Tag Archives: Texas Education Agency

What to do with the SBOE?

Posted on March 6, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Lege has many ideas about what to do with the state’s most embarrassing branch of government, some of which are better than others. State Rep. Roberto Alonzo (D-Dallas), wants the SBOE abolished under his House Bill 881 and all … Continue reading →

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Consolidating school districts

Posted on February 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron’s Texas Politics blog has been running a feature called “Chopping Block”, in which it solicits suggestions from the audience about possible ways the stats could save a few bucks, then explores what the effect would be. As you … Continue reading →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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What the funding cuts to public education will mean to your school district

Posted on January 30, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Read this and see. Summary of HB 1 (Public Education Reductions) The House introduced its initial version of the General Appropriations Act (House Bill 1) for the 2012-13 biennium on Wednesday, January 19. While it is the first draft of … Continue reading →

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Civil rights complaint against Texas curriculum

Posted on December 23, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

This ought to be interesting. Two civil rights organizations are seeking a federal review of public school education in Texas, accusing state school administrators of violating federal civil rights laws after curriculum changes approved earlier this year by the Texas … Continue reading →

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Cutting the budget means cutting education

Posted on September 30, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

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

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True culture warriors never sleep

Posted on September 17, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

There’s no possible way that this can end well. The [State Board of Education] will consider a resolution next week that would warn publishers not to push a pro-Islamic, anti-Christian viewpoint in world history textbooks. Members of the board’s social … Continue reading →

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Feds reject Texas’ application for education funds

Posted on September 13, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

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

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Perry asks for federal education funds

Posted on September 7, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

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

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Federal education funds still in limbo

Posted on August 31, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

All talk, no action. A high-level meeting of state and federal officials aimed at finding a way for Texas to access $830 million in emergency education aid failed to produce a clear path forward, according to the Texas Education Agency. … Continue reading →

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School social media policies

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

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

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How the schools are really doing

Posted on August 3, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

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

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Where all of the children are above average

Posted on August 1, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Here are your school ratings, according to the Texas Education Agency. Including charter schools, here’s a summary of how the state’s 1,237 districts performed: Exemplary 239 19% Recognized 597 48% Academically Acceptable 346 28% Academically Unacceptable 45 4% Not Rated: … Continue reading →

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TEA Commissioner Scott defends Texas Projection Measure

Posted on July 26, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Texas Education Agency Commissioner Robert Scott takes advantage of a friendly audience to lash out at critics of the Texas Projection Measure. Scott, speaking to the State Board of Education, said the so-called Texas Projection Measure has been misunderstood and … Continue reading →

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Nightly News Update: Monday Edition

Posted on July 12, 2010 by Greg Wythe

More up-to-date linkage while Kuff sings Kumbaya in the wood goes on a snipe hunt. » Chron: Kids’ failure is adult’s ‘success’ (Rick Casey) Maybe it’s just me, but the immediacy of this column seems a bit like an afterthought … Continue reading →

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Bad projections

Posted on July 10, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Just go read this Trib story about how the Texas Education Agency’s Texas Projection Measure, which purports to measure student academic growth as a way to evaluate school districts, is basically a load of hooey. It was the subject of … Continue reading →

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Who wants to answer for Rick Perry’s policies?

Posted on June 30, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

There was a hearing of the House Public Education Committee yesterday to discuss the Texas Education Agency’s controversial methodology for rating school districts, but the person responsible for that metric declined to show up to explain it. Rep. Scott Hochberg, … Continue reading →

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Some cows are more sacred than others

Posted on May 21, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

To quote Mel Brooks, it’s good to be the king. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst will not be denied his steroid testing money. The Texas Education Agency had included the $1 million cost of the steroid program among its $135.5 million … Continue reading →

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And the clown show gets underway again

Posted on May 19, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s your TFN liveblogging of today’s SBOE social studies hearings. Brian Thevenot of The Trib is also there, and he reports that an interesting character has asked the Board to slow down. Former U.S. Secretary of Education and Houston Superintendent … Continue reading →

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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 →

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Who’s homeschooling?

Posted on May 13, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Are there a lot more home-schooled high school students, or are they just conveniently mislabeled dropouts? You decide. More than 22,620 Texas secondary students who stopped showing up for class in 2008 were excluded from the state’s dropout statistics because … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit over grading policies

Posted on April 27, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

A number of school districts, mostly in the Houston area, have a policy of not giving kids a grade lower than 50 in any grading period. The idea is that by setting a floor on grades, it gives kids the … Continue reading →

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Who’s using electronic textbooks?

Posted on April 23, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

According to this DMN story, the electronic textbook revolution hasn’t exactly taken hold just yet, at least not in the Metroplex. The [Texas Education Agency] has budgeted more than $800 million for textbooks in 2010-11, but it’s not clear how … Continue reading →

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The Texas Partnership for Children in Nature

Posted on April 13, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The National Wildlife Federation was in town this weekend for a summit to advance a national policy agenda to connect children with the outdoors. Basically, kids spend a lot less time outside these days, and there are measurable effects of … Continue reading →

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White and Perry argue about the dropout rate; White wins

Posted on April 8, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

See for yourself. The major-party candidates for governor on Tuesday waded into one of the oldest and hottest debates in public education — what’s the real high school drop-out rate? — producing the kind of fireworks that suggest the state … Continue reading →

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No race to the top

Posted on January 13, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

By now you’ve probably heard the news that Governor Perry has directed the Texas to not compete for “Race to the Top” stimulus funds. Gov. Rick Perry said today that Texas will not compete for up to $700 million in … Continue reading →

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Chris Comer appeals lawsuit dismissal

Posted on August 21, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I had lost track of Chris Comer, the former director of science curriculum for the Texas Education Agency, who resigned under pressure for sending out email regarding a lecture that debunked “intelligent design” since she filed a wrongful termination lawsuit … Continue reading →

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As goes Cy-Fair, so goes Texas

Posted on July 28, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Earlier this month, I noted that the Cy-Fair ISD was considering the repeal of an optional homestead exemption so it could pay for salaries and services it needed for the schools. They backed off after residents protested, choosing instead of … Continue reading →

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Stimulus for the schools

Posted on February 19, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Texas’ public schools are set to get some much needed stimulus money. Texas school districts can expect a jolt of more than $3 billion over two years under the $787 billion package ushered in by President Barack Obama’s administration. Under … Continue reading →

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