Tag Archives: Florence Shapiro

Why do we think more charters would help?

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Patricia Kilday Hart discusses the political battle over charter schools, but in doing so reminds me that there’s a fundamental question that seems to be going largely unasked. Now, a sweeping bill filed by Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, could lead … Continue reading →

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

Cuts are not increases, no matter how you spin it

Posted on October 27, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

This is the Chron overview of HD134, which is once again the highest profile legislative race in the county, in part because it’s a referendum on the 2010 election and the cuts to public education funding that resulted from that … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2012 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Shapiro backs STAAR delay

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

This was unexpected. Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, said Monday in a letter to [TEA Commissioner Robert] Scott that ninth-graders taking the exams this year should be given a reprieve from the 15 percent requirement during the phase-in … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Shapiro backs STAAR delay

A little perspective about redistricting

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

So now we wait for the full Supreme Court’s ruling on AG Abbott’s requests to stay the 2012 elections, which by the way would only apply to the elections affected by the disputed redistricting maps. Other primary elections for things … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

DC court denies summary judgment on preclearance

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

It’s official, the maps the Lege drew for itself and for Congress will not be used in the 2012 election. A Washington-based federal court on Tuesday rejected Texas’ request to approve new political districts without a trial. In a brief … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2012 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Senate changes

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I’m not worried about the State Senate becoming more conservative, I’m worried about it becoming more stupid. “A seat in the Texas Senate does not come open very often, and all of a sudden now there are four,” said Sen. … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2012 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Rethinking school discipline

Posted on July 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Wow. Nearly 60 percent of junior high school and high school students get suspended or expelled, according to a report that tracked about 1 million Texas children over a six-year period. About 15 percent of the Texas seventh- through 12th-grade … Continue reading →

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

Senate approves teacher furlough bill

Posted on June 9, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Another divisive bill, another party-line vote. 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 … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Back to school finance

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Lege has started the process of picking up where it left off on school finance. The Trib reminds us how we got here. [T]he earlier failure of SB 1581, which put a behind-closed-doors conference committee in charge of any … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

House gavels in and out

Posted on May 31, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

That was quick. The House gaveled in shortly after 10 a.m. today and adjourned about 10 minutes later after Speaker Joe Straus announced that he’ll have a better idea about the special session’s schedule when the body reconvenes at 10 … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on House gavels in and out

Vote on school finance today

Posted on May 29, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

On Friday night, the Lege finally reached an agreement on school finance, which is to say on how to distribute the $4 billion in cuts to public education to the school districts. Today the Lege gets to vote on that … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

More on the budget deal

Posted on May 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

From the Statesman: The agreement is hinged on the House passing a so-called fiscal matters bill, Senate Bill 1811, that would free up money to help pay for the $3 billion in additional spending to which the House negotiators agreed. … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Budget deal reached

Posted on May 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

One less reason for a special session. Assuming nothing else goes wrong, and Rick Perry doesn’t veto it out of whatever sense of grandeur and vanity drives him. House Speaker Joe Straus indicated legislative negotiators have reached an agreement on … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

School finance issues holding up budget deal

Posted on May 12, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

News flash: School finance reform is hard. Especially when all it’s doing is taking money away from everyone. The clock is a-tickin’ for Texas lawmakers to cobble together a budget compromise that enacts deep cuts to public education. But with … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The budget work is far from done

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Senate may have passed its budget via some creative interpretation of its rules, but there’s more to what has to happen now than just the conference committee. As Abby Rapoport notes, they still have to rewrite the formula for … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The budget work is far from done

Is it time to fix school finance?

Posted on April 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

It’s pretty much always time to fix school finance, since school finance is always broken, so here goes the Senate. Maybe. State Senate leaders want to end the much-despised public education funding system by 2017, although they disagree on how … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Senate Education Committee passes furlough bill

Posted on April 17, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This is still better than layoffs, but not by much. School districts would be able to reduce salaries and furlough teachers for up to six days – with layoffs used only as a last resort – under a compromise bill … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

HISD lays off teachers, discusses school closures

Posted on April 14, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

We knew this was coming. There may yet be more of it to come. Officials with the Houston Independent School District announced Tuesday that about 730 teachers have been notified they won’t have jobs next year — because of budget … Continue reading →

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

School finance reform bills on tap

Posted on April 8, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Whether you look at the House budget or the slightly less drastic Senate version, public schools will not get the funding they are due under the current defined formulas. That means that how the funds are distributed needs to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on School finance reform bills on tap

How does school finance work, anyway?

Posted on April 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib has a useful guide to this incredibly complex topic. Here’s our layman’s guide to figuring out the current system, compiled with the help of experts at the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association, the Equity Center and the Texas … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Smaller cuts from the Senate

Posted on March 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Trail Blazers: The Senate Finance Committee on Thursday adopted a school funding plan for the next two years that would cut basic funding for school districts by nearly 6 percent – or $2 billion a year – to handle a … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

SBOE wants its new textbooks

Posted on March 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

But it may not get them. State board members are growing increasingly anxious that lawmakers might not provide funding for new textbooks and instructional material – even though they’re giving the Legislature $1.9 billion from a 157-year-old endowment established to … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on SBOE wants its new textbooks

Hochberg’s “Let’s get real” bill

Posted on March 10, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Rep. Scott Hochberg has filed a school finance bill that he himself wouldn’t vote for. It’s to make sure everyone realizes what the proposed cuts to public education really mean. Under HB 2485, all school districts would be treated as … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

HISD’s opening thoughts on dealing with budget cuts

Posted on February 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

It’s not going to be pretty, no matter how you slice it. Fewer police officers would patrol school hallways, property taxes would rise, several campuses would close and about 300 central office jobs would be cut next year under HISD … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

More charter school stuff

Posted on February 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Now that you’ve listened to my interview with Chris Barbic, here are a couple more charter school-related articles of interest. First, from the Trib, a story about charter schools getting help for facilities from the Permanent School Fund. Fledgling charter … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Where’s the money for new textbooks coming from?

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Nobody knows just yet. Neither legislative chamber’s base budget appropriates funds for any new textbooks. The primary concern in the short term is funding for science materials that reflect the 2009 curriculum changes made by the State Board of Education. … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Performance pay for teachers

Posted on February 9, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I’m very wary of this. Pay for Texas public school teachers should be connected to appraisals of their work and other factors instead of the 60-year-old salary schedule based on seniority, former U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige and other school … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

School districts begin preparing for the inevitable

Posted on February 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

If nothing else, we have a clear winner in the furloughs versus layoffs debate. School superintendents want more freedom in determining class sizes and permission to cut employee pay or to furlough teachers and other district employees, which school boards … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Furloughs or layoffs?

Posted on February 1, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe instead of firing 100,000 teachers, it would be somewhat less awful to allow for furloughs and salary cuts instead. “One of those burdens that we have placed on our school districts is that they cannot decrease your salary. They … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The coming fight over class sizes

Posted on December 30, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

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

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

The coming cuts to public education

Posted on December 10, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

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

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Scrap it and start over

Posted on September 21, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

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

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

Helping middle schoolers

Posted on September 16, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

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

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

Our Hispanic schools

Posted on May 19, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Take a look at the future. If you want to see how profoundly the state’s population is changing, look at the faces of the children in Texas public school classrooms. In all but rural areas, Hispanic enrollment is rapidly surpassing … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo, The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments