MONDAY TOP NEWS LINKS:
Ross Ramsey, Texas Tribune
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 office.
Lawmakers are trying to replace billions cut from the public education budget in 2011. They haven’t reinstated all of the $5.4 billion that got whacked, but they have replaced most of it. And lawmakers will probably be back next year for a special session on school finance that might well replace the remainder.
A matter that might have been concerning for a politician preparing to walk into postsession town hall meetings has been defused.
Candidates who survived the campaign obstacle course in 2012 received one message loud and clear from voters: something must be done about the excessive number of high-stakes standardized tests in public schools. And you can see the results in legislation barreling its way through the Legislature that would lower the number of those tests to as few as five from 15. Message received. Another town hall problem defanged.
The third education issue is shaping up as fodder for an expected flurry of 2014 campaign ads. Lawmakers are talking about changes in high school graduation requirements.
They are not increasing the levels of mastery required to leave high school with a diploma. They are not trying to make sure more Texas students are ready for college.
What they are trying to do is make sure that more children get diplomas and that fewer of them drop out. Because not every student is university-bound, why should every high school diploma indicate that the holder is ready for college?
Nowhere in that description about the proposed changes in graduation requirements do you see the two words that will likely be featured prominently next year — in deep baritones and big red letters — in those campaign ads: “Dumbing Down.”
(Read more of this story at The Texas Tribune)
LOCAL AREA HEADLINES:
- Storms briefly leave thousands without power (Chron.com)
- Concerns mounting about Catholic acquisition of St. Luke’s (Houston Chronicle)
- Teen’s death raises awareness of designer drugs (Chron.com)
- Lakewood Church members travel to So. Fla. for Generation Hope project
(KPRC 2 News) - 4 Arrested in 60 Minutes for DWI at Same Place in Montgomery County
(News 92 FM) - Two graduates at DeBakey VA Medical Center earn Healthcare Analytics certifications (Your Houston News)
- HISD students get free books as part of Disney community service initiative
(KTRK 13 News) - HISD hosting community meetings to answer budget questions (Your Houston News)
STATE HEADLINES:
- Business Association Endorses Zerwas’ Medicaid Plan (Texas Tribune)
- Health Scare: What the politics of Medicaid expansion says about the future of Texas (Texas Monthly)
- Texas AG shuts down unlawful legal services provider (Your Houston News)
- Bill Would Ensure Free Breakfast for Texas’ Poorest Students (Texas Tribune)
NATION & WORLD:
- Catch-22 situation hurting the long-term unemployed (Chron.com)
- Leaving no school behind: Can bad ones be turned around? (USA Today)
- Our Feel-Good War on Breast Cancer (New York Times)
- Pattern seen in alleged chemical arms use in Syria (AP)