Education Issues

Rick Perry: Mum's The Word

Rick Perry has adopted a more behind-the-scenes approach this time around. That doesn't mean he hasn't been busy.

HISD Again A Finalist For Prestigious $1 Million Broad Prize

The Houston Independent School District is once again a finalist for the prestigious Broad Prize, which celebrates urban education and who's doing it right. It's the third time HISD has been a finalist for the award, which began in 2002. The district won the nationwide prize -- which comes with a n ... More >>

Voucher Bill Hits Legislature, But Don't Call It a Voucher Bill, Even If It Is

Last week, Democratic Sen. Eddie Lucio apparently reneged on his commitment to file a school voucher bill. Lucio's flip-flop not only killed any pretense of bipartisanship with this controversial measure, but it left Sen. Dan Patrick, head of the Senate Eduction Committee, scrambling to find someone ... More >>

Voucher Bill Senator Backpedals, Denies Any Bill in Works

After months of preaches and promises on a potential voucher proposal during this legislative session, it appeared Sen. Dan Patrick had finally found a mark willing to sponsor a bill relating to his "Business Tax Scholarships." As reported in The Rio Grande Guardian last Wednesday, Sen. Eddie Lucio, ... More >>

Zack Kopplin, The 19-Year-Old Face of the Anti-Creationist Movement

Having fought his battles in Louisiana, the Rice University student is now ready for Texas and any move to put faux science in the public schools here.

Charter-Friendly HISD Doesn't Like Sen. Dan Patrick's Charter School Bill

Sen. Dan Patrick's charter school bill has drawn the ire of the one school district that probably would have been the most favorably inclined to support it: Houston. The Houston Independent School District was charter friendly long before other school districts were, mainly due to the influence of ... More >>

Texans Don't Actually Loathe Birth Control Access, Sex Education

It seems that the sweeping cuts that gutted family planning services for low-income Texans in 2011 aren't quite as popular as a clamorous minority would have led us to believe. Based on new poll results from Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, the majority of Texans -- across party, gender, and racia ... More >>

The Texas Lege To Tackle Sex Education Again: Grab Some Popcorn And Get A Good Seat

A Texas legislative session with a slew of freshman representatives brushed with the fervor of the Tea Party movement must surely be like red meat on a platter for groups like the Texas Freedom Network. The Texas Freedom Network has emerged as one of the most vocal opponents of the State Board of E ... More >>

HISD Doesn't Win Broad Prize, But Being a Runner-Up Means $150K in Senior Scholarships

Bad News/Good News: Houston ISD didn't win the prestigious Broad Prize this year honoring the country's top urban public school districts. But just by being one of the finalists, it receives $150,000 in scholarships that it can hand out to its graduating seniors. The fifth time (as a finalist) was ... More >>

Sen. Dan Patrick Named Senate Education Chair, Re-dedicates Himself to Private School Vouchers

Conservative Sen. Dan Patrick (R-Houston) probably wasn't expecting broad accolades from the education community when he was named chair of the Senate Education Committee on Thursday, and the quick negative reaction from mainline education groups did not disappoint. The dean of Harris County conser ... More >>

Will HISD Thumb Its Nose at Rick Perry & Go for the Race to the Top?

The deadline is looming for the next round of the Race to the Top, a program federal education department officials all but admit was drafted for Houston Independent School District after Texas refused to compete for federal grants. When Education Secretary Arne Duncan hinted such a district-based ... More >>

YES Prep Wins A $250,000 Broad Prize

Houston's YES Prep has picked up the Broad Foundation's first top prize for charter school management organizations, winning a cool $250,000 for the charter chain.   The inaugural award was announced at the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools Conference in Minneapolis this morning. The awar ... More >>

Broad Prize: HISD a Finalist Again, Goes for a Second Win

Houston ISD got some great news today -- it's been nominated once again as a finalist for the Broad Prize for Urban Education thanks to an increased African-American graduation rate, more African Americans and Hispanics taking Advanced Placement tests and a greater percentage than any other urban di ... More >>

Teen Pregnancy: What Texas Can Learn From California

Texas is a breeding ground.​Houston's Children at Risk has published a new study of teen pregnancy that highlights two findings: California does a much better job at preventing it than abstinence-crazy Texas, and 80 percent of Harris County parents support sex education that starts by middle ... More >>

Comment of the Day: More Fodder for the Rick Perry Dumb-Quote Generator

​We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involv ... More >>

Terry Grier: He Flips, He Dips, He Does a 180 on Test Scores

Terry Grier on the high dive​In a startling reversal of previous statements and his own avowed philosophies, Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier today released a statement that he will recommend to the school board that teachers not be evaluated by their students' test scores this next scho ... More >>

HISD's Apollo 20 Dealing With Some Outbound Personnel

Changes at Terry Grier's signature turn-around program​In today's Examiner newpapers, editor Charlotte Aguilar breaks the news that Jeremy Beard, the school improvement officer assigned to oversee the turnaround project for the district's low-performing schools, is leaving Houston ISD. Instea ... More >>

Casualties of War

Parents who bought into the TAKS hype dealt blow at HISD meeting.

Teach For America: TEA Undertakes Audit

TFA: It's about to be audited​The Texas Education Agency has until January 31 to submit a report to the Texas Legislature that asks whether the much lauded Teach for America is doing much good for the low-income students in Texas. The Lege allocated TFA $8 million over last year and this year ... More >>

Farewell, Abstinence-Only Sex Education: Teen Mothers Don't Salute You

Bristol Palin likes abstinence-only now​For the first time in a decade, the federal government is out of the business of funding abstinence-only sex-education programs.Because, as it turns out, teaching kids it's bad to have sex doesn't really stop them from having sex. It just stops them from lea ... More >>

Sheri Lynn Davis, Teacher Who Became A Web Sensation For Beating A Kid: Charges Filed

Not arrested yet, but charges filed and warrants issued​The Harris County Sheriff's Office has announced that charges have been filed against the charter-school teacher whose videotaped hitting of a student went viral on the web.Sheri Lynn Davis has been charged with injury to a child. Three other ... More >>

Sherri Davis, Fightin' Teacher: Yes, A Lawsuit Is Coming

To the surprise of absolutely no one familiar with the litigious ways of America, the mother of the kid famously caught on video getting a beatdown from his teacher is suing.And there's a press conference involved!!The Houston personal-injury law firm of Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Sorrels, Agosto &a ... More >>

Mario Gallegos Wants Terry Grier to Leave HISD

Mario Gallegos opens up with both barrels on Terry Grier​Texas State Senator Mario Gallegos, Jr. has gone on the attack against Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier and his reform efforts, sending out letters to the school board and state legislators, in which he says his office has been investi ... More >>

Lakewood Church May Open a Charter School

​Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church is developing a proposal to start a charter school for autistic children that would open in the fall of 2011.Nancy Manley, executive principal in the Houston ISD's charter and alternative schools office, mentioned Lakewood's plans during her address to the Senate Edu ... More >>

Divisive or Not, HISD Board Approves New Way to Target Failing Teachers

​This is the tale of two teachers. Each of them inherit fifth-graders who test out at the start of the school year, on average, at third grade, fifth month. The kids are from the same neighborhood. They have identical demographics: roughly the same number come from single-parent homes, live in ... More >>

Local Teachers' Union President Calls "Bullshit" On The HISD Superintendent, The New York Times And The Washington Post

​ Caught on her cell phone today, Gayle Fallon, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers, said that many people are distorting what Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said in a Tuesday eight-page speech about overhauling teacher evaluations.The speech wa ... More >>

Magna Charter

Right in the middle of the Gulfton Ghetto, one school is putting on a grand experiment.

Drug Education

HISD has the world's busiest sniffer dog

Cinderella Time At Mount Carmel High

Capsule Art Reviews: "Houston Collects: African American Art," "Indifference Personified," "RADAR EYES," "A Time for Change"

Capsule Art Reviews: "Houston Collects: African American Art," "Indifference Personified," "Lo-Fi No-Brow Folk Show," "RADAR EYES"

Aldine Once Again A Finalist For Big Education Award

Capsule Art Reviews: "Heroes Alter Egos," "Houston Collects: African American Art," "Joe Mancuso: Still Still Life"

Community Education Partners -- Why It’s No Better for Atlanta Than It’s Been for Houston

So Much for No Child Left Behind

School test scores rise as more low-scoring students drop out.

Virtual Vouchers

The Also-Rans

The schools who could have been contenders

Houston's Best Public High Schools

Counting down: Our sixth- through tenth-place finishers

Goy Gevalt

In Her Shoes is pretty but useless, a Prada with a broken heel

The Passage of Paige

Rod Paige

Guest Column: HISD's Ethnic Gap

Stats show how district policies help whites with educational opportunities

See George Educate

A Texas journalist gives George W. Bush his due

Learning Curves

Charter school scandals are teaching Texas a hard lesson -- one the state should have known fouryears and $77 million ago

Adding It All Up

What does it really mean to pass the TAAS?

Dish

Bush Dole

The Guv readies surplus handouts in a legislative lovefest

The Insider

Think Small

Richard Farias wants to change the way HISD teaches middle school

Anatomy of an Intervention

HISD has a plan for reforming problem schools. But when it reached Bastian Elementary, not everything went smoothly.