Tag Archives: HISD

Your annual reminder that every vote matters

HISD Trustee, District III results, with 38 of 38 precincts reporting: Manuel Rodriguez 2,401 50.25% Ramiro Fonseca 2,377 49.75% There were 653 undervotes in this race, and turnout in the district was 11.61%. Fonseca carried Election Day by 78 votes, … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2011 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Chron retracts Rodriguez endorsement

Good for them. Earlier this campaign season, we endorsed Manuel Rodriguez Jr. for another term on the board of the Houston Independent School District. We now retract that endorsement in the race for HISD Position III trustee. A last-minute campaign … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2011 | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Chron retracts Rodriguez endorsement

HISD Trustee Rodriguez sends anti-gay mailer

I figured there was going to be more anti-gay stuff in this election. I just wasn’t expecting it in an HISD Trustee race. Some Houston residents are calling for the resignation of Trustee Manuel Rodriguez from the Houston school board … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2011 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

More school districts looking at school finance lawsuit

From San Antonio. Trustees of the area’s two largest school districts — North East and Northside — on Tuesday deliberated about joining a lawsuit against the state over what some consider to be an inadequate and inequitable education funding system. … Continue reading

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Class size issues are everywhere

We know that waiver requests to exceed the 22 student class size limit are way up. But that mandated limit is only for grades K through 4. What about higher grade levels? Patricia Kilday Hart reports that those classrooms are … Continue reading

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

Time to evaluate Grier

It’s performance review time for HISD Superintendent Terry Grier. The elected nine-member school board uses an evaluation form that consists of data measurements in categories such as the increase in student college readiness; recruiting and retaining the best teachers and … Continue reading

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Time to evaluate Grier

HISD to join school finance lawsuit

Good. The Houston school board committed Thursday to suing the state, adding to a growing list of districts taking legal action to force Texas lawmakers to improve the way they fund public education. Trustees of the Houston Independent School District … Continue reading

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

Endorsement watch: HISD incumbents

The Chron sticks with the incumbents in the three contested HISD Trustee races. For HISD Trustee in District III: Manuel Rodriguez Elected to the board in 2003, he was its president in 2007, when the district successfully passed an important … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2011 | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Endorsement watch: HISD incumbents

Chron overview of HISD races

They paint it as a referendum on Terry Grier. He’s not on the ballot, but Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier is a key figure in next month’s school board elections. Grier has led the state’s largest school district for two … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2011 | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

HISD tightens ethics rules

Good. The Houston school board agreed Thursday to tighten its ethics rules to prevent trustees from meeting with vendors and from accepting certain campaign donations during open bids. […] Board members would not be able to attend meetings with vendors … Continue reading

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on HISD tightens ethics rules

The $25,000 question

What the hell? A $25,000 campaign contribution to a Houston school board member normally would raise eyebrows for its size. Add in the fact that the donation was not listed in the trustee’s financial disclosure forms, and the five-figure check … Continue reading

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

Interview with Paula Harris

We close the week with HISD Board President and District IV Trustee Paula Harris, who is service her first term on the Board. Harris has a degree in petroleum engineering from Texas A&M and has worked as an engineer and … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2011 | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Interview with Ramiro Fonseca

Opposing Trustee Manuel Rodriguez in District III is Ramiro Fonseca. Fonseca is the program manager of Minority Male Initiative at HCC, where he has also been a financial aid associate. He has also served as President of the Houston Hispanic … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2011 | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Interview with Ramiro Fonseca

Interview with Manuel Rodriguez

Trustee Manuel Rodriguez was first elected to serve District III in 2003. Rodriguez is a businessman and longtime education activist who has served as the Board President and currently serves as its Vice President. (See also School Zone’s Q&A with … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2011 | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Interview with Manuel Rodriguez

First school finance lawsuit filed

More will follow, it’s just a matter of when and how many. A coalition representing public school districts, taxpayers and parents filed a lawsuit against the state in Travis County district court Monday night. The Texas Taxpayer & Student Fairness … Continue reading

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

Interview with Juliet Stipeche

Next up is Trustee Juliet Stipeche, whose campaign webpage is here. She won a special election in 2010 for the Trustee seat in District VIII that was vacated by Diana Davila. Stipeche is an attorney and a graduate of HISD … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2011 | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Interview with Rhonda Skillern-Jones

We now shift to HISD and HCC Trustee races, which will take us through the end of the interview series. To start off, I bring you a conversation with Rhonda Skillern-Jones, who will succeed Carole Mims Galloway as the Trustee … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2011 | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Another school finance lawsuit update

The Trib brings some news about the impending school finance lawsuits. Yes, lawsuits – there are two in the works. The Equity Center’s lawsuit will focus on fairness, attacking the target revenue system established in 2006 when lawmakers reduced the … Continue reading

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Another school finance lawsuit update

HISD considers revamping ethics rules

This all seems like a good idea. Houston school trustees, who now may accept campaign cash from anyone at any time, would face new restrictions under a proposal meant to curb improper influence in the school district’s business deals. The … Continue reading

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

Giving tax breaks to those that don’t need them

You can add this to the list of things schools might have to pay for that they don’t have the money to pay for. Three environmental commissioners appointed by Gov. Rick Perry are considering whether to grant some of the … Continue reading

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

Trautman running for HCDE

And we have our first contested Democratic primary in Harris County for 2012 as Diane Trautman has announced her intent to run for Harris County Department of Education Trustee in At Large #3. Here’s her Facebook page for that. She … Continue reading

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

Back to school

Time to do more with less, kids. Just don’t expect to be cut any slack on those standardized tests. When Texas students return to public schools this week, some will see a slight uptick in class sizes and fewer teachers, … Continue reading

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Back to school

We have a contested HISD election

School Zone: Houston ISD school board president Paula Harris is the first incumbent to draw an opponent in the November elections. Arturo “Art” Huerta — who, according to the board office, is a parent of a child at Lanier Middle … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2011 | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on We have a contested HISD election

Please place the blame where it belongs

Stories like this concern me. Public opinion of the Houston Independent School District plummeted this year amid severe state budget cuts, while support of the superintendent also dropped, according to a new survey. Among parents surveyed this spring, 54 percent … Continue reading

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

School bus ads come to Comal County

Given the budget cuts from the Legislature, I figure we’ll see a lot more school districts hop on the bus, as it were. This year, 10 Comal school district buses that deliver students to school and home also will be … Continue reading

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

HISD to hire back some teachers

More good news. More than 300 teachers and other educators in the Houston Independent School District have been rehired since the massive round of layoffs in the spring, according to newly released data. Additional HISD teachers could get their jobs … Continue reading

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

Where’s the response for this?

This was bigger than Rick Perry’s Prayerpalooza in terms of attendance. It should have been bigger in terms of news interest as well. Some families camped out for hours to gain admittance into the Houston’s first-ever, citywide back-to-school event at … Continue reading

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Austin ISD rehiring some teachers

A little bit of good news. 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 … Continue reading

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

Higher standards mean lower ratings

Schools across the state have seen their academic ratings drop as a result of changes made in how the Texas Education Agency computes them. The new accountability ratings released Friday for public school campuses in the state’s 1,228 districts and … Continue reading

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Higher standards mean lower ratings

Update on HISD and HCC finance reports

I had mentioned before that it was hard to find campaign finance reports for HISD and HCC Trustees. I now have some updated information about this, so I wanted to share it with you. First, HISD Trustee Anna Eastman (who … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2011 | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Update on HISD and HCC finance reports

The other races

In addition to the city of Houston races, I am trying to follow the HISD and HCC Trustee elections as well. I say “trying” because there’s just no information out there that I can find. For one thing, though there … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2011 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The HISD/charter school “talent war”

This sounds more alarming than it should be. KIPP, in competition with HISD for students, increasingly is wooing high-level staff, too. Mike Feinberg, cofounder and superintendent of KIPP Houston, calls the contest for administrators “a talent war.” Since last year, … Continue reading

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

HISD adopts its budget

No tax increase, at least not at this time. Students in the Houston Independent School District can expect to see larger class sizes and fewer teachers, librarians and elective courses next year under the spending plan that trustees approved Thursday. … Continue reading

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on HISD adopts its budget

No more cuts for HISD, for now

As we know, the HISD Board of Trustees had originally set its budget based on the initial House appropriations, which cut almost $8 billion from public schools. The budget that’s in the works now would “only” cut $4 billion, so … Continue reading

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