Jason Spencer

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Blogs
April 2, 2009
HISD Board Still Struggling With Stunning New Concept Of "Television"
Two years ago, we wrote about how HISD was having trouble with the seemingly simple task of televising their meetings on the cable channel they run.The district had long said their outdated headquarters building couldn't handle the logistics, which sounded shaky enough; after moving into a new build ... More >>
Blogs
November 9, 2010
The Chronicle's Jason Spencer: From Covering HISD To Promoting It
The revolving door is busyJason Spencer, who was been covering the Houston school district as a Houston Chronicle reporter and editor for six years, has a new job: Promoting the Houston school district. Spencer starts soon in HISD's communications department, where he'll be paid $95,000 a ye ... More >>
News
November 18, 2010
Cougar on Prowl in Katy
Mom sexts her teen son's friend
Blogs
December 6, 2010
HISD's Magnet Schools: Independent Reviewers Weigh In
Magnet School reviewers wondered if they were seeing the real thingMagnet school principals resent unequal resources, are a little unsure of the independently contracted magnet school review process now going on and best practices aren't shared across the Houston ISD, according to a review of ... More >>
Blogs
December 7, 2010
Lawrence Marshall Accused of Rigging HISD Bid Process, HISD Also Sued Under Federal RICO Statute
Photo courtesy HISDLawrence Marshall: Accused in suitUpdated: HISD responds; see end of story. No stranger to controversy, Houston ISD school trustee Lawrence Marshall was sued in federal court today, accused of replacing contractors who'd been selected through a bid process with one of his ... More >>
Blogs
December 14, 2010
Updated:Terry Grier's Rightsizing May Mean Adios For Some Teachers and HISD Schools
HISD: Budget cuts a-comin'Update:HISD Spokesman Jason Spencer says there are 66 not 69 underpopulated schools and that designation has nothing to do with "capacity." See below. Superintendent Terry Grier, while "trying not to be Chicken Little," brought Chief Financial Officer Melinda Ga ... More >>
Blogs
January 10, 2011
HISD Makes a Deal With the Chron (KTRU's Ghost Walks the Halls)
Special access for a former colleagueAt 4 p.m. today, the Houston ISD board will meet to review an independent audit of its magnet schools done by Magnet Schools of America. As Richard Connelly detailed in our report last week, there's a lot to be concerned about what with the report (still t ... More >>
Blogs
January 12, 2011
Comment of the Day: The Chron And HISD in Bed
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 >>
News
January 20, 2011
Playing Favorites
HISD partners with the Chronicle on magnet report
Blogs
January 14, 2011
HISD Reinstates Asst. Principal at Wheatley High
Will Terry Grier be sporting one of these?In an amazing turnaround, Houston ISD has reinstated Sandra Walker as the assistant principal at Wheatley High School. HISD spokesman Jason Spencer said a letter from HISD Chief High School Officer Aaron Spence went out to Wheatley parents today sayi ... More >>
Blogs
January 27, 2011
HISD's Single-Sex Schools: Not Quite a Hot Ticket
Sixty-three applications for 450 spotsThe Houston school board announced with great fanfare two months ago the opening of separate schools for girls and boys; supporters were confident the idea would be popular. Maybe it eventually will be, but the district has not exactly been overwhelmed w ... More >>
Blogs
February 7, 2011
Magnet Schools in San Diego Three Years Ago Got the Same Advice as HISD
Terry Grier is NOT shocked he got the same advice from the same group UPDATE: Jason Spencer of the HISD press office contacted us to point out that Superintendent Grier has never said he was surprised at the findings of Magnet Schools of America about HISD's magnet program. In April 2009, Ma ... More >>
Blogs
February 10, 2011
What Texas Needs: Armed School Board Members
This'll liven up a dull school baord meetingLast December, a man named Clay Duke achieved brief national fame for video footage of him pointing a gun at the members of a Florida school board. The pantywaists up north might not know what the solution is to such a problem, but here in Texas at ... More >>
News
February 17, 2011
Third Ward Heat
Mayor, police grilled on HPD beating.
Blogs
February 18, 2011
Arnold Viramontes, HISD's Splashy New Hire, Violated Nepotism Rules
HISD's new hire had a nepotism flap in DallasThe Houston school district announced today it is hiring the Dallas ISD's chief of staff, Arnold Viramontes, to oversee its technology operations. Our sister blog Unfair Park has a post up analyzing why this is big news for DISD -- Viramontes has ... More >>
Blogs
February 23, 2011
HISD Accused of Spurning HCC in Favor of Lone Star College
Has HISD found somebody new?State Senator Mario Gallegos has a new beef with the Houston school district -- he says HISD is stiffing Houston Community College in favor of Lone Star College. Gallegos wrote to HISD superintendent Terry Grier saying the district's "been extraordinarily indiffer ... More >>
Blogs
March 7, 2011
Grier Backs Off From His Controversial Magnet Changes
HISD magnet changes won't come anytime soonAfter a marathon meeting of parental dismay with proposed changes to the Houston school district's magnet program last week, superintendent Terry Grier has waved the white flag and postponed any action until next school year. District spokesman Jaso ... More >>
Blogs
March 8, 2011
Mario Gallegos Goes Off on Terry Grier at Senate Education Hearing
Mario & Terry: Can two grown men share a city without driving each other crazy?Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier went all the way to Austin to testify before the Texas Senate Committee on Education, only to be ripped apart by Sen. Mario Gallegos, who continues to not like much of anythi ... More >>
Blogs
March 9, 2011
Actually, HISD Already Did Spend General Funds on Apollo 20
Previous statements are inoperativeFriends of Hair Balls have been besieging us in the last couple of days, insisting that Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier misspoke when he testified before a Senate Committee on Education that the district has never used general funds to finance Apollo ... More >>
Blogs
March 11, 2011
Comment of the Day: HISD's Definition of Truth
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 >>
Blogs
March 31, 2011
Worthing High Shooting -- the HISD Reaction
HISD taking steps in wake of shootingThe Houston school district is not really commenting on last evening's gang-related fatal shooting at Worthing High School because "it is the focus of an HPD ongoing criminal investigation," spokesman Jason Spencer says. But it has issued a statement from ... More >>
Blogs
April 1, 2011
Vince Young: No Questions About the Titans, Please
It is not known if VY will go shirtless at his tournament.The Houston school district sent out a proud announcement saying they are partnering with Vince Young on a golf tournament that will raise $110,000 in scholarships. The Madison High alumnus' event will be April 4, and news coverage wo ... More >>
Blogs
April 12, 2011
HISD Eyes More School Closures, a Hike in Lunch Prices, UPDATED
Dollars: HISD ain't got `emUpdate:HISD spokesman Jason Spencer sent us a note that these schools are now up for closure and/or consolidation: Elementary schools: Memorial, Paige, N.Q. Henderson, Port Houston, Gordon, Pleasantville, Stevenson, Houston Gardens, Burrus, Rhoads, Grimes, McDade, a ... More >>
Blogs
April 19, 2011
Kindergarten Mayhem: Kid Brings Gun to Class, It Goes Off
It's show-and-tell time!!Three kindergartners at Ross Elementary were injured this morning because one of them brought a gun to class and dropped it, setting it off. "None of the wounds are considered life-threatening," HISD spokesman Jason Spencer says. So there's that -- no life-threaten ... More >>
Blogs
May 27, 2011
Comment of the Day: HISD, TAKS, Spinning & Responsibility
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 >>
Blogs
June 10, 2011
HISD's Apollo 20 Dealing With Some Outbound Personnel
Changes at Terry Grier's signature turn-around programIn 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 >>
Blogs
June 29, 2011
State Senator Mario Gallegos Says HISD's Apollo 20 Contracts May Be Unethical
Mario Gallegos goes after Terry Grier again.State Senator Mario Gallegos, a persistent critic of Houston school superintendent Terry Grier's Apollo 20 pilot program, has asked the Texas Education Agency to audit the contracts involved in it. He says there are ethical questions involving HISD ... More >>
Blogs
June 29, 2011
HISD Touts Results on Two National Exams
HISDHISD's graph showing movement in the right direction.The Houston school district says its students have made impressive gains in the latest round of Stanford and Aprenda tests, which measure students nationwide. "HISD students posted especially strong gains in math and science during the ... More >>
Blogs
August 3, 2011
HISD Spokesperson Norm Uhl Fired
Norm Uhl will no longer be spinning HISD.Winner of Best Flack in last year's Best of Houston® issue, Houston school district spokesman Norm Uhl is now out of a job. He was fired by the district. We gave the award to Uhl, a former KHOU reporter, because he seemed willing to battle what had ... More >>
Blogs
August 4, 2011
Some HISD Schools Face Big Changes From No Child Left Behind
Some HISD schools are getting left behind.Step aside, Apollo 20. A slew of Houston ISD high schools are going to have to undergo serious overhauls to satisfy requirements of No Child Left Behind. Federal school and district ratings were released this afternoon. In a subsequent press release, ... More >>
Blogs
September 13, 2011
Meet HISD Board Candidates -- Even the Ones Who Aren't TV Stars
Paula Harris is the Law & Order of HISD TV.If you watch Houston ISD TV, then you know school board President Paula Harris and the First Vice President Manuel Rodriguez. They are everywhere. For just some of the examples: Besides the televised monthly board meetings, Harris was on The Stude ... More >>
Blogs
October 11, 2011
Paula Harris, HISD Strangely Accuse Reporter of Unethical Behavior
HISD issues diktat on jounralistic ethics.The Houston school district and its board president, Paula Harris, have accused Texas Watchdog reporter Michael Cronin of "unethical behavior" because, among other things, he taped a conversation with her. HISD spokesman Jason Spencer, a former Houst ... More >>
News
November 3, 2011
Bottom Lines
It took years for Veronica Bass to figure out she was overpaying her union dues. Getting her money back looks like it may take just as long.
News
November 24, 2011
Entitled to What?
The Ochoas are hardworking, taxpaying U.S. citizens who have taught their kids English. Why, they ask, should they be penalized for that?
News
February 2, 2012
A Little Respect
Antonia Rivas did her job in HISD until she died. Now her children want some notice to be paid.
Blogs
February 9, 2012
HISD Board Might Extend Terry Grier's Contract Tonight
Terry Grier's contract being discussedAre you ready for some more Terry Grier? Five Houston school board members are, and they are looking to extend the superintendent's contract for another year, to 2014. The move may come as early as tonight, although some are questioning whether doing so ... More >>

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