Cruz pushes school choice in Texas with letter to legislators

The push for school choice in Texas escalated this week with Senator Ted Cruz's letter to Texas Legislators. Cruz's letter urged lawmakers "to make Texas the next state that gives parents taxpayer dollars to send their children to private or religious schools, or educate them at home," Patrick Svitek wrote in the Texas Tribune on March 9, 2017. …

Texas parties divided over Senate Bill 6

"All we gotta do is tinkle and get out." According to Alexa Ura's article in the Texas Tribune March 7, 2017, that is how Marilyn Morrison, an 8-year-old transgender girl from Grapevine, TX, expressed her opinion on the Texas "bathroom bill" that the Senate spent most of yesterday debating. Senate Bill 6 has polarized parties over …

School bus accidents prompt need for seat belts

Riding the bus always felt so free to me when I was in elementary school, probably because I didn't have to wear a seat belt. After a school bus accident in my hometown, however, that lack of seat belts and school bus safety overall has been on my mind. According to the National Safety Council, buses are …

Texas lawmakers divided over school choice and financial reform

Texas lawmakers are split over the push for school choice, which may hold up public school financial reform. The passage of Senate Bill 3, created by Senate Education Chairman Larry Taylor and supported by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Gov. Greg Abbott, would create two voucher-like programs to implement school choice in Texas, Aliyya Swaby's Jan. 30, 2017, article on TexasTribune.org said. …

School choice battle makes education ‘the civil rights issue of our time’

With the fight for and against school choice sweeping the nation, President Donald Trump deemed education "the civil rights issue of our time." In addition, the President urged Congress to pass legislation to boost school choice opportunities, according to Matthew Nussbaum's recap of his Tuesday night speech posted on Politico.com Feb. 28, 2017. Texas House Public Education …

Vouchers blur lines between church and state

Besides diminishing public school funds, vouchers raise another concern when it comes to the separation of church and state. Most private schools have religious affiliations, and organizations like Americans United say that vouchers' use of tax dollars to finance schools that teach those beliefs, rather than teach about those beliefs, threatens religious freedom. Students should not have to go …

Mayors say Texas “Bathroom Bill” distracts from other education issues

The ongoing debate surrounding Senate Bill 6, or the "bathroom bill" may be pulling lawmakers away from more pressing issues in the Capitol of Texas. In an article by Christopher Neely on CommunictyImpact.com on Feb. 17, Mayor Steve Adler of Austin said "We are in desperate need of the state legislature to focus on education …

Trump appears to break promise after scaling back Obama bathroom order

After sacking Obama's order to allow students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity, President Trump faced criticism from people, such as Caitlyn Jenner and Jackie Evancho, for appearing to go back on his promise to protect LGBTQ rights. According to Caitlin Emma Feb. 22, 2017, on Politico.com, Trump made this move …

Merit pay’s cons outweigh its pros in education

Those who put forth their best effort deserve to be rewarded, or at least, such is the logic behind merit pay. Actually implementing performance based pay, however, is not as straightforward as it seems, especially when it comes to teachers. This article from www.ernweb.com seems to discredit any argument against merit pay, but it fails to account …

The making of a (good) teacher

When the professor questioned his class's career choice, the students assured him that they were indeed going to be teachers. "Are you sure?" he said. "So no one in here is going to be a police officer?" "We're totally sure," they said. "No one in here wants to be a police officer for a living." …