Capitol Digest: TEA confirms layoffs coming; legal education waiver limited

EDUCATION

More school agency layoffs to come

The Texas Education Agency expects a second round of layoffs in the coming weeks, a spokeswoman confirmed Tuesday.

It is not yet clear how many jobs are to be eliminated or what the timing will be, said agency spokeswoman DeEtta Culbertson. But two people outside the agency who have been briefed on the layoff said the number will exceed 100 people.

The agency lost about 200 "full-time equivalent" positions in the upcoming two-year budget, which begins Sept. 1, but that does not necessarily translate to another 200 people being gone.

Culbertson said the layoffs were coming now so that the agency could reorganize with its lighter workforce before the next fiscal year begins. The first round of agency layoffs came in February, when more than 100 people were let go.

DATA SECURITY

Judge orders comptroller to court

State District Judge Rhonda Hurley of Austin has ordered Comptroller Susan Combs to submit to questioning by lawyers who are seeking information about a data breach at the agency that exposed personal information of 3.5 million Texans.

The judge also ordered a representative of Combs' office to under a deposition.

The lawyers, Chuck Herring and Jim Harrington, sought the depositions as a prelude to possibly filing suit on behalf of people whose names, address and Social Security numbers were placed on a publicly accessible server for more than a year.

Combs' office said the state plans to appeal the judge's decision.

The comptroller's office has spent $1.8 million so far on the security lapse, mostly to hire a company to send letters to people whose information was compromised and on credit monitoring services for them.

LAW

Legal education waiver limited

House-Senate negotiators removed a budget-bill provision that would have exempted every state-employed lawyer from having to take 12 hours of continuing legal education courses each year.

The exemption still would apply to lawyers employed by the state attorney general's office, which is how the bill was originally written in hopes of saving an estimated $430,500 in training-related costs. But when Senate Bill 1 was considered in the House earlier this month, Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, proposed an amendment expanding the exemption to cover all 3,000 or so state lawyers.

Turner said he wanted all state lawyers to be treated equally, and his amendment was accepted without opposition on the House floor. State Bar of Texas officials protested, however, saying the waiver could leave state lawyers ill-prepared in the ever-changing field of law.

The Texas STAAR Test | CRYSTAL Children & Teacher Supply

The Texas STAAR Test

Schools in Texas are scrambling to get ready for the upcoming new standardized test. This new test is called the STAAR (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness) and will be implemented into the 2011-2012 school year for grades 3-8 and exit level.

The STAAR is taking over our previous test TAKS which has been installed since 2003. Previous to the TAKS we had the TAAS (which reigned for over 10 years from 1990-2002), the TEAMS (from years 1986-1990) and the TABS (from years 1980-1985). The new tests will be significantly more rigorous than previous tests and will measure a child’s performance, as well as academic growth. A report from the Texas Education Agency states that the “STAAR will represent a more unified, comprehensive assessment program that will incorporate more rigorous college and career readiness standards”.

The STAAR test will be intended for college and career readiness rather than minimum skills will be the focus for older students. Students will have less opportunity to guess at multiple choice questions as more open-ended items appear on tests, particularly in math and science, requiring students to come up with original answers. You can view what objectives the STAAR will cover here at the TEA’s (Texas Education Agency) website located here .

Although your child or student is over a year away from having to take this brand new test, it’s good to start preparing and here at CRYSTAL Children & Teacher supply we can help you do just that. End TAKS on a high note with a commended score! Click here to view our TAKS Products to make sure your children or students do well this final year for TAKS.

Crystal Children & Teacher Supply is always here to inform our customer base with information concerning every test their child or student may take! With The Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) is rapidly approaching we’ve taken it upon ourselves to shed some light on this doozy of a test! The Iowa Tests of Basic [...

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