Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Thousands Of Texas Teachers Will Not Have Jobs To Return To In The Fall

Throughout the month of August, The Texas Tribune will feature 31 ways Texans' lives will change come Sept. 1, the date most bills passed by the Legislature — including the dramatically reduced budget — take effect. Check out the Trib's story calendar here.

The Texas Tribune - DAY 1: Thousands of Texas teachers will not have jobs to return to in the fall:

Just a month before the end of the school year, Bryan McClintock, a special education teacher with the Little Elm Independent School District, was told that his contract would not be renewed in the fall. McClintock had anticipated he might be laid off because he has only taught for two years. He saw the writing on the wall during the special legislative session, when lawmakers passed a school finance plan that cut $4 billion from districts statewide.

Though legislators encouraged administrators to keep as much money as possible in classrooms, the majority of public education dollars are spent on personnel — meaning job cuts can't be avoided. During the legislative session, The Associated Press reported that up to 100,000 of the state's 330,000 teachers might lose their positions. Officials at the Texas State Teachers Association estimate that about 12,000 teachers have lost their jobs so far, and they warn more teachers could be laid off in the second year of budget cuts. The Austin Independent School District has already given pink slips to nearly 500 employees.

Read the full article @ The Texas Tribune .

A new Gallup poll finds, overall, that only 34 percent of Americans express a great deal of confidence in the nation's public schools, continuing a record low that began in 2005. In the 1970s and 80s, that number never dipped below 40 percent. Forty-three percent of Democrats said they were confident in the school system, compared with 19 percent of Independents and 33 percent of Republicans. People tended to rate their local schools better than the overall system. See the poll's full results here.

Why have the American people lost confidence in our public school system? Because so much of what the read about public schools is negative.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Monster Heat Wave - Mandatory N. Tx Water Restrictions Coming

The National Weather Service has issued an Excessive Heat Warning for the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and all surrounding counties through Thursday.

The sweltering month of July has come to an end, but not before over 2,000 records were broken by high temperatures. The Huffington Post reports that some cities hadn't seen this kind of heat in 140 years.

Texas has experienced one of the worst droughts on record, the elderly and athletes alike continue to suffer from heat stroke, and large amounts of warmth and moisture were trapped under a "heat dome" that brought high temperatures and thick air to much of the U.S.

A huge and intense high aloft has plagued north Texas with triple digit heat for more than a month. Monday will be the 31st day in a row of 100+ heat at DFW. It's the second longest 100-or-better streak on record bettered only by 1980's 42 days. Dallas-Fort Worth temperatures are expected to hit 107 or 108 for the next three days, triggering an excessive heat warning that lasts at least through Thursday.

Pres. Obama's Message On The Debt Deal


In a message to supporters, President Obama outlines the agreement he reached with congressional leaders to meet our financial obligations and reduce our debt.

The graph below, from the White House represents the President's explanation of the deal. Text at the bottom of the graphic states, "Social Security and Medicare will be protected from cuts."

President Barack Obama announced an 11th-hour deal with Congress to avert an unprecedented default on US debt payments, which would have sown chaos across the global economy.

With just two days left before the United States would run short of cash, Obama and his Republican foes said after round-the-clock negotiations that they had reached a framework for more than $2.4 trillion in spending cuts.

"I want to announce that the leaders of both parties in both chambers have reached an agreement that will reduce the deficit and avoid default, a default that would have had a devastating effect on our economy," Obama said.

"This process has been messy; it's taken far too long," Obama told a hastily convened evening press conference. "Nevertheless, ultimately, the leaders of both parties have found their way toward compromise."

But, the package still needs approval from Congress, which could vote as early as Monday. Leaders of the Democratic-held Senate and Republican-led House of Representatives were working to rally polarized lawmakers.

The plan faces opposition both from the conservative "Tea Party" movement, which favors sweeping spending cuts, and liberal Democrats who want taxes on the wealthy before any thought of cutting social welfare programs.

As described by Obama and congressional leaders, the deal would raise the country's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling by at least $2.1 trillion. It would also make more than $2.4 trillion in spending cuts in two steps, including through a special new committee required to submit proposals by November 23.