This week, we’re going to catch up on Keller ISD and all its troubles, plus Fort Worth gets a new superintendent.
- Don’t Defund My School. Find out how much vouchers will cost your district. A small voucher program would cost Richardson (my local school district) more than $3 million. A large one would cost more than $15 million.
- Texas Tribune: Texas Senate bill would give public school teachers free pre-K and raises based on experience and performance. The current proposal in the Lege. Don’t expect it to pass in this form; as short as the session is, this proposal will undergo a lot of changes before it lands on Greg Abbott’s desk.
- Fort Worth Report: ‘We’re running out of areas to cut.’ Fort Worth-area school districts brace for no state funding bump.
- Two on the Fort Worth superintendent job: Star-Telegram: Fort Worth ISD board names interim superintendent as lone finalist for permanent post; Fort Worth ISD school board names Molinar as superintendent. Here’s why.
- Fort Worth ISD midyear exam results are in. Star-Telegram: Fort Worth ISD mid-year academic performance shows promise in reading, gaps in math scores. Also the Star-Telegram: Middle and high school students struggle in reading. Can Fort Worth ISD help them catch up?. And the Fort Worth Report: Fort Worth ISD details midyear test results. Here’s where admins see promise, concerns.
- And a series of items on Keller ISD. Starting with the latest board meeting: DMN: Keller schools in ‘utter chaos,’ trustee says as board finalizes superintendent’s exit and the Fort Worth Report: Keller ISD accepts superintendent’s resignation, appoints interim amid district split tensions.
- Fort Worth Report: Fort Worth moves to rezone Keller ISD properties amid uncertainty over district split. Specifically they’re rezoning the properties inside Fort Worth city limits as “community facilities” for educational or public use purposes. This should keep the district for selling them off as commercial properties for cash.
- Star-Telegram: Tarrant DA asks Texas AG to weigh in on legal questions surrounding Keller ISD split
- Star-Telegram: Legal firm files lawsuit against Keller ISD, alleges violations of Voting Rights Act
- Star-Telegram: Hillwood to Keller school board: Stop using ‘Alliance ISD’ for new district made by split. Unsurprisingly, the folks who built the Alliance business development, part of which is zoned to Keller ISD, want nothing to do with this mess.
- Last but not least, from the Dallas Observer: Study Says Texas Is One of the Least Educated States. 41/50 and 49th in diploma holders. Embarrassing.