In my not-so-humble and entirely un-objective opinion, The Texas Tribune opened with one helluva week. These are stories you simply will not see anywhere else. Consider, in no particular order:
Emily Ramshaw on the (over)use of passive restraints in Texas classrooms, and the head scratch-inducing conundrum of paying state psychiatrists a lot of money to work insanity-inducing hours to help make their patients more sane
Abby Rapaport on the reality tv show which doubles as the Texas State Board of Education, as well as the curious puzzle of the Texas dropout problem (together with Brian Thevenot, whom I’ll get to momentarily)
Morgan Smith on a brief history of fratricide in Texas politics (not that plenty of matri-types haven’t been in the mix)
Reeve Hamilton on the existential question of the difference between a pundit and several other words that begin with a p. Reeve is also our guide to what’s happening around the state before breakfast and just after lunch.
Ross Ramsey, Jim Henson, and Daron Shaw on Rick’s lead over Kay, what Texans are concerned about, and why all polls will leave the majority of interested parties with something to bitch about (largely because the majority of interested parties won’t be in the lead). Ross also broke the story about the party switch by Jim Hopson that had Democrats crying in their beer-before noon.
Elise Hu on the daily tug and pull of Texas politics, as well as a video about our fledgling enterprise which we will play over…and over…and over…in service of funding said fledgling enterprise, if nothing else.
Matt Stiles on the Houston mayor’s race and, more importantly, why he is the Overlord of All Texas Data
And yesterday, there was my personal favorite so far, Brian Thevenot’s article about the specter of electronic reading devices in Texas classrooms.
Brian comes to Texas from the Times-Picayune in New Orleans, where he was the member of two Pulitzer-winning teams and a finalist for the third. He will be The Trib’s axe on public education, and taught me a lot in this piece To wit:
That scenario represents the ideal — to some, at least — and may yet be years away. The changes thus far have come slowly, navigating a thicket of big-money politics and curriculum wars surrounding the nation’s second biggest textbook market. At the core of the new order, resulting from new legislation, lie three fundamental transfers of power and money:
- from the State Board of Education to the Commissioner of the Texas Education Agency;
- from three major textbook conglomerates to a broad array of computer hardware and digital content providers;
- and from the state to school districts….
The new rules mark a stark departure from the state’s unique and comparatively one-size-fits-all textbook adoption process, one stretching back to 1918 when voters approved a constitutional amendment mandating the state provide free textbooks to all…
Most states allow local school districts to buy their own instructional materials, in print or otherwise. Twenty-two states have similar statewide adoption processes, Givens explained in an interview, but none has held the reigns of curriculum and money so tightly as Texas. Here, school districts never see the bill for textbooks, which some argue has limited downward free-market pressure on prices. The state traditionally provides only a limited menu of books to districts, then writes checks based on local choices…
“Texas is the only state that pays directly,” Givens said. “So this is the first time, after they go through the process, that we’ll actually be sending money to districts out of the textbook fund. That’s the fundamental shift.”
The opening of the textbook fund for technology purchases takes on more significance in the context of the state’s historically paltry financing of technology infrastructure. Districts have been lobbying for years to increase a state technology allotment of $30 per child, a pittance compared to state financing of books.
I have a feeling I’m going to learn a lot from this team. Congrats on a great launch.
