Month: <span>June 2011</span>

Firstterm legislator needs a civics lesson

Freshman state Rep. John Kuempel of Seguin obviously was glad to get home after long, difficult regular and special legislative sessions in Austin, but his assessment of what he and his colleagues accomplished during the past six months missed the basic point of representative government. Kuempel told his hometown newspaper that he looked forward to […]

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Who voted for Senate Bill 8?

Rep. Sylvester Turner, DHouston, one of the strongest supporters of public school teachers during both the regular and special legislative sessions, offered some interesting statistics during final debate on Senate Bill 8, the antiteacher bill that legislators sent to the governor earlier this week. Texas, he pointed out, has approximately 1,030 public school superintendents and […]

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Bowie band director, TSTA member dies

In case you missed the news, Bruce Dinkins, a TSTA member who directed the Bowie High School Band in Austin to the top ranks of high school bands in the country, died unexpectedly earlier this week. Band members, including my son, and parents obviously were floored. Here is a link to the Austin AmericanStatesman’s story: […]

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Back to the cutting board for Keller ISD

The Keller ISD is being squeezed between a rock and a hard place. The rock is rapid, suburban enrollment growth that has prompted the North Texas district to build 22 new schools since 2000. The hard place is the antitax sentiment of conservative politicians and voters who either think quality education grows on trees…or simply […]

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