By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 23A Texas will soon have a “dropout czar” to oversee all of the state’s efforts to keep children in school, the new education commissioner said this week. Felipe Alanis, who took office on April 1, said the Texas Education Agency needed to do a better job of coordinating the […]
Category: DMN | Education
UT officials pitch scholarship program across D-FW area; In tour of ‘underserved’ schools, they promise aid to all who get in
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 25A Larry Faulkner, president of the University of Texas, had a blunt message for the students of South Oak Cliff High School. “Here’s my pitch: We want you,” he told an audience of juniors and seniors Monday. “We want to see you in Austin, and we’re going to stay […]
Flaws found in screening of teachers; Up to 2,400 with criminal records may slip through yearly; Texas agency urges fingerprinting for all prospective hires
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A As many as 2,400 people become teachers in Texas every year despite having unnoticed criminal records, according to a state agency that is recommending all new teachers be fingerprinted before being allowed into a classroom. “There’s no surefire way of protecting the children, but we want to do […]
Master urged for W-H; State report blasts troubled school district over ‘disregard for law’
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 29A The long-troubled Wilmer-Hutchins school district has displayed “a pattern of disregard for law” and needs a full-time state master to oversee its activities, according to a withering report issued Thursday by the Texas comptroller’s office. “You can fix things our way, or you can fix it your way,” […]
More schools turning to lockerless lifestyle; Educators extol combination of order, fewer security worries
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A But where do they hang their Britney Spears posters? The photos torn out of Tiger Beat and YM? The loving mash note never sent to Johnny in Miss Thompson’s homeroom? At Birdville High School, students have somehow learned to live without what for generations has been a bedrock […]
With test mandate, companies score big; San Antonio becomes industry center as states scramble for exams
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A SAN ANTONIO – It’s within the city limits, but Harcourt Educational Measurement qualifies as its own boomtown. Like other champions of the No. 2 pencil and the properly filled-in bubble, Harcourt has exploded in size over the last decade thanks to education reform. Its campus, a 560,000-square-foot string […]
Oilman’s UT gift biggest of its kind; Jackson’s donation of $150 million is largest to one public campus
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A Eighty-eight-year-old John “Jack” Jackson never had children, but his generosity will help generations of Texas young people. The University of Texas will announce Saturday that Mr. Jackson, a retired Dallas oilman, will give at least $150 million to improve UT’s program in earth and environmental sciences. It is […]
School ideas may tilt governor’s race; Candidates differ on accountability system, vouchers
By Terrence Stutz and Joshua Benton Staff Writers Page 1A Kathy Duffin, Cedar Hill mother of two, is fed up with testing. She says educators spend so much time preparing students to pass mandated skills tests that she often becomes the real teacher. “With all the emphasis on testing, they end up skipping some of […]
Getting a choice with few options; Some students may transfer, but not many districts will take them
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A All Barbara Senter wanted was to get her son into a good school. She didn’t think it was too much to ask. She lived in the boundaries of the Wilmer-Hutchins school district, which meant 13-year-old J.C. was supposed to attend Kennedy-Curry Middle School, which Ms. Senter describes as […]
Last stop, Nicaragua: Countries snap up American school buses; Aging vehicles get a second life in public transportation
By Laurence Iliff Staff Writer Page 1A MANAGUA, Nicaragua – Yellow school buses bearing names like “Cranberry Area School District” and “Dade County Schools” ply the streets of this Central American capital, as passengers hang out of the windows to fight the heat. Making their way around tiny Asian SUVs, the tightly packed buses could […]