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Texas Ends Major School Curriculum System Amid Concerns It Was 'Anti-American'

2013-05-21T07:13:01Z

Texas will discontinue the state-run curriculum system used by at least 875 of the state’s school districts amid complaints that it contained lesson...

Read more: Texas Senate Scope, Texas Cscope, Texas Ends Cscope, Cscope, Texas Curriculum Changes, Texas Senate, Cscope Islamic Bias, Cscope Muslim Bias, Texas Schools, Politics News

WATCH: Student Goes Off On Teacher In Amazing Rant

2013-05-09T11:45:49Z

For every student who’s ever been frustrated by a teacher’s lack of… err… teaching, this one’s for you.

Jeff Bliss, a sophomore at Duncan...

Read more: Student Rant Texas, Student Goes Crazy in Class, Jeff Bliss Teacher Rant, Student Goes Off on Teacher, Texas Schools, Student Rant Duncanville Texas, Angry Student, Texas Students, Student Rant About Teacher, Video, Teen News

This New Bill Would Put Cameras In Texas Classrooms

2013-05-09T15:27:50Z

A bill that would require video cameras in all special education classrooms was passed in the Texas Senate in April and is currently being considered ...

Read more: Special Education, Special Education Students, Special Education Teacher, Special Education Classrooms, Special Needs Parenting, Texas Cameras Special Education, Special Needs Children, Cameras in Special Education Classrooms, Texas Schools, Politics News

Texas May Substantially Reduce Number Of Tests Given To Students With New Bill

2013-05-08T11:23:47Z

The Texas Senate approved a bill Monday that would substantially reduce the number of standardized tests students need to take in order to graduate. T...

Read more: Texas Tests, Texas Standardized Testing, High-Stakes Testing, Texas Standardized Tests, Texas Senate, Texas Schools, Texas Senate Vote, Texas High Stakes Tests, Politics News

Latinos Are Now The Largest Group In This State's Public Schools

2013-05-06T08:49:33Z

Hispanics have passed whites as the largest ethnic group in Texas schools, making up almost 51 percent of public school enrollment.

The influx of H...

Read more: Latino Politics, Texas Schools, Latino Voices News

Will Voters Accept Lower School Standards?

2013-04-29T09:41:24Z

Of the three primary arguments about public schools under way in Austin, two are relatively easy for lawmakers to sell to the voters who put them in o...

Read more: Texas School Standards, School Standards, Texas Schools, Politics News

Robert L. Cavnar: What the Hell Has Happened to Texas?

2013-03-08T19:08:17Z

My state has always been a larger than life, much caricatured place, and most Texans take it all in good humor. Texas' problem, though, is that over the last decade, the state and its leaders have taken a dark turn. Texas has been pulled so far to the right that reasonable voices are seldom heard.

Read more: Gun Violence, Bible, Gop, Texas, Rick Perry, Schools, Greg Abbott, Texas Politics, Republican Party, Texas Schools, Politics News

David Hinojosa: Not Simply Unjust, Also Unconstitutional

2013-02-24T14:51:25Z

Teachers, parents, superintendents, and state and national experts testified about the shortcomings of the Texas school system. The evidence detailed significant deficiencies for the neediest children.

Read more: Texas Education, Rick Perry Education Cuts, Texas Schools Underfunded, Texas Education Funding Unconstitutional, Texas Education Funding, Texas-Education-Cuts, Texas Schools, College News

Jason Stanford: Is Texas Ending High-Stakes Testing?

2013-02-18T20:25:47Z

As of last month, 86 percent of Texas school boards representing 91 percent of the state's 5 million public school students had adopted resolutions opposing high-stakes testing.

Read more: Staar, Pearson Education, Sandy Kress, No Child Left Behind, George W. Bush, High-Stakes Testing, Texas Schools, Pearson, Rick Perry, Mike Villarreal, Politics News

Jason Stanford: The Myth of Texas School Funding

2013-02-12T11:35:11Z

Since 1968, the state has now lost six straight lawsuits brought by school districts that have argued successfully that their funding is unconstitutionally inadequate and unequal.

Read more: Texas Education, Texas School Funding, Texas Schools, Rick Perry, Texas Politics, Texas, Texas Education Funding, Politics News

MALDEF Wins Case Against Texas

2013-02-06T13:46:19Z

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) has won a pivotal court case against the State of Texas regarding inadequate school f...

Read more: Maldef vs Texas, Latino-Politics, Maldef, Ell, Maldef vs. Texas Schools, English Language Learner, Maldef Wins Case, Texas Court Case, Maldef Court Case, Texas Schools, Low-Income Students, Maldef Wins Case Against Texas, Latino Voices News

Fixing Texas School Finances May Bring Big Price Tag

2013-02-05T18:56:28Z

AUSTIN, Texas -- Before declaring Texas' public school finance system unconstitutional, state District Judge John Dietz offered a hypothetical.

He sa...

Read more: Fixing Texas School Finance System, Video, Texas School Finance System, Texas Schools Unconstitutional, James Golsan, Judge John Dietz, Texas Public Policy Foundation, Texas Public Education System, Center for Public Policy Priorities, Rep. Scott Hochberg, Texas Public Schools, Texas Schools, Texas School Finance System Unconstitutional, Texas Constitution, Scott McCown, Politics News

Joy Resmovits: Michelle Rhee Meets Jon Stewart; Texas School Funding Unconstitutional: Ed Today

2013-02-05T08:28:09Z

Rhee The Radical? Former Washington, D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee continues the book tour for her memoir, "Radical," stopping last night at the Daily Show. She talked to host Jon Stewart about standardized testing, school accountability, and poverty. Stewart's mother was a teacher, so it's always interesting to see him interview education figures. For now, watch the interview here. More on that soon. And stay tuned -- Rhee is slated to appear on HuffPost Live at 1:30 p.m., so set your, er, Google calendars to remind you!

Read more: Texas School Funding Lawsuit, Teacher Evaluations, Texas School Funding Unconstitutional, Michelle Rhee, Charter Schools, Joy Resmovits on Education, Michelle Rhee Jon Stewart, Michelle Rhee Daily Show, Montana Charter Schools Bill, Michelle Rhee Radical, Joy Resmovits, Texas School Funding, Texas Schools, Jon Stewart, Jon Stewart Michelle Rhee, Michele Rhee, Politics News

Texas Public Schools Teaching 'End Times' Theology, Creationism

2013-01-28T16:09:35Z

Students in Texas' public schools are still learning that the Bible provides scientific evidence that the Earth is 6,000 years old, that astronauts ha...

Read more: School Bible Courses, Texas School Bible Courses, Religion in Schools, Texas Schools Creationism, School Religious Texts, Texas Public School Bible Courses, Religion in Public Schools, Texas Schools, Public School Bible Courses, Texas Bible Classes, Texas Bible Courses, Texas Schools End Times Theology, Home News

Alyssa Granacki: More Than Money: Education Must Be a Priority

2013-01-23T18:35:50Z

Policy makers have yet to offer schools concrete solutions of how to run more efficiently on lower funds. Without new solutions, the budget cuts have debilitated our schools and left them unprepared for an influx of new students.

Read more: Public Schools, Rainy Day Funds, Education, Texas Budget, Budget Cuts, School Funding, Texas Governor Rick Perry, Education Reform, Education Funding, Texas Schools, Home News

Joy Resmovits: Ed Today: Teacher Overproduction, D.C. Mulling New Truancy Punishments

2013-01-23T08:37:54Z

Teacher Pipeline Problem? Stephen Sawchuk looks at the data so you don't have to, and finds that many states are producing more elementary school teachers than they'll need in the future. It's a supply and demand problem. "There is not a tight link the way there is in other countries, where there is a management of access to particular majors in higher education, tied to perceived needs of teachers, and also a national system for getting teachers who have graduated to the hard-to-staff places," one economist told him.

Read more: Texas School Funding Lawsuit, Education, Vouchers, Teachers, Joy Resmovits, Joy Resmovits on Education, Texas Schools, Teacher Supply, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Education Dc, Parents Fined for Truant Kids, Home News

Joy Resmovits: Ed Tonight: Texas Politician Aims To Reduce Testing, School Closure Personal For Obamas

2013-01-22T19:51:51Z

School Closure Personal For The Obamas? The Chicago Sun-Times is out with a list of 193 schools that could potentially be closed under Chicago Public Schools' effort to save money by shuttering "underutilized buildings." Among them is Bouchet Academy -- and as Alexander Russo notes, that's the elementary school Michelle Obama attended. (It was called Bryn Mawr Elementary School when she studied there.)

Read more: Angela Merkel, Texas Standardized Testing, Joy Resmovits on Education, Germany, Pre-School, Michelle Obama, School Closure Michelle Obama, Joy Resmovits, School Closure, Andrew Cuomo, Texas Schools, Home News

Joy Resmovits: Texas Zeroes Out Standardized Testing, Can Tablets Replace Textbooks?: Ed Today

2013-01-16T08:52:27Z

Less Texas Testing? As Texas prepares its budget, lawmakers in the Lone Star State are trying to make a statement on standardized testing. Currently, KUT News notes, testing is "zeroed out" in the House budget. That means it's still in there, just followed by a bunch of zeroes. "We want to start the conversation on testing," House Budget writer and Republican state representative Jim Pitts told KUT. "And we're gonna have a lot of hearings between now and the end of the session on education and some things that we're going to do in education. And we sure want testing to be one of the number one things. And that's why we did it." We are grateful to KUT for asking, since we were wondering ourselves: yes, says Texas Education Agency spokesperson Dabbie Ratcliffe, this is probably the first time in Texas history such a tactic has been used to discuss testing.

Read more: Vermont Schools, School Privatization, Education News, Teacher Evaluations, Education, Joy Resmovits on Education, New York City Teacher Evaluations, Standardized Testing, Joy Resmovits, Texas Schools, Texas, Standardized Testing in Texas, Home News

Joy Resmovits: Ed Today

2013-01-10T08:27:28Z

Too many tests in Texas? A group of parents certainly thinks so. "Texans Advocating for Meaningful Assessments recently made its case to parents, legi...

Read more: Education News, New York Schools, School Day, Louisiana Schools, Education, College, Joy Resmovits on Education, School Design, Ed Today, College Pricing, Standardized Testing, Nevada Schools, Joy Resmovits, Parents, Texas Schools, Moodys College, St Tammany School, Home News

Texas School Can Force Students To Wear GPS Tracking IDs: Judge

2013-01-09T09:58:21Z

SAN ANTONIO -- A Texas school district can transfer a student who is citing religious reasons for her refusal to wear an identification card that is p...

Read more: Smartid, Video, Radio-Frequency Identification, Parents-Families-Tech, School Ids, Tracking Id Cards, Andrea Hernandez, School Tracking System, RFID Tags, Texas Schools, School Id Locator Chips, School Tracking, Locator Chips, RFID Chips, Home News

School Funds On Trial Again In 10 States

2012-12-26T08:52:01Z

This piece comes to us courtesy of Stateline. Stateline is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news service of the Pew Center on the States that provides daily r...

Read more: Texas Education, Texas Education Funding on Trial, School Funding on Trial, School Funds, School Finance, Stateline, School Finance Lawsuits, Kansas Schools, Texas Education Funding, Fair Education Funding, Education Funding, Texas Schools, Equal Education Funding, Colorado Schools, Home News

School District Where Teachers Carry Guns Has 'Policy That Protects'

2012-12-17T14:00:17Z

In August 2008, Harrold Independent School District Superintendent David Thweatt made waves announcing an unprecedented move: Teachers and staff would...

Read more: Harrold School District, Harrold School Guns, Harrold Independent School District, Newtown Elementary School Shooting, School Security, Guns in School, Poll, Harrold School District Guns, Texas Schools, School Safety, Home News

Muslim Bias? Texas Investigation Into Curriculum Finds Christian Bias Instead

2012-12-13T11:20:42Z

A chain email sent to Dallas-area school board members and district officials that prompted an investigation into alleged Islamic bias in the system's...

Read more: Texas Textbooks, Irving Schools Islamic Bias, Cscope, Texas Curriculum Changes, Irving Schools Muslim Bias, Texas Curriculum, Texas Education Service Centers, Texas Textbook Muslim Bias, Texas Textbook Bias, Irving Schools Christian Bias, Texas Schools Muslim Bias, Texas Schools, Cscope Muslim Bias, Cscope Islamic Bias, Texas Textbook Christian Bias, Home News

Computer Glitch Prevents Thousands Of Students From Taking Exam

2012-12-04T18:28:00Z

Thousands of Texas students couldn't finish the electronic version of a state-mandated, end-of-course exam due to a computer glitch Monday, the Austin...

Read more: Staar, Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, Staar Exam Computer Glitch, Texas Standardized Testing, Texas Staar Exam Computer Glitch, Computerized Testing, High-Stakes Testing, Texas Standardized Tests, State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, Staar Exam, Texas Schools, Home News

Grinch Teacher: 'None Of You Believe In Santa, Do You?'

2012-12-04T12:18:01Z

A Texas couple is furious that their 5-year-old daughter's after-school teacher openly debunked the greatest childhood myth of Christmas.

The teac...

Read more: Santa Claus, Teacher Tells Students Santa Isn't Real, Santa Is Fake, Pease Elementary School, Kindergarten Teacher Tells Students Santa Isn't Real, Teachers, Texas Schools, Kindergarten Teacher, Santa Isn't Real, Video, Home News