Tag Archives: schools

Abbott threatens special session if he doesn’t get his voucher bill passed

Posted on May 16, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

It’s not the Lege these days without a special session threat. Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday said he would veto a toned-down version of a bill to offer school vouchers in Texas, and threatened to call legislators back for special … Continue reading →

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We ask again if the HISD Board should bother doing anything right now

Posted on May 9, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I think the answer is still mostly No, but there’s some nuance to that. The Houston Independent School District board met Thursday to discuss potential cuts to the district’s $2.2 billion budget as it faces a growing a growing deficit and a … Continue reading →

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Spring Branch ISD versus “James and the Giant Peach”

Posted on May 2, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Note: The following is a guest post, written by my friend Diana Martinez Alexander. I occasionally run guest posts, some of which I solicit and some of which are sent to me. Southlake. Garland. Frisco. Now Spring Branch is pushing … Continue reading →

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First round of cuts for Board of Managers wannabes

Posted on May 1, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

And then there were two hundred and twenty-five. Fewer than half of the people who applied for the Houston ISD board of managers completed a weekend governance training required to move forward in the application process, according to the Texas … Continue reading →

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Even more Board of Managers applicants

Posted on April 24, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe now they have enough. When the Texas Education Agency in June appoints a new superintendent and nine managers to govern the Houston Independent School District, longtime educator and mother Anita Wadhwa hopes there will be someone like her sitting … Continue reading →

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Our first look at the Board of Managers wannabes

Posted on April 16, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

An eclectic group, to say the least. The Chronicle on Friday obtained through a public records request a list of people who applied to the position through the end of March. In total, 374 people applied through the deadline last … Continue reading →

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TEA takeover approved by trustees

Posted on April 15, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

That was a formality and will be noted later in the post, but first there was this. Members of the Houston ISD board of trustees peppered a Texas Education Agency representative with questions about the upcoming takeover at a public … Continue reading →

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So many Board of Managers applicants

Posted on April 10, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I sure wonder what the process to sort through all of these will be. More than 370 people applied for nine spots on the board that will govern Houston ISD, wrapping up the first step in the Texas Education Agency’s … Continue reading →

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HISD students walk out in protest of TEA takeover

Posted on April 8, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good for them. Five minutes into her second-period class, Elizabeth Rodriguez and her classmates at Northside High School stood up and walked out to protest the Texas Education Agency’s planned intervention in Houston’s sprawling, diverse public school district. The 18-year-old … Continue reading →

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What was even the point of those TEA “engagements” with the public?

Posted on March 31, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

The public certainly doesn’t think it got anything out of them. Teacher Monica Zepeda wrapped up an after-school tutoring session on Wednesday night and headed to a community forum at Delmar Stadium sporting her Pilgrim Academy lanyard. She stepped up … Continue reading →

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Chron editorial board interviews Mike Morath

Posted on March 30, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

There’s video and a transcript here. After explaining that he missed the initial TEA community engagement sessions because he was “under the weather”, he gets asked the key question: Lisa Falkenberg 1:55 Mhmm. Okay, and then, so, we’re trying to … Continue reading →

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The upcoming week in legislative gay-bashing

Posted on March 26, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox, from Equality Texas: Monday, 3/27 Action Alerts & Upcoming Hearings HB 1686, the companion bill to SB 14, would ban trans youth from access to health care. We cannot let this pass. The hearing for HB 1686 begins … Continue reading →

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So now we start processing what happened and what will happen with the TEA takeover

Posted on March 17, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron editorial board points to three key items. Still, if this takeover must happen — and Texas Education Agency announced Wednesday that it is indeed happening — we want it to work. Houston’s schoolchildren don’t have time for another … Continue reading →

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The TEA takeover has begun

Posted on March 16, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

At least the suspense is over. That’s the extent of my optimism about this. State education leaders notified the Houston Independent School District on Wednesday that they are resuming the process of stripping all power from the district’s elected school … Continue reading →

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HISD ends lawsuit against TEA

Posted on March 11, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

A formality at this point. The Houston Independent School District board voted on Thursday night to end its lawsuit against the Texas Education Agency, effectively ending the district’s legal fight against an attempted state takeover.  The motion passed with support of eight of the … Continue reading →

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Wheatley’s fate

Posted on March 10, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

We may learn today of the TEA’s intentions with HISD. Whatever does happen, let’s remember that in the end this will affect a lot of people, and some of them are not happy with the position they’ve been put in. … Continue reading →

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Three stories on Uvalde and gun control

Posted on February 19, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

First, a story about locks and why an obsession with locking school doors is not really going to improve safety. In the aftermath of school shootings like the one in Uvalde, what can get overlooked is basic: Schools need doors … Continue reading →

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Still more Uvalde bills from Sen. Gutierrez

Posted on February 10, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

At least one of these might have a chance to pass. State Sen. Roland Gutierrez wants the Texas Department of Public Safety to create robust mass shooting response training for all public safety entities after the chaotic response to the … Continue reading →

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Uvalde school district will not finish its internal review of police response to mass shooting

Posted on February 8, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

If nothing else, there are two clear arguments to be made in this debate. The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District announced it will not continue with an independent review of the district police response to the Robb Elementary School shooting. … Continue reading →

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Spring Branch ISD to discuss a book ban today

Posted on January 24, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t post stuff like this often – it’s not really my remit, and timeliness usually works against me – but this one really annoyed me, so here it is. Via Facebook: PLEASE CONSIDER SPEAKING ON TUESDAY @ 1PM! (If … Continue reading →

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Pushing the panic button

Posted on January 23, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This feels like security theater to me, but it’s what passes for progress these days. All school districts in Montgomery County will soon be using panic alert technology during emergencies, including an active shooter situation, a security measure Texas education … Continue reading →

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Uvalde parents will take their fight to the Lege

Posted on January 17, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

They’re not going to get what they want and they know it, but they’re still going to fight. I have so much respect for them. More than seven months after a teenage gunman killed 21 people at Robb Elementary School, … Continue reading →

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Department of Education investigating removal of LGBTQ books from Texas school library

Posted on December 27, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good. The U.S. Education Department’s civil rights enforcement arm has launched an investigation into a North Texas school district whose superintendent was secretly recorded ordering librarians to remove LGBTQ-themed library books. Education and legal experts say the federal probe of … Continue reading →

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Senate committee makes small Uvalde recommendations

Posted on December 23, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Par for the course. A special Texas Senate committee that convened in the wake of the Uvalde school shooting made a series of policy recommendations Wednesday regarding school and gun safety, mental health, social media and police training. In an … Continue reading →

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More on the limits of social media monitoring for school violence prevention

Posted on December 19, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Some good stuff from the DMN. When Social Sentinel representatives pitched their service to Florida’s Gulf Coast State College in 2018, they billed it as an innovative way to find threats of suicides and shootings posted online. But for the … Continue reading →

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HISD to get funding for electric school buses

Posted on December 5, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Some good news. Houston Independent School District is hopping on the city’s net-zero carbon emissions bus, so to speak, thanks to more than $6.2 million in funding from the Environmental Protection Agency. The funds are part of the EPA’s Clean … Continue reading →

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If all we ever do are defensive measures, we’ll never make any progress

Posted on November 14, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I’m not saying we shouldn’t do these things, although some of them definitely should be questioned. I am saying we can’t just do things like these. The Texas Education Agency announced Thursday a plethora of proposals that would, among other … Continue reading →

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More on hoax school shooter reports

Posted on November 7, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know when this ends, but I continue to be worried that they will cause a major problem eventually. This year has seen a significant number of hoax calls across the country. In the three weeks between mid-September and … Continue reading →

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It’s really tough on LGBTQ students right now

Posted on October 29, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Not a surprise, unfortunately. Schools remain a hostile place for LGBTQ students, according to a new report from the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, which found a decline in access to resources, books and supportive clubs for those students. … Continue reading →

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Math test scores took a hit during the pandemic

Posted on October 27, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The decline started before the pandemic, but kept on going from there. Students in Houston and across the nation showed “appalling and unacceptable” declines on the 2022 Nation’s Report Card, adding to mounting evidence that the pandemic impacted young people … Continue reading →

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Reading and writing and DNA kits…

Posted on October 23, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I dunno, man. I just don’t know. Texas public school systems are set to distribute DNA and fingerprint identification kits for K-8 students to parents who wish to participate. The state Legislature passed a law in spring 2021 requiring the … Continue reading →

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There’s a wave of hoax school shooting reports around the country

Posted on October 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Weird and scary. When Emmi Conley first heard in September about a rash of hoax calls reporting active shooters in schools, she dismissed it. Conley, an extremism researcher who studies groups and people behind public displays of violence, said she … Continue reading →

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Uvalde school district suspends its entire police force

Posted on October 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Um, wow. Uvalde school officials on Friday suspended all of the district police department’s activities following the firing of a recently hired district officer who was revealed to have been among the first state troopers to respond to the deadly … Continue reading →

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Another hoax shooting situation

Posted on September 24, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

And this one shows another challenge for school districts and law enforcement to reckon with. After a lockdown at Jefferson High School sent worried parents to the school, the San Antonio Independent School District says it will enhance communications with … Continue reading →

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