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TEXAS MOVES TOWARD THE USE OF STUDENT GROWTH MODELS IN SCHOOL RATINGS

System would level the playing field for school districts.

The question does not appear to be whether – but how – state lawmakers intend to incorporate growth models into the Texas public school accountability system.

The Select Committee on Public School Accountability met in San Antonio yesterday. It was clear from the discussion – and especially the remarks of co-chair Sen. Florence Shapiro (R-Plano) – that key lawmakers want to move toward the use of growth models. As Shapiro told the assembled group, she’s been in favor of a discussion of growth models – two, and even four years ago – but saw too much pushback from the education community.

But the winds in education policy do change. Right now, the Texas Education Agency, and even the federal government, is supporting the creation of models that measure student progress rather than simple proficiency. Now in its pilot stage, statewide growth models are expected to be a permanent refinement to the No Child Left Behind Act if that measure ever gets to reauthorization.

And lawmakers yesterday were able to assemble a full panel of school districts – as small as Kerrville and as large as Houston – to discuss various growth model plans.

The rest of the story, subscribers only

(c)Copyright April 15, 2008 by Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved





Interesting comparisons from Jim Hightower’s Low Down

	2001	2008
US National Dept	5.7 trillion	9.2 trillion
Real GOP growth prior 8 years	4.09%	2.65%
Cost of imported goods	1,147 billion	1,954 billion
From China	102.3 billion	322 billion
Euro	1.01	1.45
US budget surplus/deficit	plus 236 billion	minus 354 billion
Home heating oil	$1.40	$3.39
Gallon of gas	$1.47	$3.14
Percent oil imported	53%	60%
Net worth of the top 1%	186 billion	816 billion
Median pretax income	$49,158	$48,201
# manufacturing jobs	17.3 million	14.2 million
Ave annual new jobs of preceeding 8 years	1.76 million	369,000
Living in proverty	31.6 million	36.5 million
Milk	$3	$3.79
Bread	98 cents	$1.32
Number of shipments of agricultural imports	4.5 million	9 million
FDA import inspectors	3,500	3,488

Cornyn has nearly $9 million for campaign

By W. Gardner Selby
Austin American-Statesman
Tuesday, April 15, 2008, 09:04 AM

Dramatizing his fundraising pop in contrast to the reach of his Democratic challenger, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, says he had nearly $9 million in hand through March. His campaign announced Tuesday that Cornyn raised $1.6 million after the March 4 GOP primary, most of $2.2 million he raised in the year’s first three months.

Actual cash on hand at the end of March: $8.7 million. (That’s slightly less than Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison had in cash on hand at the same point of her 2006 re-election bid; she had $8.8 million.)

Democratic nominee Rick Noriega’s campaign surely won’t match that balance. I’ll be watching for how Noreiga characterizes his financial challenges.

In his Tuesday announcement, Cornyn may have laid down three more financial targets he doesn’t expect Noriega to match. “Texans for Senator John Cornyn received 7,121 individual contributions in the first quarter, 87 percent of which came from Texans,” Cornyn’s camp said. “That brings the total number of individual donations to more than 19,000 for the 2008 election cycle.”

The references to individual donations are no doubt intended to contrast with whatever number of individual donations that Noriega tallies. And the 87-percent-from-Texans factoid is surely intended to contrast with Noriega drawing money, partly from online appeals, from out of state.

Cornyn’s campaign spoke up Tuesday morning because first-quarter campaign finance reports are due for congressional candidates.





Brazos County Democratic Party
P.O. Box 4568
Bryan Texas 77805
979-779-5600 Fax 979-779-5601

America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.
Harry S. Truman, Democrat, President of the United States of America