Stuck and frustrated. Several immigrant families are being held in Texas Detention Centers far longer than law allows, we’ll explore. Also, Texas Lawmakers left Austin without making real changes to the state’s barely constitutional school finance system. Coming up: what they did do this session when it comes to education. And a Supreme Court ruling over printer cartridges affects every American consumer. We’ll explain. Plus, did political infighting just leave several Texas agencies in limbo? We’ll hear from an insider. Those stories and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:
education
Texas Standard: May 25, 2017
Education savings accounts, opponents called em vouchers in disguise. Did that fight just scuttle school finance reform statewide? We’ll explore. Also the numbers are in: what does a new census report tell us about the shape of the Lone Star State? Plus there’s a law aimed at getting guns out of the hands of spousal abusers. So why are so few firearms actually taken away? A group of Texas law school students went looking for answers. We’ll hear what they found. And a rite of passage: passing into history. Why the summer job is in jeopardy. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: May 11, 2017
It’s not just an America thing, y’all: we’ll explore the fallout from the Comey affair and the price to be paid beyond our borders. Also crunch time hits the Texas capitol along with an avalanche of unfinished business. An update from Mike Ward of the Houston Chronicle. And now hear this, because your phone just might have: how millions of apps installed on smartphones could be eavesdropping on you right now. Plus does getting a college degree really matter? A new survey from Rice University says a growing number of white Americans say no. And when is a detention facility a childcare center? When the Texas legislature says it is? Those stories and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: April 26, 2017
If a picture’s worth a thousand words, what’s the value of a word? How the future for thousands could turn on a single definition: the story today on the Texas Standard.
Texas lawmakers begin what could be a marathon debate over forcing Texas towns and cities to enforce federal immigration laws. We’ll have the latest.
When you wish upon a staar—dreams of fewer standardized tests for Texas school kids may soon come true. We’ll get the backstory.
Victim or a villain? A business owner accused of harboring workers illegally finds himself at the center of growing debate across Texas.
And El Paso–said to be the safest city in the country. Is that a fact?
Texas Standard: April 18, 2017
What do Texans believe to be the number one issue facing the state and the nation? Some eyebrow raising findings in a new statewide survey, we’ll explore. Plus, one little word at the center of a new debate over evolution vs. creationism in Texas classrooms, we’ll explain. And apocalypse now? The great brick and mortar retail implosion has been predicted for more than a decade. Why analysts think the moment has arrived. And what’ll it take for a new commitment to space exploration? A new documentary shoots for the moon. Also truancy no longer a criminal offense in Texas, but now new charges for chronic class skippers. All that and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: March 30, 2017
A whole new rodeo: Texas Ag commissioner Sid Miller strikes an economic agreement with a group of west bank settlements? We’ll explore. Also: a billionaire, a brash talker, and a would be president? Skip Hollandsworth of Texas Monthly on the prospects of a Cuban revolution. And how to pay for public schools: in a session dominated by what proponents call school choice, fresh fault lines emerge over the bottom line for eduction. Also, an invader arrives in Texas and experts say it’s killing our bats. Those stories and lots more today on the national news show of Texas, The Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: March 29, 2017
The dismantling of the clean power plan, a catastrophe? A former Obama Administration official says it’s the right thing to do, we’ll explore. Also the US supreme court takes a step that could have a profound impact on who Texas sends to death row. Plus public colleges and universities across Texas bracing for what looks like a perfect storm: a money pinch from all sides: so now what? And the new map being rolled out in schools across the nation, could you find Texas on it? Plus are you hungry for some mudbugs? Believe it or not, there’s app for that, and it’s proving more successful than it’s creators’ wildest dreams. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: March 27, 2017
Who’s in charge here? With the president giving more latitude to the military, rising civilian casualty counts in Syria trigger growing concerns. Plus reading, writing and reboot. Texas public school students hunker down for assessment tests statewide, but the score that may wind up mattering most: the one for the test makers. We’ll hear why. Also, fancy a trip to the moon? As commercial space tourism becomes big business concerns about who’s in charge of safety and who’s writing the rules for the future of private space travel. And the would-be laws you haven’t heard about. We’ll check out the so called sleeper bills. Those stories and lots more today on the Texas Standard:
12th & Chicon: AISD’s Achievement Gap
As the Austin Independent School District deals with declining enrollment and decisions about facilities and campuses, many wonder if students across the district are getting the same quality of education. AISD school board member Ted Gordon, who represents District 1 in East and Northeast Austin, joined KUT’s Jennifer Stayton to discuss achievement gaps and possible solutions in the district.
Higher Ed: Lifelong Learning in Action
A popular topic for discussion on the “Higher Ed” podcast is lifelong learning: taking on educational opportunities at any stage of life, especially well after the formal education years are past. In this episode of KUT’s podcast Higher Ed, KUT’s Jennifer Stayton and Southwestern University President Dr. Ed Burger talk about what we can all learn from Jennifer’s venture back into the classroom – after many decades out – and her own pursuit of lifelong learning. Jennifer is taking an introductory Spanish class to begin learning the language again after taking it in school. In this episode, she shares what it’s like to be back in the classroom (first day butterflies? no…. homework anxiety? maybe a little), and how work and life experiences over time are shaping her school experience now. She and Ed also reveal the solution to the matchstick puzzler; it turns out there may be more than one way to lay out those sticks.
Texas Standard: January 23, 2017
Texas billionaire Ross Perot once warned of a giant sucking sound. Today: a stunning vindication? We’ll explore. Plus, what’s called school choice, set to explode as a front page issue this week. As lawmakers make it a top priority, how’s it supposed to work exactly? We’ll have a crash course. Also, what appears to be the first Texas showdown now set over so-called sanctuary cities. And a stunning shift by the Texas supreme court clears the way for a challenge to gay marriage. Why a nation with some of the toughest gun laws in the world may be having a change of heart. Those stories and a whole lot more, turn it up, cause it’s Texas Standard time:
Texas Standard: January 5, 2016
He once called him a buffoon with the fear mongering arguments of a child. Now, a top Hispanic leader is joining the Trump team. Our conversation today. Also massive protests and reports of looting in cities all across Mexico as parts of the country come to a virtual standstill. We’ll hear what’s behind it. And a closer to home a tightening job market. How some Texas companies are trying to win over the best and brightest with coffee bars, free college courses and other perks. Plus how much does it really cost to educate Texas kids? The state rethinks the numbers. And the promise of 2017, from high tech to tacos. All that and then some today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: January 3, 2017
As members of congress return to Washington, Texas lawmakers get ready to return to austin. The road ahead reconsidered today. Also when police use deadly force against an unarmed suspect, what happens next? A new investigation in Houston suggests very little. We’ll have details of a new investigative report. And Texas wine versus Texas cotton? A decision by the EPA could pit the two against each other, we’ll hear why. And Sinatra versus Sinatra in a Texas courtroom: the issue? Love and marriage. And bitcoin is ballooning, or is that a bubble getting ready to burst? Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: December 21, 2016
Texas officials fulfill a promise: no more Medicaid money to Planned Parenthood. The implications and what comes next. Plus a multi million dollar emergency infusion for child protective services. The plan: hire new caseworkers and give raises to keep others from leaving. But there’s a hitch, just in time for the holidays. We’ll hear about it. Also she was a full throated communist, cast as a a working class hero and a villain. And then her story was almost lost to history. A revival of interest in the lady called ‘the passionate one from Texas’. And veterans signing on to wage a new kind of war…in cyberspace. All of that and lots more today on the Texas Standard:
Op-Ed Teaching Public Policy In A Trump Administration: James K. Galbraith
From The New Deal until the present moment the architecture of The United States formed around some basic principles of public policy; principles that will no longer apply under a Trump administration. With all the questions that are on the table when it comes to this transition, Dr. James K. Galbraith asks: “Is the study of public policy still useful? And can it serve as the basis of a rewarding and productive life?”
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Dr. James K. Galbraith holds the Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr. Chair in Government/Business Relations and a professorship of government at the LBJ School of Public Affairs. He holds degrees from Harvard University and Yale University. He studied as a Marshall scholar at King’s College, Cambridge in 1974-1975 and then served in several positions on the staff of the U.S. Congress. He directed the LBJ School’s Ph.D. program in public policy from 1995 to 1997. He directs the University of Texas Inequality Project, an informal research group based at the LBJ School. Galbraith’s most recent book is “Inequality and Instability: A Study of the World Economy Just Before the Great Crisis” (Oxford University Press, 2012). Previous books include “The Predator State: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too” (Free Press, 2008), “Created Unequal: The Crisis in American Pay (Free Press, 1998) and “Balancing Acts: Technology, Finance and the American Future” (Basic Books, 1989). “Inequality and Industrial Change: A Global View” (Cambridge University Press, 2001) is co-edited with Maureen Berner. He has co-authored two textbooks, “The Economic Problem” with Robert L. Heilbroner and “Macroeconomics” with William Darity Jr. He is a managing editor of Structural Change and Economic Dynamics.
Texas Standard: December 8, 2016
He’s one of the most colorful figures in Texas politics, and published reports say he’s a major source of fake news. His explanation? That’s today on the Texas Standard.
A state of emergency: with child deaths and case mismanagement making headlines, the Governor announces action to protect the most vulnerable kids in foster care. We’ll hear the plan.
A Texas measles epidemic by 2018? A warning from a top pediatrician about the state as a battleground over mandatory childhood vaccinations.
And a stir in education circles over a plan to force schools to share information about a child’s sexual orientation with parents.
Texas Standard: December 6, 2016
How do you get Mexico to pay for a border wall? A Texas congressman has serious ideas. And he just might be tapped to head homeland security. The story today on the Standard.
Are you a marijuana user? Why changes in values and in laws across the nation have led to changes in the background check for firearms.
If a so-called bathroom bill were to pass in Texas what would be the economic impact? A warning from a Texas business group…
Reading writing and wrongdoing—what will it take to stop the epidemic of inappropriate relationships between teachers and students?
And a court orders detention centers to open their doors…now what?
Those stories and much more today on the Texas Standard.
Texas Standard: December 1, 2016
An farewell holiday gift from the President: a pardon for immigrants in the US illegally. Could that actually happen? We’ll not often do democrats and republicans agree, but with the prospect of a huge wall looming, two Texas lawmakers from opposite sides of the aisle are pushing a bill to keep borders open, at least for trade. And remember the Alamo? Not like this you don’t. Details emerge of a 300 million dollar facelift for the shrine of Texas independence. And why we shouldn’t forget the unsung heroes of the internet…most likely living in your bedroom closet. All that and much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: November 30, 2016
Not since 2008 has OPEC cut oil production. But now, it appears, it’s happening. And it’s raising prices and moods across Texas, we’ll have the latest. Also two chambers, two republican leaders, two very different ways of doing business, and two very different agendas. What’s the divide between lieutenant governor Dan Patrick and House Speaker Joe Strauss means for the rest of us. And what do phrases like extraordinary rendition have to do with a women’s privacy bill- or even the alt-right? What’s in the labels we use and whether they’re really worth fighting over. And do bag bans really make people sick? Politifact weighs in and much more today on the Standard:
Texas Standard: November 10, 2016
Is governor Perry going to Washington after all? Why the president elect may be looking to Texas to fill some top jobs, we’ll explore. Also, a prominent congressman from Texas tells us the Senate should kill the filibuster. Not that there’s no precedent for such a rule change, as Senate democrats may recall. Plus Wendy Davis tells us this week’s vote stands for something perhaps less obvious: the need for a new focus on education. We’ll hear her explanation and the potential for a democrat challenge to Ted Cruz in 2018. And tips for your weekend getaway, how to eat tacos and write about them too and much more, today on the Texas Standard: