This has been in the works for a long time. The [HISD Board of Trustees] voted unanimously on a revised policy governing its beloved magnet school program, saying the schools would be held more accountable for academic performance and their ability to attract students. While some of the 113 magnet programs are nationally recognized and [...]
Posts Tagged ‘magnet schools’
Guest post: A response to Sen. Patrick on school choice
Note: The following is a guest post, by Aboubacar Ndiaye. It was sent to me unsolicited. I liked it and agreed to print it, so here it is. In an editorial published last Wednesday in the Houston Chronicle, State Senator Dan Patrick (R-Houston) again argued for what he sees as education reform. In the article, [...]
Aiming to attract magnets
HISD has applied for a $12 million federal grant to create as many as eight new magnet schools. HISD’s application, which is due to the U.S. Department of Education on March 1, would create science, technology, engineering and math programs at Ryan Middle, M.C. Williams Middle, Kashmere High, Furr High and the South Early College [...]
Magnet changes coming
The HISD Board of Trustees is getting ready to offer specific proposals to reform the magnet school program. Trustees and Houston Independent School District Superintendent Terry Grier suggested magnet programs that draw few students from outside their neighborhoods were at risk. Programs with poor academic track records also could be eliminated. A dozen of HISD’s [...]
Back to magnet schools
It’s Magent Awareness Week in HISD, and the Board of Trustees will be reviewing a new magnet school policy along the way. A proposed new policy, released by HISD last week, calls for the creation of a new funding model for magnet schools and an accountability system that would give under-performing programs three years to [...]
More on magnet schools
Some further information about the proposed changes to HISD’s magnet school program made by Superintendent Terry Grier at Thursday’s public meeting. Funding would drop at 69 schools and increase at 53 under Grier’s preliminary plan. In all, the district would slash spending for magnet schools, excluding busing, by more than $4 million next school year, [...]
HISD’s budget and magnet meeting
A whole lot happened on Thursday evening with HISD. Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier proposed a major shake-up Thursday night to the district’s popular magnet program, calling for 25 schools to lose the special status and for funding increases or reductions in others. “This stands to change the landscape of the entire Houston Independent School [...]
HISD meeting to discuss budget
Mark your calendars for this Thursday, March 3, at the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center, 4400 West 18th Street, at 6PM for an HISD board meeting that will include a discussion of the 2011-2012 budget as well as a “first reading” of the new magnet school policy. Here’s a map to the location where [...]
HISD’s opening thoughts on dealing with budget cuts
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 Superintendent Terry Grier’s initial cost-cutting proposals. Grier asked the Houston school board on Thursday to [...]
Still more on magnet schools
So what do we know about HISD’s magnet schools and that consultant’s report that recommended some hefty changes to them? Well, other than the consultants themselves, no one likes the report very much. The message was clear at Lamar High School [Tuesday] night: remove the magnet designation from high performing schools in the district and [...]
More on the magnet schools report
I guess it’s just as well that I never made it all the way through that audit on HISD’s magnet schools, because it seems that neither Superintendent Terry Grier nor the Board of Trustees are all that wedded to it. Grier and the trustees have yet to release a counterproposal, saying they first want to [...]
The audit on HISD’s magnet programs
The long-awaited audit has arrived. Students in Houston ISD’s prestigious magnet schools could find themselves shopping for new campuses if district leaders act on a critical audit that suggests eliminating nearly half the programs. The long-awaited audit, released on Friday, proposes that the district cut 55 of its 113 magnet programs, stripping the schools of [...]
Reviewing magnet schools
This ought to be lively. HISD Superintendent Terry Grier is starting to tread in the most politically delicate territory he’s tackled since coming to Houston: the beloved magnet program. Starting this week, the district is holding town hall meetings to gather input from parents on the specialized schools that got their name because of their [...]