By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1B The Texas attorney general’s office is asking a Dallas appeals court to immediately return to the state oversight of the troubled Wilmer-Hutchins school district. “It is an emergency request,” said Tom Kelley, a spokesman for Attorney General Greg Abbott. “We want to put back what was undone.” On […]
Month: March 2005
TEA plans reply to W-H and judge; Injunction that allowed chief to be fired may be appealed; trustee quits
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1B The Texas Education Agency believes it has every right to intervene in the troubled Wilmer-Hutchins schools, and it plans to fight a judge’s order throwing it out of the district. “We’re trying to act quickly and put together a response,” said Ron Rowell, the TEA’s senior director of […]
Ex-chief of W-H indicted; Attorney denies fired superintendent falsified district attendance data
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1B Former Wilmer-Hutchins Superintendent Charles Matthews was indicted Tuesday in a case involving allegations that he ordered employees to falsify attendance data. The indictment by a Dallas County grand jury is the second in the last five months for Dr. Matthews, a former state superintendent of the year. His […]
TEA plan would fail more schools; 92 rated unacceptable now; number could climb over 1,000
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A The number of “academically unacceptable” schools in Texas could grow by a factor of 10 under a tougher set of standards approved by a Texas Education Agency committee. There are now 92 Texas schools labeled unacceptable, the state’s lowest rating. But if the proposed new rules had been […]
State to dissolve W-H school board; TEA report says more than 20 educators gave students TAKS answers
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A The Wilmer-Hutchins school board will soon be out of work. State Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley has decided to dissolve the troubled district’s board because state investigators found widespread cheating by teachers on the state’s TAKS test. The investigation – prompted by a series of Dallas Morning News stories […]
New TAKS scores worry school officials; 1 of 4 fifth-graders fails reading, but districts may still promote
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A Giving a high-stakes test to 10-year-olds is proving more complicated than state officials may have expected. One of every four fifth-graders failed the TAKS reading test last month, officials announced Friday. That’s slightly better than last year. But this is the first year students have to pass the […]
Column: Standardized essay might be formula for bad writing
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1B I’d like to apologize in advance for the quality of this column. I just ask that you keep in mind that I have the writing ability of a below-average 15-year-old. But more about that later. On Saturday, thousands of nervous high school kids will line up their No. […]
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W-H board could face removal, report says; Officials suggest review in May; president calls criticism a conspiracy
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A State officials could try to kick the Wilmer-Hutchins school board out of office as soon as May if board members don’t improve their attitude, according to a new state report. But the board’s president said the report is just the latest sign of a “major conspiracy” that seeks […]