresponsible tax breaks? Unfortunately, the 2012-13 budget sides with corporations and against our families and schoolchildren. To continue reading, click here Poll: Education Overtakes Economy, Immigration as Texans' Top Concern Austin American-Statesman Education has overtaken other hot-button topics including immigration and the economy as the top issue facing Texas, according to an independent poll released Tuesday. Conducted at the height of legislative tensions over education spending in late May, the poll shows that Texans have been paying attention to the debate over the $4 billion reduction in state aid for schools, pollsters said. But the results do not shed light on what it will mean going forward for lawmakers, said University of Texas professor Daron Shaw, who conducted the poll for the Texas Lyceum, a statewide, nonpartisan leadership group. To continue reading, click here Ratliff: Texas Schools Doing More With Less - But Students Deserve More Austin American-Statesman In efforts to "reform," "streamline" or "improve" Texas' public schools, there has been a lot of misinformation being reported about them. I would like to cut through the rhetoric and lay out the facts. The following are just a couple of the challenges facing our local schools. In the past 10 years, we've added 845,000 students to public schools, a 21 percent increase. Of that, 384,000 are students in kindergarten through fifth grade. In the past 10 years, the number of economically disadvantaged children increased by 897,000. Previously, they accounted for 49 percent of the student body. Now they account for 59 percent. To continue reading, click here After 16 Hours, Texas House Passes Fiscal Bill Texas Tribune Lengthy debate on a key budget bill featured many retreads of contentious topics from the regular session — but it was Rep. Wayne Christian's revival of his famous "pansexual" amendment around midnight that almost killed the whole thing. Christian, R-Center, proposed banning state funding of college gender and sexuality centers through an amendment to the Senate Bill 1 fiscal matters bill that contained the school finance plan of $4 billion in cuts to districts statewide and several payment deferrals and tax accelerations adding up to about $3.5 billion in revenue, all essential to balancing the 2012-13 budget. Democrats tried to persuade him to pull down the amendment in what was one of the most emotional debates of the regular or special sessions. To continue reading, click here Texas House Nears Approval of School Funding Cuts Plan Dallas Morning News House members neared approval Thursday night of a school finance plan that would make $4 billion in funding decreases over two years, after earlier rejecting a bid by Democrats to avoid the cuts by tapping the state’s rainy day fund. Republicans handed Democrats a minor victory by agreeing to allocate any extra rainy day money over the next two years to schools to cover their enrollment increases. That could mean as much an extra $2.2 billion for schools if the rainy day fund accumulates more revenue than the $6.5 billion that the state comptroller has projected over the coming biennium. To continue reading, click here House Votes To Cut School Funds San Antonio Express-News The Texas House tentatively approved legislation early Friday morning that would allow the state to spend $4 billion less on public schools than what current law requires. Only Republicans voted for SB 1 in the 81-62 tally. Public school supporters plan to rally the public in next year's elections against legislators who supported the public education cuts. To continue reading, click here House Gives Early OK to Key Budget Bill Austin American-Statesman The final pieces of the budget puzzle were falling into place with two key votes by the Texas House early Friday. But the whole deal nearly fell apart in the wee morning hours as Democrats threatened to topple Senate Bill 1 after 11 hours of debate over an amendment they said was discriminatory to gay and lesbian college students. SB 1 frees up $3.5 billion to help balance the 2012-13 budget and enacts a $4 billion reduction in school aid. To continue reading, click here Amid School Finance Scuffle, Pre-K Measure Returns Texas Tribune Expect the Texas House to revisit old battles over school finance — and open a new one, for the lower chamber at least, over pre-kindergarten accountability — when it takes up Senate Bill 1 today on the floor. Among the swarm of amendments offered to the fiscal matters bill will be several aiming to modify key elements of the state’s plan to distribute $4 billion in cuts across public schools — significantly one that eliminates the across-the-board reductions districts face in the first year of the biennium and replaces it with the sliding scale of the second, and one that keeps the state guarantee to repay districts in the next biennium when it comes up short. The architect of the House’s approach thus far, Public Education Committee Chairman Rep. Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, told the Tribune Wednesday that he would oppose any changes to the compromise plan agreed to between the House and Senate. Most of the attention will be on school finance, but an amendment from Rep. Mark Shelton, R-Fort Worth, that would require the Texas Education Agency to develop accountability standards for pre-K programs will likely generate some heat, pitting House members’ regard for efficiency against their disdain for bureaucracy. The measure leaves it up to the TEA to decide what those standards would look like but would use existing diagnostic reading tests to judge students’ school readiness. Schools that had proven success rates with their pre-K programs, Shelton says, would be exempt; defining what “success” means would be up to the education commissioner. Districts would absorb the cost for developing the standards, which he says would amount to about 1.7 percent of their state funding, or about $64 per child enrolled in early childhood programs. (There’s about $3 billion in state and federal funds allocated to pre-K in the 2012-13 budget.) To continue reading, click here Teacher Groups Say Texas GOP Will Pay Price In 2012 For Budget Cuts Fort Worth Star Telegram Education is shaping up to be a dominant issue in the 2012 legislative elections as teachers and their allies begin seeking political retaliation for deep reductions in school financing and other measures perceived as unfriendly to educators. "Cuts in education are going to be one of the biggest issues to be considered in the next election cycle," said Lonnie Hollingsworth, director of governmental relations for the Texas Classroom Teachers Association. His group will examine voting records and plan strategy to "get some teacher-friendly folks" elected, he said. House members are scheduled to vote today on a so-called nontax-revenue measure and a school package that would implement $4 billion in reduced state payments to school districts over the next two years. To continue reading, click here Texas Senate OKs Teacher Pay Cuts, Furloughs Houston Chronicle Legislation allowing school districts to reduce teacher pay and furlough them — to help absorb big budget cuts — sailed through the Texas Senate on Monday with a straight party-line vote. Lawmakers are working to cut $4 billion from the state's 1,040 public school districts. Giving school administrators flexibility to cut teacher pay and allow up to six days of unpaid leave — which existing law does not allow — will save teacher jobs, Senate Education Chair Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, said of school reform measure SB 8. But hundreds of educators and their supporters attending a Capitol rally were not impressed. "What they are calling reform should be called a crime," Fort Bend ISD science teacher Randy Colbert said. "Trying to cut teachers' rights and teachers' pay any time they want to will hurt education. You won't be able to get quality people into teaching that you need. You won't be able to get people to stay in education that you need," the high school teacher said. "And the ones who will be hurt are the students." To continue reading, click here Choosing To Shortchange Our Kids Houston Chronicle Last week I traveled to the state Capitol in Austin to testify before the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Finance Committee. The clerk in the House committee initially did not accept my form because in the box that asked for my title I simply wrote, "Parent in Houston ISD." Which makes me wonder, since when do people in America need a title to make their voices heard in their government? So I added to my title, "Taxpayer and Voter." The message I delivered to the committee members was simple. I reminded them that the cuts they are proposing to public education in Texas are a choice. The Legislature may have reached a consensus to cut "only" $4 billion from public education and think that we will consider it a gift that they did not cut the $10 billion that was originally proposed. But it's not a gift. To continue reading, click here Texas Senate Approves Teacher Furlough Bill Dallas Morning News School districts would have new authority to furlough teachers and cut their salaries to save money under a bill the Senate approved Monday as lawmakers prepare to cut $4 billion from education funding. The legislation, sought by school superintendents but opposed by teacher groups, also would eliminate seniority protection for certain veteran teachers and give districts the right not to renew teacher contracts much closer to the end of the school year. Senators passed the measure, 18-12, along partisan lines, as teachers and their supporters rallied against it at the Capitol. All Republicans who were present voted yes, while all Democrats voted no. The bill now goes to the House. To continue reading, click here Teachers Stage New Demonstration Over School Cuts At Texas Capitol Austin American Statesman More than 200 teachers and parents protested against state cuts in school funding in a gathering at the rotunda of the Texas Capitol on Monday. They lined the hallway leading to the House chamber as lawmakers arrived for a brief floor session, waving placards and singing a song that ended with, "We will vote you out." The protest organized by the American Federation of Teachers was intended to pressure lawmakers to alter their plan to cut $4 billion from the state's obligation to school districts. Public education in Texas is paid for with state-collected sales and business taxes and local property taxes. To continue reading, click here Updated: Where Do Education Bills Stand In Special? Texas Tribune The special session is the last-chance-dance for bills that died during the regular session. Our "second life" series will help you keep track of the comings and goings of old measures. First installment: education. All the attention is on school finance, but any bills "that will allow school districts to operate more efficiently" are fair game under Gov. Rick Perry's call for the special session. Those are code words for mandate relief but plan on lawmakers pushing the bounds. Here's a status update on what's happened outside of school finance so far — and keep checking this space for more. Charter schools: Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, has refiled her bill that would extend the bond backing of the Permanent School Fund to charter schools. Currently, with the guarantee of the $25 billion fund, traditional public schools can obtain much lower interest rates on loans to construct facilities; charters must borrow on their own credit. Though the legislation would apply only to charters who can achieve an investment grade rating on their own, opponents argue that it will stretch already thin resources even further. To continue reading, click here School Bill A Tipping Point For Texas Houston Chronicle The late Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock, that master of manipulation, could shame a political panderer into silence with a dark glance or a curt comment. No sharpshooter ever took aim with more deadly effect than Bullock with a loaded question. Once, when a bloviating senator began lecturing a private caucus about how his voters expected him to cut the state's budget, Bullock interrupted: "How many of you were sent here by your voters to destroy public education?" he barked to the assemblage. "Raise your hand." Nobody did. Say what you will about Bullock, that serial husband, recovering alcoholic, flawed scoundrel of a politician. He was willing to stand and fight when it mattered. To continue reading, click here Texas Senate Panel Approves School Funding Plan That Cuts $4 Billion Dallas Morning News A Republican-backed school finance plan that would reduce public school funding by $2 billion a year won approval from Senate budget writers Thursday on a party-line vote. The measure, killed by a Democratic filibuster in the regular session, appears to be on the fast track to approval in the GOP-dominated House and Senate during the special session that began Tuesday. Under the legislation, school districts in North Texas and across the state would see similar reductions, averaging 3.3 percent, in the coming school year. But funding cuts in the second year would vary widely. Statewide, the reduction would be just under 6 percent together, compared with what districts would receive under current law. To continue reading, click here Cutting Texas Education Spending Poses Economic Risks, Business Leaders Say Dallas Morning News Sometimes the business community rails against government spending. But recently, some Texas business leaders have been railing against spending cuts. Their target: a planned $4 billion reduction in school funding over the next two years, which is backed by Republican majorities in the Legislature. “It doesn’t take a CEO to know that if something is important to your future, you invest in it,” said Ed Whitacre, former chief executive of AT&T and General Motors, in a television ad for an education advocacy group called Raise Your Hand Texas. To continue reading, click here Public's Ideas Not Being Included San Antonio Express-News Lawmakers invited the public to share ideas about school funding cuts Thursday, but GOP leaders rushed to approve the legislation without incorporating any of the input and rebuffed all urging to spend more from the rainy day fund. Some lawmakers complained the train is moving too fast. “I don't want to be part of an orchestrated charade,” Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, said after a legislative hearing to cut about $4 billion from what public schools would get under current law. The full Senate could vote today on the legislation. The House Appropriations Committee wants to pass the measure Saturday, sending it to the full House for consideration early next week. To continue reading, click here Lawmakers Pick Up Pace With Hearings On Schools, Medicaid Austin American Statesman Teachers, parents and school administrators urged Texas lawmakers Thursday to reject a school finance plan that would allow the state to cut $4 billion from public schools over the next two years. But one key senator cut off their pleas to tap into the state's $10 billion reserve fund, sending a clear message such an option won't be considered. "It's not going to happen," said Sen. Steve Ogden R-Bryan, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. House and Senate lawmakers held their first public hearings of a special session on school finance and budget matters. At the heart of the session is a schools plan that failed to pass in the final hours of the regular session that ended Monday. To continue reading, click here Budget Hearings Under Way In Texas House, Senate Austin American Statesman Teachers, parents and school administrators urged Texas lawmakers Thursday to reject a school finance plan that would allow the state to cut $4 billion from public schools over the next two years. But one key senator cut off their pleas to tap into the state's $10 billion reserve fund, sending a clear message such an option won't be considered. "It's not going to happen," said Sen. Steve Ogden R-Bryan, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. House and Senate lawmakers held their first public hearings of a special session on school finance and budget matters. At the heart of the session is a schools plan that failed to pass in the final hours of the regular session that ended Monday. To continue reading, click here Gov. Rick Perry Says Special Session Will Complete ‘Truly Historic’ Convening of Texas Legislature Dallas Morning News Republican lawmakers moved quickly Tuesday to revive school finance and teacher furlough bills that were killed by Democrats during the regular session, with much improved chances for passage during the special session called by Gov. Rick Perry. Leaders in the House and Senate said they hope to bring those measures before committees in both houses on Thursday and predicted they will easily pass this time around now that Democrats have lost much of the leverage they held during the regular session. And when it comes to a measure that would give school districts more flexibility to cut teachers’ pay — a version of which teacher groups called the “death star” bill in the regular session — a key senator said she would make it even friendlier to districts. To continue reading, click here Lawmakers Prepare To Tackle School Finance, Teacher Furlough Bills In Special Session Dallas Morning News Republican lawmakers moved quickly Tuesday to revive school finance and teacher furlough bills that were killed by Democrats during the regular session, with much improved chances for passage during the special session called by Gov. Rick Perry. Leaders in the House and Senate said they hope to bring those measures before committees in both houses on Thursday and predicted they will easily pass this time around now that Democrats have lost much of the leverage they held during the regular session. And when it comes to a measure that would give school districts more flexibility to cut teachers’ pay — a version of which teacher groups called the “death star” bill in the regular session — a key senator said she would make it even friendlier to districts. To continue reading, click here GOP Happy, No Plans To Redo Budget San Antonio Express-News Texas' GOP leadership celebrated an austere budget Tuesday as lawmakers began a special session forced by Democratic opposition to its education cutbacks. “We're not going to renegotiate the budget. We're going to move Texas forward,” Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said at a news conference with Gov. Rick Perry and House Speaker Joe Straus of San Antonio. “We're going to go into overtime. We're going to win, because we're Texans, and Texans don't give up.” Texans of the Democratic persuasion said they're not giving up either, although special-session rules put the outnumbered party members at a disadvantage as they press for more funding for public education. To continue reading, click here Texas Lawmakers Set To Try Again On School Funding Cuts Dallas Morning News Texas lawmakers return in a special session today at the behest of Gov. Rick Perry to deal with a school finance plan blocked by Democrats, Medicaid cost savings and any other issues the GOP governor decides to add to the agenda. Democratic Sen. Wendy Davis of Fort Worth forced the special session with her Sunday night filibuster that killed a plan to give school districts $4 billion less than they'd get under current law. It's part of a proposed budget that answers a multibillion-dollar shortfall with numerous spending cuts, because of GOP leaders' stand against new taxes and closing tax loopholes and their willingness to spend only a limited amount from the state's rainy day fund. To continue reading, click here Perry Orders Special Session For School Finance Plan, Medicaid Costs Houston Chronicle Texas lawmakers return in a special session today at the behest of Gov. Rick Perry to deal with a school finance plan blocked by Democrats, Medicaid cost savings and any other issues the GOP governor decides to add to the agenda. Democratic Sen. Wendy Davis of Fort Worth forced the special session with her Sunday night filibuster that killed a plan to give school districts $4 billion less than they'd get under current law. It's part of a proposed budget that answers a multibillion-dollar shortfall with numerous spending cuts, because of GOP leaders' stand against new taxes and closing tax loopholes and their willingness to spend only a limited amount from the state's rainy day fund. To continue reading, click here Texas Lawmakers Reach Budget Compromise Austin American Statesman The hotly contested budget bill is headed to the House and Senate floors for final votes this weekend after months of legislative drama. Weighing in at $172 billion, the 2012-13 budget is 8 percent lighter — $15 billion — than the current two-year budget. The state's general revenue spending, meanwhile, dropped 2 percent. "This was one of the most difficult tasks I've ever been involved in," Senate Finance Chairman Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, said Thursday, shortly before House and Senate negotiators signed off on House Bill 1. To continue reading, click here Texas Education Board Chairwoman Stepping Down Dallas Morning News State Board of Education Chairwoman Gail Lowe, who could not win Senate confirmation because of opposition from Democrats, will be stepping down from her leadership post after the legislative session ends on Monday. Lowe, R-Lampasas, who chaired the board for nearly two years, had been appointed to a new term by Gov. Rick Perry, but the appointment was subject to confirmation by the Senate during the current session. Democrats blocked the confirmation, which requires two-thirds of senators to approve. Democrats hold 12 of the 31 seats in the chamber. Board members on both sides of the political spectrum said Lowe was fair in her decisions as chairwoman. To continue reading, click here Lean Times Ahead In Texas San Antonio Express-News Legislative negotiators agreed on a $172.3 billion, two-year state budget plan Thursday that would cut back public school spending by $4 billion, provide financial aid to fewer college students and put off $4.8 billion in projected Medicaid costs until the 2012 session. The plan, which must be considered by the full House and Senate, would cut $15.2 billion, or 8.1 percent, from current state and federal spending in the face of a revenue shortfall fueled by the recession and past budget decisions. The spending plan is contingent upon the House and Senate reaching an agreement on how to finance public schools. To continue reading, click here Senate Democrats Reject ‘ideology' On SBOE San Antonio Express-News In a pointed message to Gov. Rick Perry, Senate Democrats have again rejected the governor's choice to lead the State Board of Education, in large part because of the board's approval of controversial curriculum standards that are being challenged as discriminatory and historically inaccurate. Senate rejection of a governor's nominee is rare. But in back-to-back rejections, Senate Democrats this week blocked the confirmation of State Board of Education Chairwoman Gail Lowe, R-Lampasas. Two years ago, they busted down her predecessor Don McLeroy, R-Bryan. To continue reading, click here Special Session Still A Possibility, Dewhurst says San Antonio Express-News The long Senate day ended on a raucous note, with disciples of radio rabble-rouser Alex Jones yelling “Coward! Traitor!” from the Senate gallery, but the object of their ire seemed to be in a relatively mellow mood. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst was more interested in talking to reporters about school finance than about the anti-groping bill championed by Sen. Dan Patrick, a bill that crashed and burned as the day came to an end (thus prompting the protests). “We may have to be back in special session, and we’ve been trying to avoid that,” Dewhurst said. He’s hoping to reach a school finance agreement with the House on Thursday, he said. To continue reading, click here School Finance Plan Still In Limbo San Antonio Express-News Key state and legislative leaders met Wednesday night without reaching agreement on how to apportion $4 billion worth of cuts for public education. The House prefers a short-term approach that would cut spending across the board for the state's 1,040 school districts. The Senate insists on addressing the current “target revenue system,” created five years ago as a temporary plan. It largely froze school districts at 2006 funding levels, except for enrollment growth. But it's a system that has created huge funding disparities for school districts. The two sides agree they must find a compromise in the next 48 hours to avoid a special session. To continue reading, click here School Finance Dance Goes On Austin American-Statesman The pursuit of a happy medium on school finance continued Wednesday as a key deadline approached for state House and Senate negotiators. The two sides have staked out disparate approaches for how to lower by $4 billion the amount the state owes to school districts over the next two years. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, House Speaker Joe Straus and several legislators from both chambers met Wednesday night. The two sides parted ways with no resolution but with assurances that they would continue to work to come together. "Neither side is trying to have a take-it-or-leave-it approach," said state Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, who has been part of the talks. To continue reading, click here Education Board About To Lose Another Leader Austin American-Statesman Barring 11th-hour action by the Senate Nominations Committee followed by a swift vote in the Senate, Gail Lowe's tenure as chairwomen of the State Board of Education dies when the legislative session closes on Monday. Lowe, who often sides with the board's ultra-conservative wing, must win Senate confirmation to hold on to the board's top post by the time the session adjourns on Monday. The Senate on Wednesday voted on a final list of nominees and Lowe's name was not on that list. Failure of the Senate to act on the nomination kills it as dead as a negative vote would. It is the latest round in a game of musical chairs that the Senate has been playing with the State Board of Education since Lowe's predecessor failed to win confirmation. Failure to confirm Lowe, R-Lampasas, means that Gov. Rick Perry once again will pick one of the 15 members to lead the fractious and controversial state education board. The silence on the Lowe nomination obviously does not mean consent. To continue reading, click here Senate Leader Warns Against House's Quick Fix On School Aid Austin American-Statesman The Texas Senate voted Tuesday to give the elected State Board of Education more power over which electronic textbooks are used in public schools. The proposal, which faces further votes, touched off a partisan debate over the GOP-controlled State Board of Education, which has been embroiled in high-profile, ideological debates over public school curriculum. It was all in a long day's work for senators and state representatives, who worked into the night to pass as much legislation as they could in the waning days of the session, which ends Monday. The House faced a key midnight deadline for passing Senate bills, and the Senate plowed through a lengthy calendar with more than 80 bills awaiting approval. In a session seemingly dominated by indecision and delay on the big issues, Tuesday was akin to a legislative lightning round, with each chamber rushing to pass some of the other's bills and send them back across the Capitol to consider tweaks and wholesale changes alike. To continue reading, click here Deal On Cutting School Funds Elusive Houston Chronicle Legislative leaders continued to look for a compromise school funding plan Tuesday to allocate $4 billion worth of public school cuts they say is necessary to avoid a special session this summer. A bill to make those cuts collapsed late Monday night because of a procedural flaw that now has lawmakers scrambling between House and Senate chambers — with a stop Tuesday afternoon to meet with Gov. Rick Perry's staff — in search of a solution to buy them time until the 2013 session. House leaders prefer a proration, an across-the-board cut for the state's 1,040 school districts amounting to nearly 6 percent for the 2012-13 school year. Senate leaders want school districts that have benefited from the controversial "target revenue system" to take larger cuts. Their plan could cut some districts 9 percent. To continue reading, click here Deal On Cutting School Funds Elusive Houston Chronicle Legislative leaders continued to look for a compromise school funding plan Tuesday to allocate $4 billion worth of public school cuts they say is necessary to avoid a special session this summer. A bill to make those cuts collapsed late Monday night because of a procedural flaw that now has lawmakers scrambling between House and Senate chambers — with a stop Tuesday afternoon to meet with Gov. Rick Perry's staff — in search of a solution to buy them time until the 2013 session. House leaders prefer a proration, an across-the-board cut for the state's 1,040 school districts amounting to nearly 6 percent for the 2012-13 school year. Senate leaders want school districts that have benefited from the controversial "target revenue system" to take larger cuts. Their plan could cut some districts 9 percent. To continue reading, click here Texas Lawmakers Weigh Host Of Bills In Rush to Finish Line Austin American-Statesman The Texas Senate voted Tuesday to give the elected State Board of Education more power over which electronic textbooks are used in public schools. The proposal, which faces further votes, touched off a partisan debate over the GOP-controlled State Board of Education, which has been embroiled in high-profile, ideological debates over public school curriculum. It was all in a long day's work for senators and state representatives, who worked into the night to pass as much legislation as they could in the waning days of the session, which ends Monday. The House faced a key midnight deadline for passing Senate bills, and the Senate plowed through a lengthy calendar with more than 80 bills awaiting approval. In a session seemingly dominated by indecision and delay on the big issues, Tuesday was akin to a legislative lightning round, with each chamber rushing to pass some of the other's bills and send them back across the Capitol to consider tweaks and wholesale changes alike. To continue reading, click here Senate Takes Back Power It Granted To SBOE Austin American-Statesman Hours after granting the Texas Board of Education more powers over the selection of electronic textbooks for public schools, state senators took it back. The Senate initially voted Tuesday to give the elected group veto power over electronic materials approved by the state education commissioner. Several Democrats vigorously objected, and a few hours later, senators changed the bill to only grant the board power to review and comment on the materials. Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, said Democrats pledged to kill the bill if he didn't agree to strip out his amendments to an education bill. To continue reading, click here Another Lost Chance At School Finance Texas Tribune Sen. Florence Shapiro (l), R-Plano, discusses a matter with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst on May 5, 2011 one day after the Senate passed HB1 the state budget. The death of a key education fiscal matters bill on the House floor tonight ensures that any changes to school finance formulas will happen in a conference committee — and adds fuel to speculation of a special session this summer. SB 1581 was the latest hope for a school finance debate on the House floor. Fresh back from the Senate with Sen. Florence Shapiro's newly resurrected proposal attached, it was also the prospective home of plans from Reps. Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, and Scott Hochberg, D-Houston. When it finally came up after 10 p.m. on Monday night, however, its sponsor, Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock, R-Killeen, appeared prepared for defeat as he acknowledged Rep. Yvonne Davis, D-Dallas, standing ready at the back microphone with a point of order. To continue reading, click here School Financing Bill Is Killed In House Fort Worth Star-Telegram Lawmakers appeared frustrated Monday evening as they waited and waited for a major school finance bill to be brought to the House floor, only to have a Dallas Democrat abruptly kill it. State Rep. Yvonne Davis said Republican-proposed cuts were too deep for her to allow the measure to advance. Republican leaders signaled plans to attach school finance language to a different bill. Lawmakers are working on a budget agreement expected to cut about $4 billion from education over two years. With a week left in the session, some members remain worried about possibly having to debate how to dole out $37 billion among the state's schools in a matter of hours. To continue reading, click here Texas House’s Efforts To Pass School Finance Plan Suffer Blow After Bill is Killed Dallas Morning News Texas House efforts to pass a school finance plan and give school districts the ability to furlough teachers and cut salaries suffered a serious blow late Monday when a key education measure was killed on a point of order raised by Democrats. Sponsors said afterward they would search for other bills to attach their proposals to, but they faced major hurdles as the legislative session entered its final week and deadlines for passing bills were fast approaching. To continue reading, click here School Finance Collapses In House, 1 Chance Left San Antonio Express-News The measure was supposed to relieve the state of about $2 billion in obligations to public school districts. But the bill violated parliamentary rules and was killed late Monday night. Republican state Sen. Florence Shapiro said it was clear the House was not prepared to reform school finance formulas. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said he hope the changes can be added onto another bill concerning the budget. That would require a special motion this late in the session, which ends May 30. To continue reading, click here Lawmakers Gear Up For Arduous School Finance Debate Austin American-Statesman Texas House members on Monday night were struggling to sort through competing plans to divvy up a smaller pot of state education aid among school districts. The 2012-13 state budget agreed to by House and Senate negotiators provides school districts $4 billion less than what they are owed under current law. Three proposals for how to spread that pain among school districts were floating around, each with varying impacts on the districts and the state. There was little certainty going into the scheduled late-night debate about what the House would consider when Senate Bill 1581 finally came to the floor. Nearly 70 proposed amendments had been filed for the bill. To continue reading, click here We Have A Budget But Not A Prayer Austin American-Statesman There's no denying this about the current folks running things at your Texas Capitol: Unlike some politicians, they are doing exactly what they said they would do. And now that agreement has been reached on a state budget that slashes money for critical services, we will see over the next two years whether what they said back on the campaign trail was promise or threat. "I'm pleased that the House and Senate have come to an agreement that will help balance the budget and protect Texas taxpayers while making a historic $15 billion cut in government spending," Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said Friday night after the deal was struck. To continue reading, click here To Help Save public Education, Texas Needs To Spend Part Of Its Rainy Day Fund Austin American-Statesman Since Texas ranks 44th in the nation in spending per pupil and 39th in teacher pay, I was surprised to read praise for Texas schools in an opinion piece by Joel Klein, former chancellor of New York City public schools (May 10, The Wall Street Journal): Take Texas and California. The two states have very similar demographics, yet Texas outperforms California on all four national tests—across demographic groups—despite spending less money per pupil. The gap amounts to about a year's worth of learning. That's big. To continue reading, click here Parents Protest School Funding Cuts Dallas Morning News - Blog A group of about 40 parents and public school supporters chanted their dissatisfaction with proposed funding cuts in public education Saturday, a day after House and Senate budget negotiators reached agreement on a spending plan that would reduce education funding $2 billion a year, or $4 billion over the next two years. The group was small in comparison to most of the organized rallies in support of increased education funding this year, but they made their presence felt with loud chants outside the House and Senate chambers. To continue reading, click here Budget Still Is Being Shuffled San Antonio Express-News Educators, students and parents chanted, “We're watching! We vote!” outside the House chamber Saturday as legislative negotiators privately worked to complete a budget plan that will cut billions from current spending. “These cuts that are being proposed are going to devastate public education for everyone,” said Cordell Jones, principal of Woodridge Elementary School in San Antonio's Alamo Heights Independent School District. He was part of a vocal group of about 50 that provided a counterpoint as lawmakers publicly worked their way through legislation and budget negotiators worked behind closed doors. Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, who walked through the protesters on a legislative errand to the House, said: “School districts have to do the same as individuals and businesses and tighten their belts.” To continue reading, click here Teacher Union Officials Call For Accountability San Antonio Express-News With school finance reform still unresolved, teacher union officials called Saturday for members and taxpayers to hold legislators accountable — at the polls — for a system they say shortchanges students. “We're trying to continue to put pressure on them so they know that if public education is not funded, it could cost them their jobs,” said Wanda Longoria of the American Federation of Teachers. She said the Legislature's failure to fix public education funding has school districts feeling the heat, teachers fearing layoffs and students facing larger class sizes. “It's not the districts' fault,” Longoria told the crowd of about 40 gathered at the Northside Activity Center on Culebra Road. “They are doing what they can, given the constraints they're under” from the Legislature. To continue reading, click here Education Advocates Rally Outside House Chamber Houston Chronicle A loud group of parents, teachers and education advocates rallied outside the House chamber in the Texas Capitol to protest a state budget that will cut $4 billion from education, warning lawmakers who supported the cuts that they will vote them out in November. The protest Saturday came on the heels of a budget agreement negotiators announced Friday that educators say will devastate public schools and likely result in massive state layoffs. The House, made up of mostly fiscal conservatives, has been urged by Gov. Rick Perry not to use the state's Rainy Day Fund. Teachers and parents are outraged that lawmakers would threaten children's education and lay off teachers instead of using more of the fund. They held signs reading "We will remember in November," ''Cuts Hurt Kids" and "WTF: Where's the Funding?" To continue reading, click here Budget Deal Banks On A Better Tomorrow Austin American-Statesman The budget accord legislators reached Friday evening relies heavily on one basic, optimistic assumption: the economy is coming back. Expect more carnage in two years if they're wrong. The House and Senate approved separate spending plans earlier in the legislative session, with the House spending about $77.6 billion in state money and the Senate spending $81.8 billion. To continue reading, click here School Funding is Last, Trickiest Piece of Budget Puzzle Austin American-Statesman The one piece of legislation that could still unravel the Legislature's carefully knit-together budget deal landed on the doorstep of the House shortly before midnight Friday. The Senate's long-stalled plan to apportion a $4 billion reduction in school aid had been suddenly resurrected, passed and zipped over to the House. But when Senate Bill 1581 hits the House floor Monday for debate, state Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock, the bill's sponsor, said he will have to overhaul it or kill it. To continue reading, click here Texas Legislators Reach Breakthrough on School Funding Fort Worth Star Telegram House leaders late Thursday announced a major breakthrough on education funding, saying they have agreed to accept Senate budget recommendations to reduce state public school funding by $4 billion over the next two years. That's almost half the amount that House members had voted to cut in the budget they adopted in April. Many education groups, while fighting to avoid funding cuts, have touted the Senate proposal as the preferred scenario. "Given the available options, that is the best outcome," said Lonnie Hollingsworth, director of governmental relations for the Texas Classroom Teachers Association. "Given what was on the table, this is good news." To continue reading, click here Schools May Lose $4B, But Budget Deal Elusive Houston Chronicle Funding for public schools would be cut by $4 billion over the next two years under an agreement by legislative budget negotiators, who worked into the night Thursday on other issues, including higher education. Time is running out for lawmakers. The session ends on May 30, and Gov. Rick Perry suggested that a failure to complete work on a budget by then - forcing a special session - would make Texas no better than the Washington he loves to disparage. The proposed public education reduction, which is in comparison to what schools would get under current formulas is about half the reduction initially envisioned by the House. To continue reading, click here Texas Budget Shorts Schools by $4 Billion Houston Chronicle Hours of closed-door meetings in the Texas Legislature on Thursday did not produce a deal on the state's two-year budget. Lawmakers did reach a key compromise that underfunds public schools by $4 billion, instead of $8 billion. But budget negotiators were still haggling over cuts to higher education and a Senate decision to tap the state's savings account by about $900 million more than the House. The 140-day session has been consumed by an up to $27 billion budget shortfall, and lawmakers are running out of time -- only 11 days left to reach an agreement. To continue reading, click here HB 400 Struggle Breaks Old Alliances, Creates New Ones Texas Tribune Just past midnight, at the close of a 14-hour day last week on the floor of the Texas House, Rep. Rob Eissler stood joking with reporters. “I’m going to move my desk up to the front mic,” Eissler said, “so I can watch every bill that goes by.” After failing on three separate occasions to pass his signature education bill for the session and running out of time on a fourth, the Woodlands Republican was describing his plan to attach the legislation as an amendment to other bills that are still working their way through the House. The widely liked, pun-spinning Eissler has led the House Public Education Committee since 2007, and this session he has a Republican supermajority to back him. Yet even with 66 co-sponsors, he stumbled with the bill bundling several measures to relieve school district mandates required by the state — including removing the 22-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio in kindergarten through fourth grade, minimum salary requirements for teachers and contractual obligations dealing with layoffs. To continue reading, click here House, Senate Inch Toward Budget Deal Houston Chronicle Education remains an issue as Texas lawmakers have barely more than a week to reach a two-year spending plan during the regular legislative session. Negotiations were expected to continue Friday. The regular session ends May 30. Texas legislators reached an agreement Thursday on more money for public schools, but it still means schools will not get $4 billion owed to them under current funding laws. Thousands of school jobs could be lost. To continue reading, click here House, Senate Inch Toward Budget Deal Austin American Statesman Uncertainty hung over the Capitol for much of the day Thursday as budget negotiators worked to bridge the gulf between the House and Senate spending plans and avert a special legislative session. What had been a $5 billion difference Wednesday had narrowed considerably to a few hundred million as the House agreed to the Senate's proposal for public education, which shorts school districts by $4 billion over the next two years compared with current law. House Speaker Joe Straus said his side has come up quite a bit from the initial 2012-13 budget, which was "admittedly bare-bones." To continue reading, click here Public Education Funding Must Focus on Classroom, Instructional Materials TexasCurriculum.Org Negotiations on the state budget are down to the final days – if not hours - and, once again, public education funding remains the outstanding issue. Whether Texas lawmakers write the 2012-13 budget prior to the regular session’s end later this month or whether they have to return for a special session, a rising chorus of voices is calling for the bulk of public education funding to go directly into the classroom. The state comptroller made that job a little easier by recently telling lawmakers they have an extra $1 billion to fund the budget. In this budget debate, let’s not forget instructional materials are one of the most basic of classroom items. When the state pays for textbooks and other instructional materials, 100 percent of that money goes into Texas classrooms. This is one of the most tangible contributions the state provides to public education. To continue reading, click here Bills Crucial To Budget Plan Are Delayed San Antonio Express-New Finance measures crucial to balancing the state budget were delayed Wednesday as leaders struggled to reach agreement, complicating lawmakers' prospects of completing their work before the regular session ends May 30. “We're one day closer to a special session,” Senate Finance Chairman Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, said after House Appropriations Chairman Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, postponed his chamber's consideration of the revenue and education finance bills. The bills could be considered as soon as today. To continue reading, click here Texas Budget Riding On Passage of Revenue Measure Austin American-Statesman Negotiations on the next two-year state budget stalled Wednesday as Texas House leaders again postponed a revenue measure that they say will determine whether they can balance the budget before the session ends in less than two weeks. House and Senate negotiators grew frustrated after lawmakers pre-filed a slew of contentious amendments to the revenue measure, throwing into question how it would fare in a House vote. After hours of closed-door meetings, Rep. Jim Pitts postponed consideration of Senate Bill 1811 until Thursday. To continue reading, click here Key Fiscal Bills Stuck; Perry Gets Involved Austin American-Statesman State leaders shuttled back and forth across the Capitol on Wednesday in an effort to reach a budget accord and avoid a special legislative session this summer. As they scurried out of backroom negotiations, Gov. Rick Perry and others offered terse assurances that a deal was within reach. Those public comments, however, belied the reality: Neither side has moved much since striking an agreement late Monday on everything except education spending. To continue reading, click here Texas Budget Stalls Over Education, Funding Sources Texas Tribune After a day of stops and starts and private meetings, Texas lawmakers don't have a budget deal yet. House Appropriations Chairman Jim Pitts postponed debate Wednesday over two fiscal bills, SB 1811 and SB 1581, both of which are critical pieces of the budget puzzle. Both bills are now scheduled for debate on Thursday. Without passage of those bills — SB 1811 in particular — the budget would be short about $2.6 billion in revenue — almost a guarantee lawmakers will be back this summer for a special session. To continue reading, click here Texas to Teach More Students With Less Money Wall Street Journal Education officials here are preparing to welcome 300 additional students in the next school year, on top of the 6,296 already enrolled. But a shrinking school budget in this Dallas exurb means there will be fewer teachers, aides, administrators and custodians. School budgets are being cut across the country, but in Texas, which gained more residents than any other state during the past decade, school systems such as Little Elm Independent School District face the additional challenge of shedding costs while classrooms are bulging. To continue reading, click here Education Funding May Force Special Session of State Legislature Fort Worth Star-Telegram Senate Finance Committee Chairman Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, said budget negotiators are close on everything but education funding, raising the prospect of a special session focused on that issue. Ogden spoke to reporters after senators voted 30-1 to take about $800 million more from the rainy day fund than endorsed by House members. The $3.97 billion okayed by the Senate would cover the entire current fiscal year’s deficit. House members have voted to cover the current fiscal year’s deficit with a combination of cuts and about $3.1 billion from the rainy day fund. The Senate approach, since it also envisions the same cuts this fiscal year, would make about $800 million available to soften cuts in the upcoming tw To continue reading, click here Texas House, Senate Agree On Smaller Parts Of Budget — But Not Education Dallas Morning News House and Senate budget negotiators said they made significant progress Monday, tentatively agreeing on big chunks of the two-year state spending plan, including Medicaid and prisons. But education is still the big sticking point, and chief Senate budget writer Sen. Steve Ogden suggested that lawmakers may have to go into overtime to resolve the two chambers’ differences. “I don’t think we’re going to agree on a funding level for education before a special session,” said Ogden, R-Bryan. To continue reading, click here House, Senate Negotiators Stumped On Education Houston Chronicle Texas House and Senate negotiators have reached a compromise on almost all parts of the next two-year state budget, leaving the biggest chunk of spending — education — left to be solved. Lawmakers need to reach an agreement on the spending plan before the session adjourns on May 30. The votes late Monday showed significant progress, though much work remains. Spending on education, particularly public school funding formulas, could push the Legislature into a special session over the summer. Sen. Steve Ogden, the Senate's lead budget writer, said he hopes an agreement on education can be reached by the end of the week. But legislation on how to rework the funding formulas appears to have stalled. Other legislation that could impact the amount of money available to spend is scheduled for consideration this week. To continue reading, click here Budget Talks Come Up Short On Education Houston Chronicle Legislative budget negotiators agreed Monday on spending in many key areas except education, prompting Senate Finance Committee Chairman Steve Ogden to suggest a special session on public schools and universities could be necessary this summer. The incomplete budget agreement would protect nursing homes from additional cuts in Medicaid reimbursement rates in the next two years, said Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond. That would address concerns that big cuts backed earlier by the House would mean many nursing home closures. But negotiators' plan would fall an estimated $4.8 billion short of covering Medicaid caseload growth, which would require quick action from lawmakers when they return in regular session in 2013 to keep the program funded. To continue reading, click here House Finally Kills Class Size Bill Texas Tribune In what may be the Democrats' first concrete victory of the session, the House at last sent HB 400 to its grave when it failed to take up the controversial legislation before its midnight deadline. The bill from Rep. Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, would have lifted the state's student-teacher class size ratio in lower grades, changed requirements for teacher contract renewals, and authorized unpaid furloughs for school district employees — though now, the measures could live on as amendments to other bills. To continue reading, click here School Finance Bills Are Stalled In Texas Legislature Fort Worth Star-Telegram School finance bills in the Texas House and Senate appear to have stalled, leaving questions as to how billions of dollars will be cut from public education. Legislators are looking to reduce school funding over the next two years as the state struggles with a multibillion-dollar shortfall. But the two key bills that would have spelled out exactly how to apply cuts to public schools seem to be dead. With the legislative session ending this month, many are now worried about whether there's enough time to address school budget cuts. If not, a special session could be called. To continue reading, click here Turning Education Investment Into Corporate Profits New York Times American education is going to be reformed until it rolls over and begs for mercy. Vouchers! Guns on campus! Just the other day, the Florida Legislature took a giant step toward ending the scourge of droopy drawers in high school by upping the penalties for underwear-exposing pants. Today, let's take a look at the privatization craze and the conviction that there is nothing about molding young minds that can't be improved by the profit motive. Enrollment in for-profit colleges has ballooned to almost 2 million, propelled by more than $25 billion in federal student loans, many of which are apparently never going to be repaid. More than 700 public K-12 schools around the country are now managed by for-profit companies. Last week, in Ohio, the state House went for the whole hog and approved legislation that would allow for-profit businesses to open up their own taxpayer-financed charter schools. To continue reading, click here House Budget Has a 2013 Problem San Antonio Express-News The Texas House's barebones budget proposal would run out of money for public schools by early 2013 and for Medicaid soon after unless lawmakers add money to the plan and revise education funding formulas, the chamber's chief budget writer said Thursday. “There's a lot of holes in that budget that we need to fill,” House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, told his colleagues after postponing bills that would use accounting maneuvers and other changes to provide more revenue. To continue reading, click here Monster School Reform Bill Stalled – For Now San Antonio Express-News The state House is only a couple hours away from a session deadline to pass House bills – and a major school reform bill appears to be in serious limbo. HB 400 would give school districts flexibility to deal with massive budget cuts by allowing them to increase class sizes. Teachers also could be forced to take unpaid days off along with pay cuts. “HB 400 is going to pass. It has to,” House Public Education Chairman Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, said two hours before the deadline. But he has been cryptic about his intentions. To continue reading, click here Rufflo: Don't Fail Students Who've Taken The Leap of Faith To Work Hard Austin American-Statesman The Texas Education Agency's decision to eliminate the use of Texas Projection Measure (TPM) is without a doubt, the least educated action yet to be seen in Texas education. It seems that TEA seeks a "one measure fits all" solution to measuring student growth. TPM allowed the state to look not only at a student's ability to pass the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test, but the actual progress that is made by a student and their projection to pass TAKS within the next three years. As a teacher who has worked with at risk youth for over ten years, I can personally attest to the idiocy of attempting to adhere to one single form of measurement for student growth, which is exactly what we will now do thanks to the short sightedness of state education Commissioner Robert Scott. Every child is an individual who walks into a classroom with different strengths and weaknesses. If we are unable to agree upon a method of measurement that allows us to the flexibility of looking at individual growth for the period of each academic year, public education will fail. To continue reading, click here Olson: Texas Parents Need To Speak Up To Help Schools Austin American-Statesman Parents of public school students form one of the largest single constituencies in the State of Texas. Moderate or conservative, urban, rural or suburban, the people in this group have one huge interest in commontheir children are greatly impacted by legislative decisions made in Austin. Few things influence a child's life more than his or her education. Given this, one would hope and think that parents, regardless of political persuasion, would be passionately knocking down the doors of the Capitol building to be heard. Sadly, too few do. Perhaps because these parents don't think they have the knowledge to influence decision making or maybe because they are busy, they are too often absent or left out of the decision making process. To continue reading, click here Balthazar & Strama: Giving Kids Early Boost In Education Pays Off in Long Run Austin American-Statesman A recent groundbreaking study by E3 Alliance shows that 48 percent of children in our region are not ready for school when they enter kindergarten. This is significant because children who start out behind stay behind. They are more likely to fail early grades, need intensive education services, drop out and enter the criminal justice system. It is heartbreaking to think of 5-year-olds failing in school from the moment they start, but that is the reality for many of our children. According to United Way Capital Area Success By 6, the cost to intervene after a child is struggling in school is time-consuming and very expensive. Early intervention programs help even the odds for our most at-risk children. Without interventions, the costs of school failure will keep growing. To continue reading, click here What if Texas Doesn't Pass a School Finance Bill? Texas Tribune Nobody wanted to think about it in January. But as the middle of May approaches, with little more than two weeks left in the 82nd legislative session, a growing chorus of voices is asking: What happens if lawmakers can’t agree on school finance reform? Proposals in both the House and Senate have stalled. In the upper chamber, Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, needs one more Democrat to assemble the necessary two-thirds vote to get her bill heard on the floor. On the west side of the dome, Rep. Scott Hochberg, D-Houston, concedes that as a stand-alone bill, his proposal is dead. He says he’ll try to attach it as an amendment to another piece of legislation — something Shapiro could also try. To continue reading, click here Apply Federal Funds To Education Spending Repeal of Provision Aimed At Texas Means Lege Must Act Wisely San Antonio Express-News While the headlines from Austin on funding for public education continue to be grim, Texas schools received a small bit of good news from Washington last month. The U.S. Department of Education agreed to release $832 million to Texas that had been locked up in a partisan political fight — a fight that never should have happened. The dispute goes back to the last legislative session, when state GOP leaders used $3.25 billion in federal stimulus funds for education to partially replace state education funding. That freed up state money to help plug a $9.1 billion hole in the budget for the current biennium. Democrats in Austin and Washington argued that rather than replace any state dollars, the stimulus funds should have fully augmented the education budget — that the total expenditure on education in Texas should have gone up by $3.25 billion in the current biennium. However, the Department of Education approved the plan, which increased the total expenditure on education in Texas by $1.9 billion. To continue reading, click here Ed Policy Change Offers More Realistic Picture San Antonio Express-News The Texas Education Agency made the right decision in dropping the use of the controversial Texas Projection Measure policy it has used over the past two years in assessing ratings for campuses and districts. Texas needs some accountability ratings that reflect a true picture. The projection measure, adopted in 2009, allowed school administrators to use a statistical model to determine whether students would pass the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills within the next few years. Under those rules, schools were given credit for students' improvement in their scores even if they did not pass. Schools should be given credit for improvement, but there needs to be a better way of doing that. Use of the projection measure served only to inflate the ratings to such a degree that no one was taking them seriously. It offered no real measurement of how students are doing at the time of testing. To continue reading, click here Texas House Puts School Reforms Bill On Hold Houston Chronicle Texas Democrats successfully halted debate in the House late Friday night on a key Republican-backed education reform measure that would give school districts suffering from budget cuts more authority to deal with the lower funding. After hours of debate, a point of order was raised against the bill and Speaker Joe Straus said he would take it under advisement, which ended debate. The bill is expected to come up Saturday for consideration. School districts could increase class sizes, cut employee pay and give teachers unpaid furloughs under the bill by Rep. Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands. Schools could also wait until the 15th day before the end of the academic year to notify teachers that contracts won't be renewed. Current law says teachers have to be notified 45 days before the end of the year. To continue reading, click here Texas Budget Cuts Put Pre-K Programs in Jeopardy Houston Chronicle With about an hour and a half left in Pamela Houston's full-day pre-kindergarten class, her students' bright eyes are still rapt as she begins to read "The Grouchy Ladybug." Her animated reading is accompanied by questions the children eagerly answer — "What are the parts of a bug?" ''Head, thorax and abdomen," they reply in chorus. Students in the south Dallas classroom then participate in math activities before breaking into small groups for further lessons and finally heading home. Although many experts say these full-day classes are beneficial to children, looming cuts to education funding have put many of these full-day pre-K programs on the chopping block in hundreds of districts across Texas. As state lawmakers debate how to fix a gaping budget shortfall in the coming weeks, school officials are faced with the difficult choice of trimming their classes to a half day or eliminating other costs. To continue reading, click here Texas House Puts School Reforms Bill On Hold Fort Worth Star-Telegram The endgame has begun for this session of the Texas Legislature. Some major bills have made their way through the process and have gone to the governor's office, along with stacks of minor bills. But even though there are only three weeks to go, don't start thinking the biennial lawfest is about over. Reaching agreement on how to finance public schools could still become the session's Achilles' heel. The House and Senate have passed separate versions of the next two-year state budget, and the measures have been sent to a conference committee. But a separate bill will be required to determine how the money allotted to schools will be distributed among them. To continue reading, click here Boyle: Texas Legislators Ignore The Outcry Against School Funding Cuts At Their Peril Austin American-Statesman Every day, parents send their kids off to school with words of encouragement like "Do your best" and "Make us proud." Parents voiced similar support for Texas legislators back in January, when they came to Austin to enact laws and a two-year budget. But with less than a month left in the legislative session, parents have yet to see lawmakers do their best to provide the high quality education that 4.8 million Texas boys and girls deserve. Many state representatives and senators do not seem to be hearing the public outcry against slashing education funding. The two-year budget passed by the Texas House is destructive, reducing public school budgets by $7.8 billion over the biennium. The budget passed by the Senate is better, but it cuts about $4 billion and leaves school funding woefully below what is needed to help students be successful. Texas ranks 44th nationally for per pupil funding of public schools, and it will drop even lower if the devastating budget cuts are enacted. To continue reading, click here Attempt to Lift Class Size Ratio Stumbles Again Texas Tribune Lawmakers in the House took a second swing at state Rep. Rob Eissler's school mandate relief bill late Friday night. And once again, they whiffed. A point of order from parliamentary mastermind state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, is being considered overnight after almost four hours of debate on the floor. As the debate kicked off, an impassioned state Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, delivered a speech that Democrats — and some Republicans, like state Rep. Larry Phillips, R-Sherman — echoed all night as they detailed their opposition to the bill's proposal to eliminate minimum salary requirements, lift the 22-1 class size ratio, authorize unpaid furloughs and remove termination notification requirements. "We are dealing with HB 400 because we are unwilling to pay the tab for public education for children to get a higher quality education," Turner said, "HB 400 is a consolation bill that shows we're willing to compromise and dumb down education in Texas." To continue reading, click here Haecker: Senators Must Represent All Texans Austin American-Statesman Michael Quinn Sullivan, president of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, pointed out in a recent op-ed in the American-Statesman, our state senators were elected to represent voters. But, despite Sullivan's spin, they weren't elected to represent only those voters who would slash and burn state government and everything it supports – including the public schools – into oblivion. Our senators, as well as their counterparts in the Texas House, were elected to represent all Texans, including those who value the role of quality education in determining our state's future and those who recognize that state government needs to maintain a strong safety net of health care and other public services for the less fortunate. Most senators are more aware of that responsibility that many House members, who represent relatively small districts, including some districts in which one political viewpoint can be overwhelmingly represented at the polls. To continue reading, click here With Senate Budget OK'd, Next Comes the Real Fight Austin American-Statesman Running out of time and options, Senate leaders on Wednesday pushed aside a tradition of bipartisanship in the chamber to approve a two-year state budget that cuts $11 billion from current spending levels. House Bill 1, the 2012-13 budget, passed on a final vote of 19-12, with all the Democrats voting in opposition. Finance Committee Chairman Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, credited his Republican colleagues for having the courage to make a politically difficult vote. "It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better," Ogden said in his closing remarks. "The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena. And that arena is about to shift to the House." To continue reading, click here Education Awards Recognize True Heroes San Antonio Express-News With school districts having to cut staff and the state making drastic changes to the way public school education is delivered in order to make ends meet, this is a proper time to stop and focus on what is good in Texas public schools. Teaching is often a thankless task. It comes with low pay and hours that extend far beyond the regular school schedule. Yet despite all the downsides, there are thousands of individuals who would never dream of doing anything else. We owe them our gratitude for helping to educate the leaders of tomorrow. To continue reading, click here GOP Senators Use Legislative Rule to Pass Budget Houston Chronicle Republican senators took advantage of a legislative rule to pass a budget plan Wednesday, steamrolling Democrats who said it would cut back crucial services while leaving billions unspent in the state's rainy day fund. Senate Republicans said the estimated $173 billion, two-year proposal is the best they can offer to preserve priority spending in the face of a mammoth revenue shortfall, no-new-taxes promises and demands that Texas preserve its savings account for future needs. "This budget... is a bridge to the future. It does not hurt the economy," said Senate Finance Chairman Steve Ogden, R-Bryan. "This budget prioritizes public education. It prioritizes health and human services," Ogden said. "And it funds the primary responsibility of government to provide for the public safety." To continue reading, click here Funding of Updated Textbooks, Pre-K Moves in Texas Senate Texas Insider “Chairman Shapiro has shown tremendous leadership in shepherding this process through her sub-committee on public education finance,” said Bill Hammond, president of the Texas Association of Business (TAB). The Senate Finance Committee on Monday adopted CSHB 4 (the Senate Committee Substitute for House Bill 4), which includes funding for instructional materials for science and the newly revised Pre-Kindergarten programs. “This is great news. The actions of the Senate Finance Committee bring us one step closer to fulfilling the state’s commitment to fund the materials Pre-Kindergarten teachers are expecting this fall,” Hammond said. Founded in 1922, the Texas Association of Business represents more than 3,000 small and large Texas employers, as well as 200 local Chambers of Commerce. The instructional materials for Pre-Kindergarten are the blueprint for implementing the Texas Education Agency’s new guidelines that significantly upgrade the Pre-Kindergarten curriculum. To continue reading, click here Paul Sadler On Giving School Districts More Flexibility Dallas Morning News Here is an entry from former Democratic State Rep. Paul Sadler, who chaired the House Committee on Public Education from 1995 to 2003. He currently is a consultant to the Texas Association of School Boards. It is clear that the Texas Legislature is going to reduce funding for public schools. This cut to public education will be between $4 billion and $7 billion, depending on final revenue estimates and negotiations between the two chambers. Either end of the spectrum represents a massive cut to public education funding. They are historic cuts. Never in the history of our state have we, in one budget cycle or any combination of budget cycles, made such devastating cuts to public education. Given the anticipated cuts in state funding, school boards have to significantly reduce their district's budget for next year. Approximately 80 percent of any school district's operating expenses are payroll costs. Under current law, school districts cannot furlough or reduce salaries for teachers, librarians, counselors, nurses, and speech pathologists-approximately 65 percent of a school district's payroll costs. Therefore, school districts have limited options to manage these budget cuts: 1) raise property taxes if rates are not already at the cap in state law, or 2) layoff school personnel. Because contracts have to be renewed this spring, before knowing the outcome of the budget proposals, we are already reading articles of school districts having to fire teachers. Both Chairman Florence Shapiro in the Senate and Chairman Rob Eissler in the House have been working on legislation to give school boards more flexibility to handle personnel decisions. When the education code was crafted, such drastic cuts were never contemplated. Consequently, school boards, unlike all other employers, were not given options to manage their payroll costs. So the issue is: how prescriptive should the state be with respect to school district personnel management? To continue reading, click here Shapiro Bill Would Help Texas Students And Teachers Dallas Morning News The Texas House’s Public Education Committee has a chance today to advance the important bill their Senate colleagues passed last week that would help teachers develop their skills. By scheduling a hearing on SB 4 — and acting quickly to send it to the full House — the committee can ensure that this measure doesn’t get lost in the Legislature’s hurried final month. SB 4 stands to be a great boon to Texas, since it would flow quality teachers into classrooms; U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan insists that is the best tool to help more students advance. The proposal from state Sen. Florence Shapiro, a Plano Republican, comes at a critical point. Texas has an abundance of teachers who could soon retire, leaving schools with voids. Shapiro’s bill would help ensure that new teachers are capable of stepping directly into those classrooms — and that they have ways to grow in their profession. SB 4 gets at those goals in several ways: To continue reading, click here SB 4 Sparks Quarrel Between Shapiro, Teachers Groups Texas Tribune A bill authorizing a major rethink of teacher evaluation in Texas public schools has teachers' organizations scuffling with Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Florence Shapiro, R-Plano. After SB 4 passed the Senate on Thursday, the Texas American Federation of Teachers cried foul, saying Shapiro had made "a series of unfounded assertions about teacher groups' support for the bill" during debate on the floor. From the Texas AFT's "Legislative Hotline" newsletter: To continue reading, click here Budget Crisis Poses Threat to Educational Standards Houston Chronicle The current Texas legislative session is largely about the budget crisis, and the media reports have particularly sensationalized the potential cuts in public education funding. But if one looks more closely, there is a larger threat in public education policy, one that would undermine much of the progress we have made in standards and accountability. Let's retrace why the recent Texas public education reforms were necessary and why the Legislature spent so much time and effort crafting them. Prior to the adoption of the landmark House Bill 3 in 2009, we needed a more rigorous high school curriculum with serious and focused assessment and accountability. Among other provisions, these reforms called for the end of the dreaded TAKS exit exam in high school, to be replaced with end-of-course exams in the 12 core high school subjects. To continue reading, click here Texas Discontinues Method That Projected Students' Success San Antonio Express News If the House has its way, there will be 7.8 billion fewer state dollars headed to Texas public schools. All along, districts have known that how much of that funding gap they’ll individually bear depends on how the Legislature reworks the state’s school finance system (and ultimately, of course, on the final state budget agreed upon by the Senate and House). The districts now have a clue as to how the knife would fall under the House plan: State Rep. Scott Hochberg’s school finance bill — the one he characterized as “the fairest way to distribute the pain” — has been approved by the Public Education Committee. We’ve created a searchable database based on the Houston Democrat’s projections on how the funding cuts would hit 1,024 traditional school districts across the state. On average, the districts stand to lose 8.5 percent of their total revenue. But the effect of the House budget on individual districts ranges between a staggering 39 percent cut at tiny Kelton ISD in the Panhandle to a handful of districts — around 25 — that would see marginal (think 1 to 2 percent) gains. To continue reading, click here What $7.8 Billion Less Means for Your School District The Texas Tribune Thousands of Texas public schools could see their coveted state ratings plummet this year without help from a controversial measure that reduced the importance of passing standardized exams. Under pressure to toughen standards, state Education Commissioner Robert Scott ruled Friday that the school accountability system no longer would include the so-called Texas Projection Measure. This allowed schools to get credit for students who failed state tests if a statistical model determined that they would pass in future grades. Scott had said in July that he would consider discontinuing the projection measure, and his decision was cemented this month after a unanimous state House vote against such a model. To continue reading, click here Time to Reform Curriculum Adoption Austin American Statesman For much too long, the State Board of Education has adopted curriculum standards after a closed, confused process that was long on politics and short on scholarship. Bills pending in the Senate and the House would restore order and inject an element of academic discipline into a convoluted, politically charged process. Writen in crisp, clear language, SB 1348 and HB 3263 call on the commissioner of higher education to appoint a curriculum review team made of educational experts to review and recommend standards that: To continue reading, click here Lawmakers Want to Hold Pre-K Accountable San Antonio Express-News Reacting to criticism over a plan to outsource pre-kindergarten accountability, a state Senate committee decided last week that it would be better for the Texas Education Agency, rather than a commercial vendor, to ensure that 4-year-olds are ready for kindergarten. The change of heart blunts strong feelings from some educators and pre-K advocates who howled over a plan to use a private company to collect pre-K data without knowing the methodology used to assess student and school performance. Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, instead decided to give this new task to the TEA, which brought relief to some school officials. Texas spends about $2.5 billion a year — mostly in federal funds — to prepare youngsters for kindergarten. To continue reading, click here Third World Houston? Houston Chronicle Over the past 30 years, the Kinder Houston Area Survey, produced by Rice University Sociology Professor Stephen Klineberg, has come to be required reading for Houstonians who are serious about better understanding their city. Klineberg's scholarship, combined with his ability to construct an engaging narrative around all the statistics, has long since ensured a wide and interested audience for this work. This year's edition is no exception. The 2011 survey of area residents is brim-full of interesting statistical tidbits on topics ranging from economic prospects (more of us are optimistic for Houston than for the nation) to housing preferences (growing numbers prefer smaller homes within walking distance of restaurants and shopping). But what really grabbed our attention as we read the Chronicle coverage by reporter Jeannie Kever this past week was Klineberg's observation that one day Houston "could become a Third World city." Whoa, there. Say what? To continue reading, click here $7.8 Billion Reduction in the House Plan Fort Worth Star Telegram The Senate is expected to debate the committee's $176.4 billion proposal this week. The House approved its $164.5 billion version on April 3. With revenue down significantly in a slow economy, both plans show big drops in spending from the $182.2 billion budget approved by the Legislature two years ago. Already, conservative stalwarts are calling the Senate committee proposal unaffordable. After the Senate votes, a conference committee probably will work on reconciling differences with the House before the session ends May 30. Ogden and his committee used a combination of house cleaning, spending cuts, $4.1 billion in "non-tax" revenue/accounting shifts and a $3 billion marker from the state's rainy-day fund to reduce the budget cuts. To continue reading, click here Senator: Budget Needs $3 Billion in Rainy Day Cash Austin American-Statesman Senate Finance Chairman Steve Ogden said $3 billion would need to be drawn from the state's rainy day fund to pay for additional spending in the upper chamber's 2012-13 budget. The Finance Committee has spent the past two days cementing the building blocks for its more generous alternative to House Bill 1, a bare-bones budget bill that makes deep cuts to education, health care and more. The final committee vote on the budget is scheduled for today , and the decision on using some of the $9.4 billion rainy day fund will be part of that vote. "I owed it to everyone to put all the cards up on the table," Ogden said. "The last card up is $3 billion from the rainy day fund." Only Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, openly resisted the proposal during the hearing Wednesday night. He said the state will face a significant budget challenge in 2013, as well, and it would be irresponsible to drain too much from the reserve fund. To continue reading, click here Relief Bills Don't Go Far Enough Fit Class Size Needs Austin American-Statesman Lawmakers came to Austin in January promising school district leaders they would free them of a costly state mandate: the cap on class sizes in the early grades. The Austin school district banked on that promise and eliminated 177 positions in elementary schools — for a savings of $9.8 million — as part of its effort to close a $94 million budget shortfall in 2011-12. But neither of the mandate relief bills moving through the Legislature goes as far as Austin's budget and staffing plan, which was based on raising the cap on class sizes in kindergarten through fourth grade from 22 to 24 students. Austin school board President Mark Williams said the district's plan would work under the measure House members will consider today, House Bill 400. It calls for districts to average 22 students or less per classroom and would include a hard cap of 25 students in any class. To continue reading, click here School Funding System Attacked San Antonio Express-News State Senate leaders want to end the much-despised public education funding system by 2017, although they disagree on how to do it — and time is growing short. Some prefer a goal to end the “target revenue” system based on what school districts received in 2006. That system has not been adjusted for inflation and has created huge funding disparities over the past five years. A goal of ending target revenue will keep pressure on lawmakers, Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, said Monday. But others argue that such a goal is meaningless until the state fixes its $5 billion-a-year structural revenue deficit. Lawmakers don't lack pressure, said Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio. “We lack courage, courage to admit that we made a mistake and how to fix it. ... We're not going after the core problem. All we can do is make the patient feel a little better while they are totally miserable, and we're not doing the cure.” To continue reading, click here Some Education Board Members Back Withdrawal Of $2 Billion From School Fund Austin American-Statesman Several State Board of Education members have backed a proposal to seek voter approval for taking $2 billion more from Texas' public school endowment to mitigate budget cuts . "In the spirit of Rosie the Riveter, we are ready to roll up our sleeves and do our part to meet the current funding challenge and support those on the 'front line' of our public schools," according to a letter delivered to state leaders on Friday. The $25.5 billion Permanent School Fund, which was established in 1854 for the benefit of public education in the state, has already spun off $1.9 billion for education in the 2012-13 budget, based on a distribution method laid out in the state constitution. The proposal, which the board has not officially discussed, analyzed or voted on, calls for a constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would authorize a one-time, $2 billion withdrawal from the endowment . To continue reading, click here Lawmakers Give Schools More Budget Flexibility Austin American-Statesman Educators who have begged state lawmakers for more freedom to deal with lower funding got a small victory Thursday when a state Senate committee voted to let school districts cut salaries and furlough contract personnel for a limited time. They also agreed more work needs to be done. The legislation approved Thursday allows districts to reduce contract employee salaries and furlough personnel for up to six non-instructional days, but only while the Foundation School Program entitlement remains below 2010-2011 funding levels. Public education has taken the brunt of cuts as state lawmakers slash spending across the board to deal with a budget shortfall that could reach $27 billion. To continue reading, click here House Approves New District Map For Ed Board San Antonio Express-News A new map for the 15-member Texas State Board of Education has won approval from the House. The map was approved Thursday by a 99-45 vote. Democrats largely opposed the plan, arguing that the plan didn't give Hispanics enough of a voice on the board. Rep. Burt Solomons, who sponsored the legislation, said the map was fair and kept more communities of interest together than the current map. The board sets curriculum standards for Texas classrooms and oversees the state's endowment fund for public schools. To continue reading, click here Panel Eyes School Trust Fund San Antonio Express-News In what one prominent critic called a “raid” on the public school trust fund, House budget-writers voted overwhelmingly Thursday to require an additional $200 million in earnings be spent directly on education each year rather than reinvested. Backers noted the Permanent School Fund exceeds $25 billion and said it makes sense to require that one-half of the net revenue from part of its portfolio be used to meet direct education expenses in these tough times. Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, a Republican who oversees the portfolio affected by the proposal, is among those who disagreed. He said those who oversee the trust fund should maintain the discretion to manage it. To continue reading, click here New History Standards Still Drawing Fire San Antonio Express-News Some State Board of Education members expressed frustration Thursday over controversial history curriculum standards adopted last year but conceded they don't have enough support to redo them. Board member Mavis Knight, D-Dallas, revived discussions Thursday about the social studies standards. She and other minority members complained they were getting considerable pushback from social studies teachers and coordinators from school districts they represent about the new curriculum standards. But other members defended the standards, which garnered national attention last spring. Various civil rights and minority advocacy organizations have opposed the standards, and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative-leaning education think tank, gave the standards a harsh review, saying they offered “misrepresentations at every turn.” To continue reading, click here Students Walkout in Protest Over Teacher Layoffs Houston Chronicle Hundreds of students in the Katy school district walked out of class Thursday to protest teacher layoffs caused by a feared $50 million budget shortfall. The two largest gatherings were outside Morton Ranch and Cinco Ranch high schools, but students from other campuses also rallied around the roughly 350 Katy Independent School District employees notified this week that their positions were being eliminated. At the corner of Cinco Ranch and Commercial Center boulevards, about 100 students carried posters that read "Save our Teachers" and "Honk for Teachers." "They're firing a lot of the good teachers when they don't need to," said Casey Burson, a 15-year-old sophomore at Seven Lakes High. "The district has an $80 million balance in the account and they just waste so much money." To continue reading, click here Fund Education For The Financial Future of Texas The Galveston Daily News Texans are inundated daily with news of the state budget crisis. School districts are paring their budgets by laying off thousands of teachers and other personnel. Yet our state’s population continues to grow, and its educational needs cannot be ignored. Our future prosperity as a state depends on it. That is why it is so encouraging to see business organizations such as the Texas Association of Business come out so strongly in support of both public and higher education. To continue reading, click here Don’t Lower The Educational Bar San Antonio Express-News Texas got on the path of serious education reform and educational accountability in 1984, when the Legislature passed the Texas Educational Opportunity Act. The act established the first statewide curriculum standards, known as essential elements, and led to the Texas Assessment of Basic Skills, the first statewide testing program. Since then, curriculum standards have been revised — with the exception of some meddling on the part of the State Board of Education — mostly upward. Essential elements gave way to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills. Student testing has become more rigorous. The Texas Assessment of Basic Skills was succeeded by the Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills, the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills and the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. Two years ago, the Legislature made a significant shift away from standardized testing. Beginning in the 2011-2012 school year, 12 end-of-course exams were to replace four TAKS exams as requirements for graduation. The end-of-course exams, which are aligned with the curriculum, would also count for 15 percent of a student’s grade. To continue reading, click here Texas May Get $830 Million In Federal Education Money Austin American-Statesman About $830 million in federal education aid could soon be coming to Texas after budget negotiators in Washington agreed to strip out a provision that had held up the money for the Lone Star State. Details of last week's federal spending deal are only now dribbling out after the broad agreement was struck late Friday to avert a shutdown of the federal government. On Tuesday, word surfaced that one piece of that agreement could specifically benefit Texas school districts, which could be getting an $830 million infusion of federal money meant to save teacher jobs just as they're having to lay off thousands. House Republicans were able to secure the repeal of a Texas-specific amendment to last year's $10 billion education jobs bill that had left the state's share of that money in legal limbo. U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, had written the amendment. To continue reading, click here Funding Pre-K Programs & Materials a Priority, says TAB’s Hammond Texas Insider Bill Hammond, Texas Association of Business President & CEO, spoke in Dallas earlier this week to highlight the business community s commitment to funding for early childhood education & instructional materials. Current versions of the state budget for 2012-2013 shortchange early childhood education and place the long-term prosperity of our state at risk, according to Hammond. “Our state is falling short on our commitment to Texas school children and businesses that rely on a well-educated workforce if we don’t make an investment in these proven early childhood education programs and materials,” said TAB President and CEO Bill Hammond. “Pre-Kindergarten education is a key component to our long-term success as a state.” TAB recently released a comprehensive report, “Dream Big, Texas: Quality Pre-K Education is a Prerequisite for Prosperity,” that outlines the business community’s recommendation for strategic investment in proven early childhood education programs and instructional materials. To continue reading, click here Textbooks, Pre-K Are Essential Expenses Corpus Christi Caller-Times Texans are inundated daily with news of the state budget crisis. And the crisis has become real. In anticipation of reduced state funding, school districts are paring their budgets by laying off thousands of teachers and other personnel. Yet our state's population continues to grow and its educational needs cannot be ignored. Our future prosperity as a state depends on it. That is why it is so encouraging to see business organizations such as the Texas Association of Business come out so strongly in support of both public and higher education. There are competing, and worthy, demands on the state budget, including health care, transportation and criminal justice. But all of these interests benefit from and, when it comes right down to it, depend on an educated workforce if they are to function properly and to progress. Education is the cornerstone of all successful societies. At a minimum, legislators must pay close attention to at least two areas to keep public education in Texas moving forward: textbook funding and pre-kindergarten. To continue reading, click here Problems Appear As Lawmakers Redraw State Education Board Districts Austin American-Statesman It takes State Board of Education member Charlie Garza 10 hours to drive from the western edge of his West Texas district to the eastern end and 11 hours to go from the northern edge to the southern. Garza is one of 15 elected members on the board, which oversees public education in Texas. The board's members represent larger chunks of the state and its districts contain more people than any congressional district. Garza's District 1 is one of the largest geographically. It covers the southwestern quarter of the state. To continue reading, click here Some Budget-Writers Thrilled With School Funding Proposal; Land Commissioner, SBOE Member Not So Much Houston Chronicle - Blog Some House budget-writers appeared thrilled when Rep. Rob Orr, R-Burleson, outlined a proposed constitutional amendment (House Joint Resolution 109) and accompanying legislation (House Bill 2646) to add $200 million a year into public schools without raising taxes. But they may be in for a fight from elected officials who oversee the state's public school trust fund, which would be the focus of the legislation. The $25 billion Permanent School Fund is overseen by the State Board of Education, which looks after an investment portfolio including stocks and bonds, and the School Land Board, which manages real estate and oil and gas royalties. The land board sends some revenue from its investments annually to the education board, which invests the money and decides how much from the trust fund overall can be spent on public schools. To continue reading, click here Funding Textbooks Is A Path Full of Landmines Quorum Report Bills offer some local control but funding remains problematic. The twin bills that passed through the chambers this week on a new textbook allotment could lock in a guarantee for textbook funding this year but also open up another billion-dollar hole in the current budget shortfall. The shortfall centers on an amendment that Sen. Florence Shapiro (R-Plano) tacked onto the bill on the floor of the Senate yesterday, creating an effective date of Sept. 1 for Senate Bill 6 and the immediate creation of an allotment. The conclusion that this creates a new budget hole for the state, and specifically the state’s school districts, is not as solid as it ought to be. That’s mainly because school finance people typically deal with textbooks as an afterthought, and textbook people generally base their understanding of funding on appropriations. To continue reading, click here Unexpectedly, Lawmaker Finds Extra Money For Schools Texas Tribune A Texas lawmaker said the magic words Thursday morning to a panel of exhausted and nearly hopeless state budget writers: he has found a “new revenue source without raising taxes.” State Rep. Rob Orr, R-Burleson, introduced two bills to the House Appropriations Committee that could add several million dollars to the public schools budget over the next two years. HB 2646 proposes allowing the School Land Board to transfer at least half of the net revenue it collects from a land trust it oversees to the Available School Fund (ASF), an endowment that puts money directly into public schools in Texas. Orr said that pot of money has risen to more than $2.5 billion in market value and contains more than $1 billion in cash. If that trend continues, the fund could supply the state with an additional $500 million in the next biennium. “I think it’s irresponsible to have that much cash sitting around when our public schools need that money,” Orr said. To continue reading, click here Teachers, School Administrators Part Ways In Budget Fight Austin American Statesman Teachers and school administrators have long been twin powers in the Texas Capitol fighting to protect public education. Now they are working against each other on legislation that could change how teachers are paid and how many children they teach. The legislation, House Bill 400, is intended to give school leaders the flexibility they need to manage their budgets as the state reduces by as much as $7.8 billion what it owes the districts over the next two years. It allows for teacher pay reductions and furloughs, modifies teacher contract rules, and adjusts the cap on class sizes in the earlier grades. House Public Education Chairman Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, said HB 400 would save teacher jobs because now the districts have no other option but to lay them off in order to reduce costs. To continue reading, click here State Budget Cuts Would Cripple Schools Corpus Christi Caller Times Because the governor and Legislature are moving to under-fund public education by billions, schools are preparing to fire teachers and slash programs. The budget passed Sunday by the House shortchanges school funding formulas by almost $8 billion, while the Senate is looking at almost $4 billion. In addition, both are planning to all but eliminate state funding outside the formulas such as pre-kindergarten grants, science lab grants, the advanced placement incentive program, and the teacher incentive pay program. If Gov. Rick Perry and the House have their way, the state will under-fund schools by about 16 percent. The Senate wants to do better, though it is unclear where it will get the money. Perry has drawn a line in the sand — refusing to use the Rainy Day Fund or add any new tax revenue to balance the next budget. If the Legislature took a balanced approach that included using our savings in the Rainy Day Fund and adding some new revenue, it could dramatically minimize the damage. But Perry argues that schools don't really need the money. To continue reading, click here House To Vote On Loosening Graduation Testing Requirements Austin American-Statesman Texas high school students would have to pass fewer new state exams to graduate under a bill to be considered today by the Texas House. Pushed by state Rep. Rob Eissler, chairman of the Public Education Committee, the bill aims to ease the transition to tougher end-of-course exams. But business and education reform groups say it is a step backward, and they blame school districts for using the state's budget crisis to justify undoing a law they don't like. Current law sets as a graduation requirement that students take a total of 12 end-of-course exams — in English, math, science and social studies — and earn an average passing score within each subject. To continue reading, click here Houston Chronicle Regarding "Budget battle's next chapter: textbooks" (Page B1, March 18"), if the lawmakers do not provide students with new textbook and instructional material, students will have trouble in passing the end-of-course exam. I believe that teachers should not be accountable for finding updated information and new material on their own time, and state lawmakers should be providing teachers the curriculum they need. If we want our students to become better educated in today's society we need to continue to require updated material that focuses on the changes that occur in our world on a daily basis. To continue reading, click here Texas' Top Business Lobbyist Becomes Crucial Voice in Debate About School Funding Cuts Austin American-Statesman Except for a bum knee and keen political instincts, Bill Hammond, the president of the Texas Association of Business, would have been a speaker at this month's Capitol rally that drew thousands of supporters of public education. He says he woke up the day before the rally with a sore knee that didn't allow for marching and rallying. "I have a doctor's note," Hammond said of his late cancellation. But he adds that the rally became more about Gov. Rick Perry, who favors budget cuts, than he expected: "It turned out more political than I thought." Hammond, a former business owner and Republican lawmaker from Dallas, is accustomed to steering the state business organization between its support for Perry and his fervent belief that now is not the time to short-change public or higher education. Hammond, who's been interested in public education since his days as a lawmaker in the 1980s, has added higher education to his list of concerns for the state's future workforce. "If we don't have an educated workforce, the jobs will leave," Hammond said. "We are not meeting the needs of the future." To continue reading, click here Find Funds For What Matters Most Fort Worth Star-Telegram Try herding 20 or so 4-year-olds by yourself all day. Dare ya. It's bound to be challenging under the best circumstances. Young children can be energetic, impulsive and demanding of individual attention. So it seems baffling that the Fort Worth school board would vote for all-day pre-kindergarten with a teacher -- but no assistants -- in each of 207 classrooms. Trustee Carlos Vasquez was the only board member to outright reject that configuration. Here's the thing, though: No one, including the administrator who presented that as an option, wants to leave pre-K teachers without backup or an extra pair of hands. To continue reading, click here Buy The Textbooks Texas Kids Need San Antonio Express-News The 2010 Texas State Board of Education, led by Chairman Gail Lowe, has sent the Texas Legislature $3 billion of new funding for public education. How? The forefathers of Texas had the foresight to create the Texas Permanent School Fund to ensure that all children in Texas will receive free textbooks. While some elected officials are promoting the idea of raising taxes and fees on the backs of hard-working Texas families, the SBOE is blessing Texas with a $3 billion payout generated from the PSF endowment. A letter to the Legislature, signed by Lowe and all 15 members of the 2010 SBOE, asked that the first $500 million be used to purchase new textbooks built upon newly adopted standards and that the remaining $2.5 billion be dedicated to education funding, which could pay the salaries of 25,000 English, math or science educators for the next two years. On Jan. 18, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Speaker Joe Straus released a formal letter praising the SBOE for this huge distribution of new funding for education. To continue reading, click here New SBOE Plan Floated For Hispanic-Majority Districts Houston Chronicle - Austin Bureau It would be easier to draw new State Board of Education districts to reflect the state's booming Hispanic population growth if there were more than 15 seats, a state lawmaker said Friday while calling for a study to expand the board. House Redistricting Chairman Burt Solomons said Friday the current 15 districts are too large and unwieldy. He said he will ask House Speaker Joe Straus for an interim study to determine a better way to configure the State Board of Education. 'REASONABLE' OR NOT? Meanwhile, the new map that Solomons, R-Carrollton, has drawn for those 15 seats needs additional work, some said, because it does not accommodate Hispanic growth. Although Hispanics represent about two-thirds of the state's population growth, critics note the proposed map would dilute one of the three existing Hispanic districts. To continue reading, click here Senate Education Budget Plan Done Austin American-Statesman The Texas Association of Business' latest report, “Dream Big, Texas: Quality Pre-K Education is a Prerequisite for Prosperity,” urges state lawmakers to fund proven early childhood education programs and instructional materials. Given the budget constraints, little is expected to change when the full Finance Committee takes up the recommendation on Thursday. The big decisions had already been made prior to Tuesday night. Last week, the senators on the subcommittee voted 5-2 to add $5.3 billion to the base budget and almost $400 million for textbooks and other instructional materials. That increase, the senators acknowledged, is contingent upon finding the money to pay for it. And it might be optimistic, they said, because the House version nixes almost double what the senators were willing to spend. To continue reading, click here Texas Must Fund Proven Pre-K Programs, Materials Texas Asssociation of Business Senators on Tuesday night tied up the last of the loose ends on a thoroughly trimmed-down state public education budget. “Our state runs the risk of falling short on our commitment to Texas school children and businesses that rely on a well-educated workforce,” said TAB President and CEO Bill Hammond. “Pre-Kindergarten education is a key component to our long-term success as a state.” To continue reading, click here Funding For Textbooks Creating Controversy Amid Budget Crisis ABC News Channel 25 In the ongoing battle over budget cuts and education spending, funding for textbooks is pitting legislators against the State Board of Education -- and school districts are caught in the middle. The dispute is over a 157-year-old endowment called the "Permanent School Fund," established in 1854 to provide for public education for Texas citizens. The fund is comprised largely of royalties from natural resources like oil and minerals, as appreciation on bonds, equities and stocks. Today it's worth $25 billion, and exists as a source of education funding that lies outside the state budget. Gail Lowe of Lampasas represents the Waco district of the State Board of Education, and is the board chair. "This is a source of endowment money that we've provided on top of state revenues to help meet their needs," says Lowe. To continue reading, click here Washington Post It’s a bad time for textbooks. In schools and school board meetings, and in the news, they are often ridiculed. People say they are too heavy. They are too expensive. They induce sleep. They stand in the way of creative teaching. They are filled with errors. Ideologues on state textbook committees use them to achieve their political or religious agendas. I have visited the classrooms of gifted teachers, loved by their students, where the textbooks are stacked in the corner, grimy from neglect. The teacher has developed her own set of materials. She communicates the subject matter better her way, with state test results that prove it. And yet, at educational conferences and in scholarly papers, the textbook is making a comeback. Sure, its defenders say, many textbook series have deteriorated into fuzzy platitudes, with little use for teachers or students, but that does not mean that our classes are doing better without them. To continue reading, click here TAB Urges Maintaining Pre-K Funding BizJournals.com A report released Thursday by the Texas Association of Business urges lawmakers not to cut funding for proven prekindergarten educational programs and instructional materials. “We cannot turn a blind eye to the role that early childhood education plays in the long-term prosperity and workforce readiness of Texas,” TAB President Bill Hammond wrote in the eight-page report entitled “Dream Big, Texas: Quality Pre-K Education is a Prerequisite for Prosperity.” To continue reading, click here Thousands Rally at Capitol to Protest Education Cuts Austin American- Statesman Thousands of parents, teachers and other education advocates poured onto the Capitol grounds Saturday to rally against proposed state budget cuts that school districts say could force layoffs of thousands of teachers and other public education employees. Demonstrators sprawled across the statehouse grounds, carrying signs scrawled with "Save Our Schools" and "Fund the Future."Others carried umbrellas to underscore their desire that lawmakers tap into the state's rainy day fund to help balance the budget. To continue reading, click here Thousands march on Capitol to protest potential education cuts Houton Chronicle Thousands of teachers, parents and students swarmed the state Capitol grounds Saturday to protest the sharp education cuts that Gov. Rick Perry and many Texas lawmakers are pushing to close a budget shortfall. The rowdy but peaceful gathering, which organizers said numbered at least 11,000, focused on some simple messages: Don't abandon children. Don't lay off teachers. Don't increase class sizes. Don't cut music, theater and art classes. Chau Tran, selected as Teacher of the Year in 2010 at her elementary school in Austin, told the crowd she learned recently that she might get laid off next year. To continue reading, click here United Way and Joe Straus Encourage Legislators to Fund Pre-K Instruction Austin American-Statesman The United Way of San Antonio went to the Capital to urge legislators to fund Pre-Kindergarten programs throughout the state. To view video click here Fort Worth ISD Teachers Worry Over Pre-K KERA News Many educators believe pre-kindergarten programs are essential to helping disadvantaged children succeed in school. But state budget plans call for eliminating or dramatically reducing Pre-K funding, and many districts say they may only be able to offer the minimum program required by law. Fort Worth, for example, could lose $12 million state dollars, two-thirds of the funding for its Pre-K program. Bill Zeeble reports on what's at risk. Pre-kindergarten teachers at Fort Worth's M. G. Ellis Primary school say a lot of people think what they provide is day care. Melissa Abilez: It's not a daycare. They're actually learning a lot. Free Books for Private Schools Pitched Austin American-Statesmen Ogden: Free Books to Private Schools Sen. Steve Ogden, a Republican from Bryan and the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, explained Wednesday why he has proposed an amendment to the Texas Constitution that would give publicly funded textbooks to students in private schools.. "I think it's a matter of fairness," said Ogden, who represents Williamson County. "Our Constitution lays out a requirement that we provide for a free public education for our citizens, and many parents in the state of Texas, for whatever reason, elect not to use the public system. But that doesn't mean that I don't think the Permanent School Fund and the monies that we appropriate for textbooks is not for them." Ogden filed his proposal Tuesday, but couldn't be reached for comment until Wednesday. If approved by the House and Senate with a two-thirds vote, the amendment would go before voters in November. The state is facing a huge budget shortfall, raising questions about whether it will be able to provide textbooks to public-school students as scheduled. To continue reading, click here Austin American-Statesman Your story puts in sharp focus how important up-to-date textbooks are to the learning process for Texas students. But this year, it is even more critical because the Texas Legislature recently raised the educational standards to improve students' readiness for college and career. So it stands to reason that students must have the new instructional materials in order to successfully pass these new tests. To continue reading, click here Want prosperity? Invest in the youngest kids Fort Worth Star Telegram In 2009, Texas lawmakers were tussling over how much extra money to put into pre-kindergarten and how to allocate it. This year, they aren't even talking about providing that additional funding for 2012-13.. The possible loss of more than $200 million over two years has some school districts poised to make unfortunate choices about cutting back programs for their youngest students. The Legislature recognized in the 1980s that investing in 4-year-olds, and some 3-year-olds, helps significantly in preparing them to succeed down the academic road. There's a widely acknowledged domino effect: Kids who get a good start on school are more likely to stay out of trouble and graduate, enabling them to be more productive citizens who earn more money, pay more taxes and improve their families' economic situation. To continue reading, click here Budget Cuts Have Some Calling for STAAR Delay Texas Tribune State Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, Chair of the Senate Committee on Education, on July 20, 2010. As Texas school districts brace for budget cuts and layoffs in the coming months, many education advocates are particularly concerned about the state's roll out of a new testing system in 2012. The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, will track student, school and school district performance, replacing the current Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. With current state budget proposals set to cut public education funding by about $10 billion, some want STAAR implementation delayed to give districts time to recover from the 2011 cuts. To continue reading, click here Texas May Stop Funding of Textbooks MyFoxLubbock.com The state of Texas may stop paying for the required learning materials for schools because of the budget gap. This is forcing districts like Frenship ISD to scramble for new options to keep course content relevant and updated.. The district updates textbooks every year by alternating sever core classes. If the state cuts textbook funds for two year this will affect two core classes. Teachers will be hard-pressed to find other ways to provide new material for students. To continue reading, click here Time to Make Education in Texas a Priority Fort Worth Star-Telegram Tunisia. Egypt. Jordan. Bahrain. Iran. Libya. Morocco. Wisconsin, USA. All are places where people have risen up to demand fairness and justice from their political leaders. Next month, you can add at least one more place to that list: Texas. While Texans are not talking about overthrowing a government or taking over a statehouse, two major demonstrations are being planned in Austin in support of education. Both are part of a grassroots reaction to the proposed massive state funding cuts that could result in as many as 100,000 school employees being laid off. Gov. Rick Perry and the leadership in Austin, facing a $27 billion budget shortfall for the next biennium, have vowed to balance the books without increasing taxes or dipping into the state's $9.4 billion rainy-day fund. Based on proposals in the Legislature, the state will have to cut almost $10 billion from the already strapped educational funding. To continue reading, click here A Texas educator's plea for support Fort Worth Star-Telegram Dear Texas: For 17 years, I corrected your children's papers, their behavior, their attitudes. I offered my life as a model, competing with flashy athletes, "cool" celebrities and ever-changing technology for their focus. I learned alongside them, and sometimes from them, as I adapted to the changes that would help them become lifelong learners. I traded my chalk for a remote control, my transparency for an interactive white board. I prepared them to work in professions that have yet to be created. I showed them how to hold their heads high and face the world with confidence. I could fill pages with the stories and names of people who helped me grow into the educator I am today, but the stories always begin the same. It is 1993, and I am standing outside Ms. Murray's room in L.V. Stockard Middle School in Dallas. She was the first of many mentors. Sharing her classroom and students, she showed me how to encourage and guide, to manage and organize. When I was hired a few months later, she provided supplies on the good days, her shoulder on the bad. Her influence and energy abound in my classroom today; they are in a well-crafted question, a cheer at success. To continue reading, click here As new tests loom for students, money for textbooks nonexistent Austin American Statesman In 1997, the human genome was an enigma, Dolly the sheep was a young clone and Pluto was still a planet. Consult a science textbook in a Texas classroom today, and you might not be privy to the breakthroughs that have altered human understanding of these and other phenomena in the past 14 years. That's because before a 2009 curriculum overhaul, 1997 was the last time science standards were updated for Texas children. Shipped into schools about two years later, today's classroom science textbooks can be up to 12 years old. In a state with 4.6 million public school students, a few dated texts are to be expected. But throw in new, high-stakes testing, and the prospect of end-of-course exams without updated instructional materials becomes more distressing for students, parents and almost every other stakeholder in state public education. To continue reading, click here Decisions affect the future Houston Chronicle Regarding "Balance budget with strategic cuts, key investments" (Page 7, Feb. 5), Texas Association of Business President and CEO Bill Hammond hit the nail on the head in his essay by pointing out that despite the state budget turmoil we must invest in an educated workforce to keep Texas' economy moving forward. It is refreshing to hear business leaders join parents and educators in identifying educational funding as a state priority in our effort to build a skilled workforce. But for some reason a disconnect has surfaced between that message and legislative action. To continue reading, click here BILINGUAL EDUCATION ADVOCATES RING THE ALARM ON TEXTBOOK PURCHASES Quorum Report Bilingual education advocates are ringing the alarm bell about a proposed textbook distribution schedule for the fall that leaves out English as a Second Language and pre-K instructional materials. Jesse Romero of the Texas Association for Bilingual Education said at a morning press conference that the failure to fund those materials would exacerbate the achievement gap between those students who require ESL classes and those who don’t. The long term implication is higher dropout rates as those students approach high school age. The base budget bills did not include funding for new textbooks in the fall. In his latest funding request, Education Commissioner Robert Scott has requested money to cover the textbooks in all of this year’s scheduled subjects except ESL from kindergarten through grade 8 and pre-K. Romero said that he did not understand why some subjects were being left out if there’s enough money in the Available School Fund to buy all of the scheduled textbooks. “If you’re going to go 85 percent, you should go all the way,” he said. To continue reading, click here New Poll Shows Overwhelming Support for Textbook Funding Texas Curriculum Eighty-three percent of Texans, whether they are conservative or liberal or Democrat or Republican, want state legislators to include full funding for textbooks and instructional materials for public school students in this year’s state education budget, according to a new statewide poll released today. Baselice and Associates, Inc. conducted the poll for Texas Association of Business (TAB), Texas Citizen Action Network and Texas Curriculum from Jan. 30-Feb. 1, 2011. The 1,002 voter sample, statewide telephone survey has a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent. “These survey results indicate a large majority of voters want the legislature to set aside the funding requested for textbooks or new instructional materials. Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, suburban and rural voters overwhelming share this viewpoint.” said Austin-based pollster Mike Baselice. To continue reading, click here Eighty Three Percent of Voters Surveyed Favor Textbook Funding Texas Citizen Action Network Although the Texas Constitution indicates that the state must use the Permanent School Fund to pay for textbooks for all public school children, the legislature has not set aside the five hundred and fifty million dollars the Texas Education Agency requested for textbooks or new instructional materials in the current budget. Knowing this, do you favor or oppose requiring the legislature to include funding for textbooks and instructional materials in the education budget?. To continue reading, click here Balance budget with strategic cuts, key investments Houston Chronicle There's something to be said for leaders in the Texas House of Representatives sticking to their guns and releasing a state budget that keeps spending within existing revenues.Board members also got a first look at publishers who have filed intents to bid on supplemental science instructional materials. My budget mantra this session is: "It's difficult, but doable." State leaders must continue to fight to ensure that we implement cost-saving reforms that reflect Texas' commitment to prosperity and to economic growth.The state has $72.2 billion available for general-purpose spending during the 2012-13 biennium, leaving a $15 billion gap from the current general revenue spending of $87 billion. To continue reading, click here SBOE Moving Forward to Acquire English Language Arts, Science Materials TEA News Letter State Board of Education members took a step toward helping with the state’s budget situation this month when they voted to accept revised pricing submitted by publishers for new instructional material called for in Proclamation 2011. Proclamation 2011 includes Prekindergarten Systems; English Language Arts, grades 2-8; Spanish Language Arts, grades 2-5; English as a Second Language, grades K-8; Handwriting, grades 1-3; Spelling, grades 1-6; and English, I-IV. The lower bids could save the state $30 million, bringing the total price tag to about $460 million for Proclamation 2011. To continue reading, click here Apps in the Classroom Boston Globe Last fall, Rebecca Allen distributed brand-new Apple iPad tablet computers instead of books to her fourth-grade class at the Rich Acres Elementary School in Martinsville, Va. The students went wild. “It was like Christmas in October,’’ the teacher said. The iPads are part of an ambitious pilot program by the state of Virginia, targeted to a generation that has grown up surrounded by computer screens and digital gadgets. The devices offer a digital platform for longtime print textbook publishers like Pearson Education Inc., the British publishing firm with large divisions in Boston. Last fall, the company launched what it claims is the nation’s first-ever complete social studies curriculum for the iPad, in partnership with Virginia officials. To continue reading, click here Cuts Criticized as Bad for Schools, Economy San Antonio Express-News Some Texas school districts would have a tough time operating under the state's first budget proposal, a leading school superintendent said Monday, expressing fears that massive layoffs of support staff will make it harder to meet accountability standards. To continue reading, click here Shapiro: 'Stars Out Of Alignment' for Schools Dallas Morning News - Trailblazers Blog Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, says there's no one group to blame, no one document or bill that's caused a fiscal shipwreck for Texas public schools this session. To continue reading, click here State budget woes hitting home in Austin schools Austin American Statesman Texas' budget crisis has quickly become all too real to the Austin parents, students and teachers now grappling with the prospect of school closures and layoffs. "I'm sure people are in shock," said Austin school district Superintendent Meria Carstarphen , who had to watch last week as the pain hit home. Librarians cried. Parents fumed. Teachers balked. Students pleaded. To continue reading, click here UT Study Says Socioeconomic Level Has Impact on Kids' Intellectual Abilities Austin American Statesman A family's buying power can shape a child's brainpower, even at a very young age, a new University of Texas study suggests.. To continue reading, click here Pre-K Programs Vulnerable as Schools Confront Cuts Texas Tribune Just how important is full-day pre-kindergarten for the state’s youngest and most disadvantaged kids? Is it more important than after-school tutoring? Than canceling music and art classes? As public school officials brace for a proposed $10 billion less in state funding, that’s one decision they'll have to make. To continue reading, click here Area Pre-K programs Geared Toward Growth Brenham Banner-Press Twelve 4-year-old students at Burton Elementary and 70 four-year-old students at Krause Elementary file into a classroom where they are taught letters, numbers, pre-math, pre-reading and pre-writing skills. To continue reading, click here First Draft of Texas Budget Slashes Our Children's Future Corpus Christi Caller-Times The Texas Legislature took its first crack at the state budget this week and what a crack it was — a $5 billion cut to public schools. That's roughly $1,000 per child. To continue reading, click here Legislators Predict Blowback From Education Cuts News 8 Austin Because the bulk of state spending goes to education and health and human services, those areas are expected to take a huge hit in order to make up an expected budget shortfall. At least one of those cuts has both sides encouraging constituents to speak up. "If this bothers you, make noise," Rep. Scott Hochberg (D-Houston) said. As the newly elected State Board of Education meets in Austin this week, part of the challenge ahead for them involves finding money to pay for new textbooks and materials that prepare high schoolers for end-of-course exams. To continue reading, click here Shapiro Promises To Try To Keep Lege From Diverting Textbook Dollars www.QuorumReport.com Chair Sen. Florence Shapiro promised she would do everything in her power this session to dedicate proceeds from the Permanent School Fund to pay for impending textbook requests.. Shapiro (R-Plano) swore in the new members of the State Board of Education this afternoon. Shapiro urged the board to draw a line in the sand for high academic standards despite impending budget woes, especially when it came to aligning instructional materials to the state's new college-ready standards. Voters Want Schools and Healthcare Spared from Cuts, Poll Finds Texas Education Agency More than half of Texas' voters want lawmakers to spare public education and health care programs for children and lower-income families from spending cuts during the legislative session that starts this week, according to a new poll commissioned by the Austin American-Statesman and other newspapers. Most voters also support an expansion of legalized gambling and keeping a limit on class sizes in elementary schools, while they do not want guns on university campuses. To continue reading, click here State Board of Education Provides $1.9 Billion Boost to State Revenue Texas Education Agency While others are talking about budget reductions, the State Board of Education (SBOE) voted today to increase the amount of funding it will provide for the state budget to $1.9 billion over the next biennium. This increased level of funding is possible because of the strong performance of Permanent School Fund and assistance from the General Land Office. In September, the board agreed to a payout from the Permanent School Fund, an endowment fund that supports the state’s public schools, of about $1.58 billion. On Thursday, Jerry Patterson, commissioner of the General Land Office, notified the board that he will ask the School Land Board to transfer $500 million from the Real Estate Special Fund Account to the Permanent School Fund. The GLO manages the Permanent School Funds’ land and mineral holdings. To continue reading, click here Accountability In Early Childhood Education As Key to State Prosperity Austin American Statesman AUSTIN, TX—Linking the future prosperity of Texas to the educational foundation provided to the youngest Texans, Texas Association of Business president and CEO Bill Hammond announced the formation of a broad-based coalition of business, educators, school administrators and early childhood organizations that support the development of quality Pre-Kindergarten education in Texas. “We cannot turn a blind eye to the role early childhood education plays in the long-term prosperity and workforce readiness of our state,” said Hammond. “The Coalition for Pre-K Quality and Accountability support substantive reform and educational measures that promise excellence over mediocrity.” To continue reading, click here Texas Schools No Longer Shielded from Budget Cuts Austin American Statesman The protective bubble that shielded public schools from the full force of Texas' budget crisis has evaporated. 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 January. To continue reading, click here Give Texas Students a Chance Austin American Statesman Give people a chance to talk about what's important to them, and education usually will make it near the top of most lists. Yet voting in local and state boards of education races is a low priority. Obviously, there is a connection between the state's educational product and the quality of people who oversee educational policy, but too often Texans are content to let a small number of people choose State Board of Education members.. Its 15 members are elected from districts, and the governor appoints one of them to chair the board. That person must be confirmed by the Senate. The board not only oversees educational policy but also directs the $22 billion Permanent School Fund. The board's other duties include creation of charter schools and oversight of adult education programs offered by public school districts, junior colleges and universities. To continue reading, click here SBOE Candidates Worried About Testing, Funding San Antonio Express-News A state deficit that threatens school funding was a central issue at a forum for candidates for the State Board of Education. To continue reading, click here System In Texas Has Not Done Enough To Support Teachers Austin American Statesmen Behind every student success story in our public schools is an effective teacher that's the standard thinking, at least. To continue reading, click here Texas Schools Could Lose Millions In State Funding Houston Chronicle 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 that could exceed $18 billion. To continue reading, click here Texas Budget Might Test If Students Need Materials To Study for New Exams Austin American Statesmen Texas high school students might not get updated classroom materials for science courses in time to prepare for new exams that will soon count toward graduation. To continue reading, click here Budget Balancing With Cuts Alone Hurts Schoolchildren San Antonio Express News Texas school districts are undergoing their toughest budgetary times in years, and, while it's easy to blame it on the economy, that isn't the problem. The problem is an inadequate, inequitable school finance system that has reached its breaking point and will collapse if state leaders don't do more than offer lip service to our schoolchildren. To continue reading, click here US Education Secretary Says Texas Will Get $830 Million In Stalled Aid The Dallas Morning News Education Secretary Arne Duncan predicted Wednesday that Texas eventually will get its $830 million share of federal aid to help school districts avert layoffs.. To continue reading, click here A Taste Of The Bitter Budget Battle To Come San Antonio Express News There was a tiny taste of the budget battle to come when Democrat Bill White put Texas' tourism advertising on the table for possible cuts. To continue reading, click here Showdown Over Islam Looming For SBOE San Antonio Express-News Texas public school children risk getting tainted with a pro-Islamic/anti-Christian bias in their textbooks, according to a resolution the State Board of Education will consider next week that's likely to fan emotions already running high across the country.. To continue reading, click here Education Czar Spares Pre-K But Axes Science Labs Associated Press Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott is asking lawmakers to spare state funding for pre-kindergarten programs. To continue reading, click here Cuts Hinder Students Chances Dallas Morning News Tough economic times demand tough decisions. That's an all-too-familiar refrain during these tight financial times. But this is also not the time to deny Texas schoolchildren the educational materials they need to learn and to be prepared for statewide testing.  |
