Great things are happening in Texas Public Schools -- Friends of Texas Public Schools
This month...
  • HISD helps lead improving national trend in urban school districts

  • Even stellar performers don't always hit Perry's proposed 65 percent mark, study finds

  • A Cost Analysis for Texas Public Schools

  • Make your vote count


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    April 2006--Part Two

    Driven to Succeed

    Join us in Houston













    Join us to hear the story about public education in Texas. These forums are designed to

    • Increase awareness of public school successes, challenges, and needed reforms
    • Listen to what Texans believe are the most important issues
    • Help Houston-area taxpayers better understand the challenges of public school finance.

    The same forum is repeated three times. Dates are

    • Monday, April 24 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at San Jacinto College North
    • Tuesday, April 25 from 7:30-9:30 a.m. at Katy ISD
    • Tuesday, April 25 from 11:30-1:30 p.m. in Downtown Houston

    Featured speakers will be Dr. Mike Moses, former superintendent and education commissioner and David Thompson, an attorney with Bracewell & Giuliani LLP.

    RSVP to save your spot.

    For questions or if you would like to host a forum in your area: call Scott Milder at 888-749-1019 or email us.


    HISD helps lead improving national trend in urban school districts

    HISD is among the nation's leading urban school districts in improving academic performance, and a new study released Tuesday shows big city school districts continuing to climb.

    The Council of the Great City Schools reported Tuesday that urban school achievement in reading and mathematics on state-mandated tests continues to climb, with evidence showing a parallel upward trend of big-city school districts that volunteered to take the often more rigorous federal test -- the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

    HISD, Texas' largest school district and the seventh largest in America, is one of the big-city school districts that volunteered for the national test. HISD outperformed most other urban school districts on the NAEP's Trial Urban District Assessment in 2005.

    Read more...
    Even stellar performers don't always hit Perry's proposed 65 percent mark, study finds

    By Raven L. Hill, Austin-American Statesman

    Even Texas' highest-performing school districts vary widely in how much they spend on instruction, according to a study released this week by a coalition of education groups, a finding that adds to the debate about the reasoning behind Gov. Rick Perry's "65 percent rule."

    The rule would require school districts to spend almost two-thirds of their budgets on "direct classroom instruction" and will be phased in over several years. The education groups have argued that funding should be handled at the local level.

    Read more...
    A Cost Analysis for Texas Public Schools

    A report by Moak, Casey & Associates, LLP

    Texas public school districts spent a total of $38.3 billion from all fund sources in 2003-04 to educate almost 4.3 million students.

    Of this, $4.4 billion were related to capital outlay, almost $3 billion were related to paying the principal and interest on debt, and $30.3 billion were spent on total basic educational operating costs.

    This report is intended to provide an understanding of what was purchased with educational dollars in the 2003–04 school year (the most recent year for which actual financial data are available), how expenditures vary across different types of districts, and how expenditures have changed since 2001–02.

    • 61 cents of every dollar is spent on instruction -- most of that going to teachers' salaries

    • 15 cents more was instruction-related -- most for salaries of principals, assistant principals, counselors, nurses; extra and co-curricular activities

    • 20 cents is spent to operate schools -- maintenance on buildings, transportation, food service, security, etc.

    • Only 3 cents of every dollar is for leadership -- central office-type expenses including superintendent, assistant superintendent salaries, legal expenses, auditing, etc.

    Read more...
    Make your vote count

    Local elections coming up

    Don't forget to vote in your local school board and school bond elections.

    Many districts around the state have called bond referendums and have their school board elections on May 13.

    Contact your local county or school district to see location of early voting and election day polling places.

    Find out where to vote
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    Friends of Texas Public Schools Scott Milder, President & Chief Executive 4000 McEwen Road North Dallas, Texas 75244-5083

    Phone: 972-701-0700