Each legislative session, government school financing is one of the most controversial issues on the agenda. And each legislative session, nearly every party involved—legislators, parents, teachers, and taxpayers—walks away unhappy. The controversy and dissatisfaction will continue unabated until fundamental reform of the educational system is enacted. About 90 percent of all children in Texas attend…
This was originally posted on Live Oaks on November 9, 2010. Comments have not been migrated. It is commonly argued that without public education the poor would have few, if any educational opportunities. Without public education, those born into poverty would have little opportunity to escape, and the poor would remain poor generation after generation….
This was originally posted on Live Oaks on October 11, 2010. Comments have not been migrated. An OpEd in Sunday’s Chronicle tells us that we must protect kids from bullying. Citing a growing number of suicides by bullied teenagers, Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education, write: The…
This was originally posted on Live Oaks on September 21, 2010. Comments have not been migrated. Last week, Senate Education Chair Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, announced that the public school system in Texas is broke. The Chronicle’s story said: According to committee members and experts, the system has vast inequities of more than $1,000 per student…
This was originally posted on Live Oaks on September 16, 2010. Comments have not been migrated. Several weeks ago I wrote about an OpEd in the Chronicle that chastised HISD for the food it is serving at the district’s schools. The author of that article–Bettina Elias Siegel–has responded to my post on her own blog….
This was originally posted on Live Oaks on March 5, 2010. Comments have not been migrated. On Thursday, college students across the nation protested funding cuts to state colleges. The students are upset because they are taking on more debt and in some cases, having to choose between eating or buying books. Not surprisingly, the…
This was originally posted on Live Oaks on November 20, 2008. Comments have not been migrated. The Texas State Board of Education is currently revising the science curriculum standards for Texas public schools. Those standards are scheduled to be adopted in March 2009. If the past is any indication, the debate over the curriculum will…
This was originally posted on Live Oaks on August 7, 2009. Comments have not been migrated. Barack Obama has repeatedly told us that we are our brother’s keeper. Now the state of Texas is telling us that we are also our brother’s children’s keeper. According to the Chronicle, Texas taxpayers will soon be on the…
This was originally posted on Live Oaks on January 16, 2009. Comments have not been migrated. Two articles in last Friday’s Chronicle show just how subjective, arbitrary, and dishonest most laws are. The first story deals with a ruling from the Consumer Product Safety Commission that exempts thrift stores from testing children’s products for lead….