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Legislative committees explore public education funding, hear financial health of pension and healthcare funds
Education Commissioner Mike Morath testifies before the Senate Finance Committee. Two key committees for the Texas state budget—the Senate Finance Committee and the House Appropriations Committee—met this week, and while lawmakers continued to express support for investment in public education and the gains made last session, many questions still remain unanswered for how far that support will go in meeting...
Read MoreState Hearing on School Finance: Ills Acknowledged, Cures Disputed
The state’s Joint Select Committee on School Finance, Weights, Allotments and Adjustments met today with a roster of invited business and academic witnesses chosen to support a specific agenda. Their testimony and responses from several committee members (Sens. Florence Shapiro, Republican of Plano, Sen. Dan Patrick, Republican of Houston, and...
Read MoreState Board of Education Faction Still Looking for Textbook Trouble
The far-right faction on the State Board of Education is now on the warpath against a new bogeyman. This time the claim is that textbooks on world history have been biased against Christianity and in favor of Islam. Read More
Read MoreTexas AFT Defends Budgets for Children’s Health Care, Higher-Ed Health Benefits
Texas AFT's Ted Melina Raab testified at two more Legislative Budget Board hearings today, this time in defense of children's health care and higher-education health benefits. He noted Texas AFT's longstanding commitment to the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and to Medicaid funding for children. "Our day-to-day experience has taught...
Read MoreHispanic Heritage Month
The American Federation of Teachers once again has put together a package of educational resources relating to Hispanic Heritage Month, celebrated from September 15 through October 15. You'll find the materials online at http://www.aft.org/yourwork/tools4teachers/hispanic/index.cfm.
Read MoreThe Governor, Not the State Constitution, Stands in the Way of Federal Education Aid
Gov. Rick Perry is still claiming the federal education-jobs law sets conditions that make it impossible for Texas to receive $830 million earmarked for the state’s school districts. He says the state constitution bars him from making federally required assurances of ongoing state education spending. Perry and his appointee as...
Read MoreTexas AFT Testifies Against Education Cuts in State Budget Plan
Traditionally ahead of the biennial legislative session the staffs of the Legislative Budget Board and the governor’s budget office get together to review spending requests from state agencies. This year agencies have been directed by the governor and legislative leaders to chop 10 percent from their already lean baseline budget...
Read MorePresidential Back-to-School Address Sounds Traditional Themes
President Barack Obama’s annual back-to-school speech, delivered in Philadelphia and made available for showing in schools nationwide, must have disappointed anyone who expected a partisan approach. The president exhorted students to "dream big," "work hard," and "stay focused on your education." Do those things, he said, and "your future is...
Read MoreState Senators Urge Governor to Ask Anew for Federal Aid, Sooner Rather Than Later
Five Democratic state senators have asked Gov. Rick Perry to renew efforts to secure $830 million in aid earmarked for Texas public schools under the recent emergency education-jobs bill passed by Congress. In a letter delivered to the governor today, Sens. Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio, Rodney Ellis...
Read MoreBudget, School Finance, Accountability Issues of 2011 Session Foreshadowed in Upcoming Hearings
Some noteworthy hearings in the next couple of weeks will preview issues sure to preoccupy lawmakers when the legislature meets for its next regular session in January. For example: September 14–The state’s budget for public education for 2012-2013 comes up for a public hearing next Tuesday in front of staffers...
Read MoreGovernor’s Ploy Triggers Rejection of State Application for Education-Jobs Funding–Not the Last Word
Perry’s Ploy Triggers Rejection of State’s Education-Jobs Funding Application, For Now: Today we learned that the U.S. Department of Education has turned down Gov. Rick Perry’s September 3 application for $830 million in federal job-saving aid, because of conditions he...
Read MoreTexas AFT Joins in Coalition Effort for a Balanced Approach to Balancing the State Budget–Check Out the “Texas Forward” Web Site
We are pleased to announce that Texas AFT and a score of other organizations are launching a coalition effort to fight for a balanced approach to balancing the state budget. Everybody knows that Texas faces serious budget shortfalls, partly because...
Read MoreCompliance With Class-Size Requirements
The Texas Education Agency on September 3 sent out its annual notice to school superintendents on compliance with class-size requirements under Texas Education Code Section 25.112. That section of state law says that as a general rule "a school district may not enroll more than 22 students in a kindergarten,...
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