You don't want to know how bad the gang problem is in Arlington, writes Mike Norman, the Star-Telegram's editorial director for Arlington and Northeast. But if you live there, you want to do everything you can to make it go away. Read what he has to say here.
Mouthwatering news from the San Antonio Express-News as we head into cookout season:
Hold on to your toothpicks, barbecue lovers.
Brisket not only is juicy. It could be better for you than other cuts of beef.
“You've got to be careful about calling brisket a health food,” said Stephen Smith, a Texas A&M University professor of animal science. Nevertheless, “it's healthier than we thought — the healthiest cut on the carcass.”
Smith oversaw a graduate student's study that could turn what had been a questionable piece of meat — at least outside of Texas — into a value leader.
A still-unpublished study by a 23-year-old graduate student showed brisket had much higher concentrations of monounsaturated fatty acids than the eight other primary cuts of beef. Those acid chains include oleic acid, the same acid found in olive oil and canola oil.
Prior tests have shown that consumption of oleic acid at higher levels can produce health benefits, including increased production of HDL cholesterol, often known as good cholesterol.
“It was a complete surprise to us,” Smith said.
Read the full article here.
From The Associated Press:
A fight at a troubled South Los Angeles high school escalated into a campuswide brawl involving as many as 600 students before it was quelled by police officers in riot gear.
The melee, which students said was between rival black and Hispanic gangs and started around noon on Friday, forced the authorities to shut down the school, Locke High, and keep students in their classrooms.
After restoring order, they rounded up those involved and separated them, holding Hispanic students in the gymnasium and black students in another room. Four people were arrested, three students for fighting and one non student on suspicion of possessing a knife, said Susan Cox, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles school district.
Several students were injured and treated at the scene, officials said. A music teacher, Reggie Smith, told the Los Angeles Times that it was a chaotic scene and difficult to distinguish between those fighting and those trying to avoid the mayhem.
“The kids were crazy, running from place to place, jumping on other kids,” Smith said. “Some of my kids were crying because they were walking to class with friends and they got jumped.”
Victor Wong, an 18-year-old senior, told the Times that the brawl grew out of a fight two days earlier between two graffiti gangs. He said Hispanic students who were friends of his asked him to participate in a fight planned for Friday that was to pit 10 Hispanic students against 10 black students.
The two groups met as planned at the handball courts, Wong said, but the fight quickly spread throughout the campus. “Security didn’t know where to go,” he said. “They’d concentrate in one spot, and something would happen somewhere else.”
School district police called about 60 officers to the scene, while the Los Angeles Police Department sent about 50 officers and more than a dozen patrol cars.
Ronald White, a 17-year-old senior, said that when the police arrived, some of the students began fighting the officers, who responded with their batons. Another student said he saw the police use pepper spray.
Joseph Sherlock, a senior, said it was his “first actual encounter with a riot.”
About 65 percent of the 2,600 students at Locke are Hispanic, and 35 percent are black. The school has been marred by almost daily fights during much of the academic year.
This Los Angeles Times article mentions the Fort Worth school district's efforts to recruit teachers from California. (Read the Star-Telegram's report from Wednesday here.)
An excerpt:
"We have raiding parties from other states coming into the state of California to lure away many of our outstanding young energetic teachers," state Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell said Friday. "We must stop the era of teacher poaching and make sure we fully compensate, respect and value our teachers."
The recruitment comes as California faces a budget shortfall of up to $20 billion. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget would cut about $4.8 billion in education funding this year and next. As a result, as many as 24,000 teachers, librarians, nurses and other school employees have been issued "pink slips" warning that they may be laid off. Districts must issue final layoff notices on Thursday.
Historically, many teachers laid off in the spring are rehired over the summer after the state finalizes its budget and district finances become clear. But the current uncertainty is causing distress in classrooms, and recruiters are capitalizing on that angst.
After seeing California's woes, the 80,000-student Fort Worth Independent School District stepped up plans to place billboard ads in California reading "Your Future is in Our Classroom." In addition to the two billboards in San Diego, the Texas district is holding a three-day job fair there next week, and is expanding their billboard efforts to the Bay Area.
"It became obvious there was a ready-made market there in California, so we just latched onto that . . . because we know there are teachers who are looking for jobs," said district spokesman Clint Bond. "San Diego also has a similar lifestyle to Fort Worth -- the only thing missing is the ocean."
The district's message of a cheaper cost-of-living coupled with $44,500 starting salaries, $3,000 signing bonuses and annual stipends in certain specialties appears to be resonating. More than two dozen teachers have booked appointments with recruiters in San Diego next week, and others have flown to Texas for interviews.
May is national Better Hearing and Speech Month. To recognize that, and to encourage people to incorporate hearing tests into their annual health checkups, TCU's Miller Speech and Hearing Clinic is offering free hearing screenings. They are available by appointment from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 20 at the clinic, 3305 W. Cantey. RSVP at 817-257-7620.
The 30-minute screenings, available to adults and children ages 4 and older, consist of a 15-minute preliminary evaluation to determine hearing loss and a 15-minute counseling session to explain test results. Screenings will be conducted by TCU graduate students supervised by American Speech Language Hearing Association-certified audiologists.
The day before voters decide today who they want to take over the reins at the Fort Worth ISD school board, this video tribute to Dr. William Koehler was posted online. (Proof that Mansfield isn't the only school district geeking out on technology)
-Aman Batheja
Here's the The Wall Street Journal's take on how this summer will be one of the toughest for teens to get a 
job. Last month, the Star-Telegram reported that North Texas teens are in better shape than most.
(Photo, Star-Telegram archives, of Dunbar senior Braxton Newman, who recently landed a summer job.)
If you waiting to hear the Cleburne school district's' answer to the highly critical state audit report of the its federal spending, don't hold your breath. District officials, who initially intended to publically discuss their response to auditors at their May 12 board meeting, now say they'll wait until after a May 14 meeting with auditors in Austin. Then they'll make a power point presentation _ probably at a May 20 meeting _ to summarize their 2,000-page response to TEA. You heard it right _ 2,000 pages to respond to a 156-page TEA report. The public will be able to read part of it on the district website. For the more detailed documents, however. you'lll have to examine them at district ofices. We can hardly wait.
Don't be surprised if you experience a delay driving through Aledo today. It won't be a traffic accident or a train. At least we hope so. Because that would disrupt a pink parade for 6-year-old Jessie Hall, a Stuard Elementary School student who is facing brain surgery for a rare disorder that causes seizures. Expect to see a lot of pink as Jessie rides north on FM5 and Highway 1187 followed by a caravan of well-wishers. Even her neighborhood is decorated to welcome her home. Stay tuned.
Today on star-telegram.com:
Audit looming over Cleburne school board races
If it's May, it must be time to break out the finery (See an audio slide show here)
Madagascar's president to attend gruaduation at Abilene Christian University
First it was RSS feeds. Then it was Twitter. Now the district is on YouTube. There's only one district-produced video for now. But we'll see more soon as broadcast teacher Jerry Cantu moves from the classroom to the public information office. His first video here is on inquiry-based science. (Spoiler alert!! The video features an Oingo Boingo song. Loves it!) No wonder the district has won accolades for its digital access.
Did you have a special teacher who challenged, motivated or impacted your life in positive way? Adults and children can applaud educators through the Nation's Largest Teacher Thank-You Card Project. Send a free e-card (English or Spanish) or post a video thank you at http://www.teacherthankyoucard.org/. Celebrities and elected officials have listed thoughts on their favorite teachers.
The messages will be part of an 8-foot-by-50-foot mural to be unveiled in May 2009. The effort is part of Teacher Appreciation Week, May 4-10, sponsored by the National Education Association and National Parent Teacher Assocation.
Making the jump from elementary to junior high can be a little daunting for some. Here's a short video 
from the seventh graders at Ferguson Junior High in Arlington explaining what it's all about.
Read All About It
- From the Fort Worth school district
Fort Worth, Texas – Sandra Snider teaches English Language Arts and Social Studies at Fort Worth ISD’s Success High School. In conjunction with the study of the novel The Kite Runner, Ms. Snider asked her students to write autobiographical sketches centering upon treasured personal memories.
Javier Aguilar
English 4b, Per. 8
Ms. Snider
Where I’m From
I am from getting home late at night everyday from work since I was thirteen;
from a father leaving us to fend for ourselves;
from a little brother crying every time mom left for fear of being abandoned;
from growing up too soon, and suffering the consequences on my own;
from a little sister who has had to grow up too fast to help me with my baby;
from wondering what, or if, I’m going to eat and stay and do tonight and tomorrow;
from having to suffer through a lot of unnecessary things because I’m too proud to ask for help;
from having no problem with just a few hours of sleep a week in order to see my son laugh, and to know that nobody helped me to get what I have;
but above all, I am from the happiness of knowing that there might be a tomorrow, and what I could accomplish that day.
Jessica Mason
English 4B
Where I’m From
I am from mom’s country, vegetable soup, from granny’s apple pie, home-made peach cobbler and dad’s deer stew.
I am from the quiet “house in the country,” with neighbors who live miles away.
I am from the big, brown oak tree, the multi-colored gardenias my mother tended in the front yard.
I am from Sunday dinners at grandmas’ and hazel eyes, from Debbie, and Uncle James, and my Daddy Billy, who was never caught without cowboy boots on his feet.
I am from the stubborn and the friendly, who never meet a stranger.
From “Quit whining!” and “Don’t be such a spoiled brat.”
I am from a family who never went to church, except for special occasions, but always uttered the Serenity Prayer when life seemed tough.
I am from a town too small to be on the map, and a mom who I am a spitting image of, delicious blackberry cobbler and pork chops straight out of the frying pan.
From the strong-willed, determined mom, who hit life’s hardballs when they flew ninety miles per hour straight at her, the outgoing and the straight-forward grandmother who spoke freely, and the person I can blame for every time I have put my foot in my mouth.
I am from a wall camouflaged with family portraits, from the many poses in my scrapbook and collages.
From a small, close-knit family, whose hard- working hands seem to show through in the ways I also work for what I want.
Abundio Valdez
“Where I’m From”
I am from the place where people work hard for their earnings.
I am from Fort Worth Texas, The Lone Star State, where we have state fairs, go- carts, theme parks, and much more.
I am from the plains of green grasses, and a lot of cows and horses running wild and free through the land where bluebonnets grow.
I am from where we cook tortillas with beans, along with so many more exotic and spicy foods.
I am from where everyone respects each other and helps each other out.
I am from the neighborhood where cars are painted with glitter, with wheels that have big chrome rims which look like mirrors; really beautiful.
I am from where you don’t, or better not, stab somebody in the back!
I am from a place where everyone loves one other; especially, family members.
I am from where, if you want big houses or cars, you’ve got to get up and put some effort into it!
Luchie Abdal-Khallaq
English 4B
Where I’m from
I am from a broken home; from heaven and hell!
I am from the home where a child died, and a woman came alive.
I am from the yellow roses that bloom late, and from the prickly grass that stands up straight.
I am from heart- wrenching moments when I don’t want to be alive, and from the crazy Arubians and the Haitians with the “chinky” eyes.
I am from Esha and Rosie, the divine lionesses of our pride.
I am from the hugs, kisses, and pinching of the cheeks; from the gossip to the compliments, and from the “Who does she think she is?”
I am from the “You can do whatever you want!” and from the “What happened?” and “What have you done?”
I am from the West Indian Christian whose bible acts as her shield, the one who teaches her cubs how to make evil yield.
I am from Boston, Mass.; from Aruba and Haiti.
I am from chicken and beef; from seafood and gravy.
I am from the “Woman, please! You need to get up off of me!” and from the “Honey, don’t let him treat you like you are not worthy!”
I am from all of the “goods” and the “bads” and from all of the “happys” and the “sads”.
I am from Esha and Jack and from Rosie and Jake.
I am from all of my ancestors who now smile upon me from heaven’s gates.
Note: Success High School was established in 1995 as a dropout recovery school under Franklin Burkley. The night program allows students who work in the day or need help with small children to come after normal hours and receive an equal high school education.
In 2002 Success combined with Newcomer Career Academy, which served recent arrivals from other countries desiring a high school diploma. All classes meet standard requirements and have full accreditation.
Here's a scary trend to keep tabs on these days. Faced with severe state budget cuts, the University of 
Florida announced layoffs and will cut its enrollment by 4,000 in the next four years, the Miami Herald reports here. The university of will also eliminate or cut back on some degree programs. Read the UF president's letter here.
Check out how Tuesday's early morning storms affected first-grade student, Stephen Pinckney. He walks to school every morning, but Tuesday's weather called for a Plan B. Go here.
When my cousin Mikey was little, I had memorized all of Green Eggs and Ham because he was constantly--
constantly--asking to hear the story. Turns out, he's not alone. Renaissance Learning, which provides computer education tools, surveyed some 3 million students to find out what they are reading these days. Coming in at No. 1 in first grade was the Dr. Seuss classic. It also came in second place for second graders. See the full report here. My absolute favorite book in elementary school was Charlotte's Web. Read it over and over again, making myself cry. I should read it again. What is your favorite children's book?
(photo from 2006 celebration of Dr. Seuss' birthday at Glenn Harmon Elementary in Arlington)
If you were wondering why Tarrant County science teacher Jody Hodges was among the top Texas teachers for a lifetime achievement award, read more about her and her students.
Here's a sampling of local reaction to the questionable photos taken of 15-year-old Disney superstar Miley Cyrus, aka Hannah Montana.
WHY DIDN'T HER PARENTS SAY 'NO'?
Within the brain of Miley Cyrus
I've got kids ages 12, 5 and 4 who love the show and the music for differing reasons, so the recent developments captured my attention, and they probably did yours, too. I'm going to skip the knee-jerk reaction and just keep close watch on what happens from here on out. I suspect Miley and her handlers have learned an invaluable lesson. But if they haven't, my kids will.
Are you approaching this any differently?
It's a little late for the usual A.M. roundup -- my kids have a day off from school today, so my schedule's a bit out of whack. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
Anyway ... today on star-telegram.com:
Two-way race to represent District 1 on the Fort Worth school board heats up
Area teacher misses out on first prize
Jody Hodges, science teacher at Prairie Vista Middle School, was a finalist for a state education award from the H-E-B company.
What the Northwest school district's $260 million bond package would pay for
Birdville district names top three educators for '08
U.S. News & World Report has a little item on a new study that says board games such as Chutes and Ladders really can help preschoolers develop math skills. That's good news for our house, where Chutes and Ladders is among my 4-year-old's favorite games.
At first this sounds a little ridiculous, but research suggests that infants and toddlers absorb more and should begin their education earlier, especially poor children and those at risk for failure in school. Read more about it in a Chicago Tribune article.
Good news for new college grads -- if you plan on living in Philadelphia.
A new survey from apartments.com and careerbuilder.com ranked the city of brotherly love No. 1 in its list of affordable cities for young college grads. No plans to leave the Metroplex after graduation? Don't sweat it -- Dallas-Fort Worth came in at No. 6.
Here's something you don't see every day. A rural high school in Ellis County, south of Dallas, offers a class on how to be a rock star.
Actually, according to the Waxahachie Daily Light, the music class at Palmer High School isn't as wild as it sounds. It's for serious musicians only; students who want to take it must not only audition, but they must also be enrolled in marching band or choir.
From the Daily Light:
At the beginning of the school year, students choose the style of music they play. They begin a functioning band that allows them to make a transition from having only a garage band sound to being able to perform in music clubs and on stage. The students also learn about business management.
The students’ teacher, Mark Gorman, created the class this year and acts as a manager, teaching the essentials of all sides of the rock band business. With 40 years as a professional musician and 20 years experience teaching, Gorman wanted students to have a more practical education to pursue musical careers.
“To really be educating these kids in a viable way we have to educate them in the culture in which they’re going to be a part,” Gorman said. “I am trying to teach them the things that I wish somebody would have taught me — things I had to learn the hard way.”
Students learn about sound systems, lighting, recording, booking gigs, interviewing, teamwork and playing the music. After passing the class, Gorman said the students would be able to get a job playing and making records.
The Christian Science Monitor has rolled out some really good education stories recently. Check out the magazine's latest story about financial struggles at Boise public school for pregnant and parenting teen girls. Some say such schools are no longer needed because the teens will be better served at a traditional school (where they are more accepting of such students than in times past) and because the girls at segregated schools get a substandard education, the mag reported. But others say specialized schools help prevent them from dropping out of school by giving them targeted support and services to meet their needs. Fort Worth's New Lives School has been serving pregnant and parenting teens for nearly three decades. It has extended days and offers a day care on site.
Today on star-telegram.com:
First lady plays 'first librarian' during Fort Worth visit to announce grants See a slide show to go with this story here, and watch a video of Laura Bush reading to second-graders here.
First lady Laura Bush stopped in Fort Worth Wednesday to promote reading. She also announced that Kirkpatrick Elementary will receive about $6,000. The money will pay for new library books. The visit left second-grader Marayahaira Retana, 7, giddy. Her eyes were wide as she explained she was so nervous about meeting the First lady. She thought she would throw up. Didn't happen. Instead, Retana learned a lesson from the First lady. "You are supposed to read everyday." Read the entire story here. Find out more about Fort Worth schools here.
(Laura Bush and Kirkpatrick's Marayahaira Retana)
That's what U.S. News and World Report found. More rich families are feeling entitled to financial aid than ever before while the gap for helping poor students continues to grow, according to the publication. And these aren't the highest performing rich kids either. These are B-minus students. Read the story here.
Today on star-telegram.com:
By far the biggest news involves the percentage of eighth-graders who didn't pass the TAKS math exam on their first try this month. Under new state rules, eighth-graders must pass the reading and math exams to be promoted. Those who didn't do so this month have two more chances to take the test and will receive mandatory remedial instruction.
Diane Smith and Martha Deller have the Fort Worth-area results here.
Shirley Jinkins has the Arlington-area results here.
And Katherine Cromer Brock has the results for Northeast Tarrant districts here.
Principal Steven Gast has resigned from Mansfield High School after being placed on administrative 
leave for financial matters. School officials said there was no criminal activity. Gast was placed on leave April 9 while district officials investigated the matter, which revolved around activity funds. Gast, 50, became principal in of Mansfield in 2004. He had previously been principal in Fossil Ridge High School in the Keller school district and at Godley and Brownwood high schools. Gast has not commented on the matter. In a letter to the district, he said he was resigning for personal reasons and for the best interest of the district.
Headaches. Depression. Sleeplessness. All from worrying about getting in to the college of your dreams. The New York Times reports here on the stress high school students endure during college-admissions seasons. Are you a student who's noticed ill effects from the stress of applying? Tell us about it here.
Today the American Federation of Teachers released its report on how strong state standards are. AFT found Texas' math standards to be clearly defined--meaning students knew what they were expected to learn--but that English, science and social studies standards need improvement. Click here for the full report.
Police have arrested a suspended Tampa, Fla., middle school teacher for the third time in six weeks for allegedly having sex with a student. "She's in need of help," a sheriff's department official told the Tampa newspaper.
You think?
More details on our Crime Time blog.
Mansfield High School's One-Act Play group won state this weekend. This is the school's first time making 
it to the state level. They won the competition at the University of Texas' Hogg Memorial Auditorium. Funny thing. The Mansfield school district's auditorium is named Willie Pigg.
