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Recently in Education Category
3:25 PM Thu, May 28, 2009 | Permalink
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Controversial State Board of Education Chairman Don McLeroy will return to the board, but not as its chair. The Texas Senate failed to confirm him in a 19-11 vote this afternoon.
A two-thirds majority was required to return McLeroy to his post, so he needed the support of 21 senators. The R to D split in the Senate is 19-12. All 19 Republicans voted yes for McLeroy, all Democrats voted no, except for state Senator Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, who abstained.
During a sprawling speech which included scientific formulas and criticism of the fallacy of McLeroy's foes, state Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, co...
11:16 AM Thu, May 28, 2009 | Permalink
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State Board of Education Chairman Don McLeroy's re-nomination is expected to come up in the Texas Senate sometime this afternoon. Whether he can garner two-thirds approval from senators is an open question. Earlier in the session, many lawmakers believed his nomination wasn't even going to get out of committee.
Because McLeroy's been a stalwart social-conservative voice, the right-leaning Texans for Better Science Education is sending "URGENT" messages to its members, asking they call their senators to support McLeroy. The group's argument?
"...He is being attacked NOT for anything done wrong durin...
9:34 PM Thu, May 21, 2009 | Permalink
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Just what are State Board of Education Chairman Don McLeroy's chances for winning re-nomination next week by the full Senate? He was already resurrected by committee in a party line vote on Wednesday. Now he needs two-thirds of the Senate to approve him to keep his job as chairman of the controversial SBOE.backed teaching "weaknesses" of evolution.  >> Continue reading: Weighing The Chairman's Chances
4:44 PM Wed, May 20, 2009 | Permalink
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Or as the Texas Observer put it, "McLeroy's Zombie Nomination Lumbers Toward Senate."
He's back, y'all. He wasn't even pending for very long. State Board of Education Chairman Don McLeroy, who's invited controversy (and enjoys controversy) for wacky musings and efforts to inject religions...
1:59 PM Wed, May 20, 2009 | Permalink
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SB 283, which we mentioned in yesterday's post, hit the floor Wednesday and passed to third reading without much debate. It's a bill calling for school health advisory councils or SHACs, to meet at least four times a year but was seen as a vehicle for sex-ed reform amendments.
State Rep. Mark Strama, D-Austin, amended the bill first, with a measure calling for parents to get a notification and summary of what they're learning in their sex ed curriculum. That was uncontroversial.
The other m...
9:40 AM Wed, May 20, 2009 | Permalink
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Governor Rick Perry and Texas Education Agency Commissioner Robert Scott joined a conference call with budding high school journalists this morning to talk high school graduation requirements, nuclear energy and whether newspapers deserve a bailout (answer: no).
Linda Hopson from Bellaire High School in Houston asked about the top 10% rule for Texas universities, which is well-timed considering the House is taking up the top 10% modification bill today.
"I would do away with the top 10% rule if it was my call. If I had a magic wand I would do away with it," said Perry.
Perry also got a chan...
1:53 PM Wed, May 06, 2009 | Permalink
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First it narrowly passed. Then it was narrowly defeated.
A rare verification vote was called on the House floor after state Rep. Patrick Rose's HB 710 to put the controversial State Board of Education under sunset review failed on third reading, 71-73. The House had given the measure tentative approval yesterday in a squeaker, 74-68. (Agencies under sunset review are subject to a top-to-bottom audit every 12 years and can be abolished after an unfavorable review.)
State Rep. Valinda Bolton, D-Austin was out s...
4:14 PM Wed, Apr 29, 2009 | Permalink
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I'm on swine flu duty today but plenty of reporters are dedicated to what's happening under the dome. A look at some news out of our favorite taxpayer-funded circus:
--Is state Rep. Allen Fletcher, R-Tomball, involved in a federal white-collar crime? To be clear, no criminal charges have been filed, but Fletcher's tied to an ongoing investigation. Texas Monthly's Nate Blakeslee takes a closer look.
-- Both SB 3 and HB 3 -education accountability bills- hit the floors of their respective chambers on Wednesday. >> Continue reading: A Lege Link Roundup
5:35 PM Wed, Apr 22, 2009 | Permalink
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After taking a series of benign questions on various topics like teacher grading and laptops in the classroom, the less-conservative members of the Senate Nominations panel got a chance to question Don McLeroy, Chairman of the State Board of Education. Here's some of the exchange between state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, and McElroy.
Shapleigh: You've said the Earth is 6,000 years old.
McLeroy: That's my personal belief. There was a beginning, the clock started ticking. One view is a naturalistic view - billions of years. And that somehow molecules started in a...
4:56 PM Wed, Apr 22, 2009 | Permalink
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State Board of Education Chairman Don McLeroy took the hot seat before the Senate Nominations Committee this afternoon, to defend the job he's done in the past year and half as chair of the panel. McLeroy is a social conservative with a powerful job; the board sets Texas curriculum standards and chooses textbooks for public school students. Last month, he backed teaching "weaknesses" of evolution.
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