WEEKLY REPORT December 30, 2011 Funding lawsuit gathers steam The bitter redistricting battle has been the biggest legislative story this year, but a bigger legal fight seems to be looming in 2012. (View complete article here.) In the Battle of the Maps, Republicans Win Either ... Keep Reading
Archives for 2011
Jim does political party training for the .International Republican Institute, a non-governmental organization focused on democracy building and funded in part by the Agency for International Development. While IRI has offices in Egypt, under the Mubarak regime the government would not allow ... Keep Reading
WEEKLY REPORT December 23, 2011 BLOG: Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison decries nine “accounting tricks” that hide government spending Winston Churchill once said, “The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is.” (View complete article ... Keep Reading
From the Texas Tribune: One consequence of the $5.4 billion cut to Texas public schools is already known: By the end of the year, there will likely be four school finance lawsuits filed against the state. School districts are joining up left and right to sue, and when the cases head to trial — ... Keep Reading
WEEKLY REPORT December 16, 2011 Measuring the Impact of Historic Texas Education Cuts Since well before the 2011 legislative session began, one question has dominated conversations about the state budget cuts to public education: How will they affect public schools? (View complete ... Keep Reading
Back home after a great 8 days in Israel with a group of Texas legislators and volunteers with our client the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston. Interestingly, while many in the United States see hope in the Arab Spring, many in Israel see a potential for great instability in the region which ... Keep Reading
WEEKLY REPORT December 9, 2011 A testament to single gender education Moving from elementary school to middle school, or from middle school to high school, was simple once. A counselor, principal, or teacher informed the student which school she would attend when summer ended. And the parents ... Keep Reading
WEEKLY REPORT December 2, 2011 BLOG: First Reading: The 2012 Texas election cycle begins today Filing begins today for the 2012 elections in Texas, which means candidates up and down the ballot will be heading to their local party headquarters to formally launch campaigns that have been ... Keep Reading
APA worked with a coalition of organizations and foundations to address ticketing and other school to prison pipeline issues. Many in the legislature have recognized that placing students in the juvenile justice system is much more expensive and less effective than dealing with students in a school ... Keep Reading
WEEKLY REPORT November 18, 2011 Time to Ask Texas Voters What They Really Want The line to get a driver’s license at one Houston location is so long, according to Tommy Williams, that a guy called in a pizza order, got it delivered to him, and finished eating before he got to the front of ... Keep Reading