If Texas lays off thousands of teachers, they face a brutal market

 It is not yet known how much Texas school districts will have to cut in lieu of the state’s multi-billion dollar budget gap, but no scenario exists that does not result in thousands of education jobs lost. In the past, if one school system was cutting, another was hiring. If educators were willing to move to other states, there were jobs and children to teach. This time, experts say there are not many places for laid-off teachers and other school staffers to run — because states everywhere are going through the same painful process.

Hobbs: http://dallasne.ws/hRiJUB

Perry demands more money from Congress for Texas schools

 WASHINGTON — Gov. Rick Perry , in his State of the State speech Tuesday, demanded that Congress free up $830 million for Texas schools — prompting a denunciation from Democrats who say he just wants the money to help plug the state’s huge budget hole.

Last summer, Texas Democrats in Congress secured a provision in federal law that says Texas, to get the federal money, must promise not to cut its own spending on education for three years. Perry says he can’t legally promise that, and on Tuesday, he renewed complaints about congressional meddling, calling out Democratic U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Austin, who authored the provision.

Huisman reports from our DC bureau: http://dallasne.ws/ghgus4

Texas slips in per-pupil education spending among states

AUSTIN — Texas has dropped sharply below the national average in per-pupil spending over the past decade, a new comparison shows, and could plummet further as lawmakers consider changes that would deprive schools of up to $5 billion a year.

The comparison by the National Education Association, a teachers group — based on figures furnished by state education agencies — indicated that in the 2009-10 school year, Texas spent $9,227 per student, a figure that’s $1,359 below the national average.

Stutz: http://dallasne.ws/hfGW7i

Group: Texas stiffs kids -- and culprit is lack of will, not immigration

If you love regression analysis -- statisticians' way of testing relationships between variable factors -- you may want to check out probably the most controversial statement in a report released today on Texas youngsters' well-being, or lack thereof. "Inadequate state funding drives the state's poor outcomes for children -- immigrants do not," says a press release from Texans Care for Children, trumpeting "A Report on the Bottom Line: Conditions for Children and the Texas of Tomorrow."
Garrett reports http://dallasne.ws/fnR4xB

2 civil rights groups claim Texas education discriminates against minorities

Two leading civil rights groups for African-Americans and Hispanics are jointly asking the federal government to step in and force anti-discriminatory initiatives in Texas public education. “We know that we have to be in Austin, but one way that we’re doing this is also appealing to the federal government,” said Hector Flores, former national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, during a news conference today at Dallas City Hall.


Steve Thompson reports: http://dallasne.ws/hmPcj2