Tag Archives: Florence Shapiro

Get ready for larger class sizes

Posted on May 11, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Back in 1984, one of the school reforms that resulted from the Perot Commission was a mandate that elementary school classes could have no more than 22 students in them. Many things have changed since then, but that standard has … Continue reading →

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Fixing school finance, the neverending story

Posted on March 26, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Work on dealing with the state’s revenue shortfall and what it will mean for the schools is already underway. Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Florence Shapiro, co-chair of the 15-member panel, acknowledged that the funding system is in trouble and needs … Continue reading →

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Shapiro running for re-election

Posted on November 23, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

State Sen. Florence Shapiro was the first Republican to declare her intent to run for the was-supposed-to-be-open Senate seat of Kay Bailey Hutchison. She’s now the first Republican to abandon that pursuit. In the latest fallout from U.S. Sen. Kay … Continue reading →

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Waiting for KBH, the neverending story

Posted on November 5, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

There are dominoes that are all set to fall in North Texas if only Kay Bailey Hutchison would flick her finger and knock the first one over. The thinking goes like this: U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison resigns to run … Continue reading →

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Senate fundraising numbers are in

Posted on October 17, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

We know that Bill White raised $1.5 million this quarter for his Senate campaign. Now the other candidates’ totals have come in. White’s take of $1.5 million over the 90-day period ending Oct. 1 — including his personal donation of … Continue reading →

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Q&A with Terry Grier

Posted on August 24, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Learn more about our new HISD Superintendent here and here. One thing to highlight, from the first link: Q: What are your priorities for HISD? A: Houston is a good urban district. It has the potential to be the best … Continue reading →

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Senate fundraising scorecard

Posted on July 24, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

We’ve seen campaign fundraising for city of Houston races and for state of Texas races, now let’s take a look at the Senate race, whenever that will be. Here’s what I’ve got for the major candidates via the FEC webpage: … Continue reading →

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You there! Put down the Internet and slowly back away!

Posted on May 18, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Hair Balls tries to make sense of a Senate criminal justice bill that is currently in committee in the House. [The bill,] authored by Republican State Senator Florence Shapiro of Plano seems remarkably straightforward: It prohibits registered sex offenders from … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Big education bills pass

Posted on May 1, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Well, the SBOE may be doing its best to destroy public education in Texas, but the Lege took a step forward to make it better by passing omnibus school reform bills in each chamber. Crafted by the education leaders in … Continue reading →

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Get ready for the next school funding lawsuit

Posted on April 29, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The handwriting is on the wall. Property tax cuts and a stingy state budget have left many Texas school districts saying they are short-changing children and warning of another lawsuit attempt to force reforms. Texas lawmakers plan to increase school … Continue reading →

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House budget conferees announced

Posted on April 27, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Elise Hu names names. State Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, House Appropriations Chairman State Rep. Richard Raymond, D-Webb, House Appropriations Vice-Chair State Rep. Ruth Jones-McClendon, D-San Antonio State Rep. John Otto, R-Dayton State Rep. John Zerwas, R-Houston Give credit to Burka … Continue reading →

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The Senate fundraising scorecard so far

Posted on April 23, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s what you see for candidates for the US Senate in Texas for the 2009-10 election cycle. I’ve removed the two incumbents plus candidates from previous cycles who are sitll filing finance reports. Republicans Name Raised Spent Net Cash Debts … Continue reading →

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White rakes it in for his Senate bid

Posted on April 15, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Among other things, today is the deadline for federal candidates to report their campaign finance status. Of the many contenders for Kay Bailey Hutchison’s Senate seat, whenever that becomes available, I think it’s safe to say that Bill White had … Continue reading →

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More on the end of the sixty-five percent rule

Posted on March 16, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s an updated story on the end of the sixty-five percent rule. Gov. Rick Perry’s 4-year-old mandate that schools spend at least 65 percent of their money on classroom instruction is under fire from key lawmakers in Perry’s own party. … Continue reading →

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Who will be affected by voter ID?

Posted on March 13, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s take a moment as we wait for the next round in the voter ID battle to consider who might actually have their right to vote affected by this unneeded piece of partisan legislation. Meet Bessie Jenkins Foster. The 98-year-old … Continue reading →

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Safe Passing Act in the Senate

Posted on March 9, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve blogged before about SB488, the “Safe Passing Bill”. Via email from Jon Boyd of the CTC, I’m told that the bill will be heard by the Senate Committee on Transportation & Homeland Security this week. Bike Texas has the … Continue reading →

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Is the TAKS test at the end of the line?

Posted on March 5, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

If so, there’s a lot of people who won’t be sorry to see it go. “We have counted on testing and testing only. And it’s caused a lot of angst in the schools,” Senate Public Education Chair Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, … Continue reading →

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PPP on the Texas Senate race

Posted on February 26, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Public Policy Polling follows up its snapshot of the Republican GOP matchup for Governor with a poll of Senate possibilities. We tested Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst, Attorney General Greg Abbott, and state Senator Florence Shapiro on the Republican side against … Continue reading →

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More big bucks for Bill White

Posted on February 7, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Bill White has set a brisk early pace for his Senate fundraising so far. He shows no signs of slowing down as yet. Houston Mayor Bill White’s consultant says White has raised $1.4 million since he declared plans to run … Continue reading →

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Senate committees

Posted on January 31, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Elise Hu has the list of committees and members for the State Senate, which came out yesterday. Not much drama here – as she noted, Sen. John Carona, the on Republican vote against changing the rules for voter ID bills, … Continue reading →

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Kay and Rick on the money

Posted on January 16, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Well, there was never any doubt that they’d be swimming in cash. U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison moved nearly $8 million into her state campaign finance account last year — a high-stakes signal that she is committed to running for … Continue reading →

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