Extra Credit

First graduating class of UNT's Teach North Texas to receive their degrees

 

The first graduates from Teach North Texas will earn their degrees during commencement ceremonies Dec. 18. The program steers students, majoring in math and science, to careers in education. About 200 undergraduate students are enrolled in the program, according to UNT. The program's mission includes improving the quality of math and science education in high schools. Two graduates of the program will be working in Tarrant County classrooms soon _ Andreea Popa will teach at Colleyville Heritage and Matt Wolodzko will teach at Diamond Hill Jarvis.

_Diane Smith

Fort Worth child advocate and civic leader receives honorary Doctorate

Local civic leader Sheila Broderick Johnson recently received an honorary Doctorate of Humanities degree from Texas Wesleyan University. The degree was in recognition of many contributions she has made to the university and the community, according to a press release. Johnson served on the TWU Board of Trustees. She also supported the university through the Amon G. Carter Foundation in several projects, including construction of a psychology building and the establishment of a bilingual education program. Johnson is the daughter of Ruth Carter Stevenson and the granddaughter of Amon G. Carter, Sr.

_Diane Smith

 

 

Fort Worth trustees bicker over gas lease issues

The already strained school board was further divided last night as trustees fought over proposed gas-lease bids.
Some gas-lease bids were pulled in November. Board president Ray Dickerson said at that time that the district was going to take 90 days to review gas lease concerns and “do its homework,” not just for those mineral rights contracts but for lease issues moving forward.
So some were surprised to see 10 mineral rights contracts worth nearly $2.5 million on Tuesday’s agenda. Trustees voted the bids down in a split 5-4 vote, but not after heated words were exchanged.
Trustee Carlos Vasquez said it seemed Tuesday’s bids came before the board only after Dickerson got letters from “big business people that are your friends” urging the district to approve them. He said he wasn’t against the gas lease bids but that the board told the community it would wait and should honor that.
“It troubles me all the way around. … This is playing politics on the backs of our kids and it’s wrong,” Vasquez said.
Dickerson said he took exception to Vasquez comments.
“I don’t have friends in these oil companies,” Dickerson said, noting that had only met representatives as the bids were being brought forward to the district. “It disturbs me that you would jump to that kind of a conclusion and that kind of accusation. I think it’s terribly inappropriate.”
The complicated issue started this fall when XTO sought mineral rights from the district for schools that are within 1,200 feet of existing drill sites. The district does not have any authority over where gas companies place wells. That lies with the city, which requires such sites to be at least 600 feet of schools.
But the district’s own policy says it will not enter into a contract with gas companies for mineral rights if a company’s drill site is within 1,200 feet of district property. XTO asked for a waiver for leases that were related to gas sites in south Fort Worth within that distance of schools, one near Wilson Elementary and one near Daggett Montessori.
Dickerson said gas-lease bids were put on the agenda this month after new information came to light, including that XTO pulled the bids for those within the 1,200 distance and after concerns that the district could lose out on much-needed money if it passed on the bids now.
Trustee Ann Sutherland questioned whether some trustees really were concerned about children’s safety if they voted for the leases before additional review could be done and until the city’s air quality test is done.  “You do not know if this is safe for kids, and you aren’t going to know until these tests are done,” Sutherland said. “Let’s not try to pretend that we care about kids and then vote for the thing because you’re just blowing smoke.”
Other trustees said they felt confident that the gas leases were safe for children and that the district needed to do its diligence to secure financial dealings. Trustee Judy Needham added that she supported the bids as the money could staff an entire school, help keep the Center for New Lives school for pregnant girls open (which was at risk of closing this summer) or almost fund a 1 percent raise for employees.
As it seemed the bids would be denied, Dickerson asked trustees to make sure they voted as they intended to do so.
Trustee Juan Rangel had been working with local university experts to review gas drilling issues and pushed to keep the moratorium. He attempted to formalize a 60-day waiting period after the contracts were denied, which led to more arguing among board. Dickerson ended up instructing staff to not rebid the gas leases for at least 60 days.
Then after the meeting, Sutherland and Needham seemed to be in a heated discussion when Needham yelled across the board room to Sutherland, “You don’t know everything.”

-Eva-Marie Ayala

Nothing like a good dance off in Fort Worth

This week the Fort Worth school district had its Dancing Classrooms Colors of the Rainbow Semi-Finals  Match in which 30 student couples from elementary schools competed. Click here for the gallery of pics.

The students -- from Sunrise, W.M. Green, Washington Heights, North Hi Mount and Nash elementary schools -- take dance lessons during their P.E. classes. District officials said research conducted by the University of Texas at Arlington at HEB and Fort Worth schools participating last year showed that the dance classes had significant impact on students’ social awareness, including optimism and self confidence and social support.

The Dancing Classrooms project began in New York public schools and was brought to the area in 2006. Students learn ballroom dancing that includes the merengue, tango, foxtrot, rumba, and swing.

-Eva-Marie Ayala

 

Mansfield ISD students get their Glee on

So you know how when you're watching Glee and you wish real life was like that where everyone would suddenly burst into song? Um, okay ... so maybe that's just me. Well, the Mansfield Summit High School choir in southeast Arlington surprised their classmates recently with a lunchtime performance.

 



-Eva-Marie Ayala

UT student travels to Washington, D.C. to support DREAM Act

Him Ranjit is on a mission to help get the DREAM Act passed. That mission took him from Austin to Washington, D.C. this week. Ranjit, a 19-year-old student from The University of Texas at Austin, was among about 70 to 80 college students lobbying for the law.

“I’m here because this is obviously more important than the finals,” he said in a telephone interview with the Star-Telegram. “We were lobbying all day yesterday.”

Ranjit, who was born in Nepal and raised in Euless, wants to gain legal status under the DREAM Act. He participated in a hunger strike for 10 days to gain more support for his cause.

He had to put off studying for finals for a few days so he could meet with lawmakers. He was able to meet with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison Thursday during a coffee and greet session, but said he wasn't sure how she will vote.

Ranjit is part of United We Dream, a national network for advocates of the act. Many participants  describe themselves as Dreamers, young immigrants who feel they belong in this country more than their birthplaces.

“For us, this is the country we call home,” Ranjit said, adding that they want to be recognized and they want to give back through military service or jobs.

 “We would love to give back  _even by paying taxes,” he said. “I know a lot people take that for granted, but we don’t.”

On Friday, he returns to Austin to study for finals in physics and biomedical engineering.

 _ Diane Smith

Texas bill would allow parents time off for special education meetings

Here's an interesting education bill filed this week. Rep. Sylvester Turner's bill would allow custodial parents of a student in a special education program up to 10 hours of leave time a year to meet with school officials.

Children in special education programs tend to have a series of meetings throughout the year, as required by law. Parents, teachers and other officials must meet periodically to discuss a child's individual education plan and to review the services provided to the student.

-Eva-Marie Ayala

Will local grad win on tonight's Apprentice?

Tonight we find out if Clint Robertson is the big winner on The Apprentice. Many local schools have bragging rights to Robertson, 40. He was Castleberry High School's valedictorian in 1988. He then earned his bachelor's at Texas Christian University and a law degree from Southern Methodist University. Robertson is real estate attorney and property developer who owns Stewart Title in Willow Park. We'll see what The Donald thinks of Robertson's skills tonight.

-Eva-Marie Ayala

New system rates schools on finances, academic progress

Today State comptroller Susan Combs revealed a new financial rating of Texas schools today that grades districts on how well they spend money compared to student performance.
The new Financial Allocation Study for Texas, or FAST, report examines how schools are using their dollars and highlights "smart practices" districts are using to maximize their resources.
“If you are doing a bang-up job in academic improvement and low spending, you are the best of the best,” said Comptroller Susan Combs, who unveiled the report at the University of Texas at Dallas.
Only 43 of the 1,235 districts and charter schools examined earned the top 5-star rating, including the Keller school district and local charter schools Arlington Classics Academy and the Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts.
However, the Fort Worth school district scored toward the end of the scale at 1.5 stars.
Combs urged districts to collaborate with each other or even other entities to copy or create smart practices that save money.
For example, she highlighted a new Cedar Hill school district building that is shared with the town’s police department, which saved both agencies significant dollars. San Angelo saves about $100,000 a year by buying fuel through a coop.
The 2009 Legislature required the comptroller’s office to develop a way to determine how well districts were spending money compared to how well their students performed.
Each campus and district were rated based on how well students performed on math and reading tests from year to year, whether it was a "very low" to "very high" spending district and compared to peer districts of similar size and student makeup.

The report looked at spending levels from the 1998-99 school year to 2008-09. It found that while student enrollment in public schools grew about 20 percent, per-pupil spending grew by 63 percent.
It also found that growth in school administer positions out paced the growth of teachers in that time.
For more information on districts and individual schools, visit the report’s site at www.fastexas.org.

-Eva-Marie Ayala

NASA funded show premiers at UT Arlington planetarium

The Planetarium at The University of Texas at Arlington is using NASA funding to document interaction between the Sun and the Earth in the film, "Magnificent Sun." The 45-minute show was developed by Manfred Cuntz, a UT Arlington associate professor of physics and the planetarium staff. A $30,000 grant from NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Physics program funded the effort. Cuntz's research, conducted with solar physicist David Hathaway of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, focuses on the structure of the solar surface.

The premier is set for Thursday at 6 p.m. It is free and open to the public, but space is limited, according to a UT Arlington press release. The show will appear in the planetarium's regular schedule in Spring 2011.

_Diane Smith