Free Republic

They passed their TAKS exit exams and collected their high school diplomas – yet a troubling number of Texas students struggle their first year in college. At some North Texas high schools, half or more of graduates who go to college earn less than a C average their first year, based on a Dallas Morning News analysis of state data. < snip > ...Some changes ahead: The state will replace TAKS tests with more rigorous end-of-course exams starting with freshmen in 2011-12. Students also now need four years of math and science to graduate, which means they can't blow off...

As many as a third of this weekend’s convention delegates, based on voice votes, seemed to be willing to walk away from the denomination now. But Bishop Stanton asked his more conservative churches to stay with the diocese in spite of the national church. “Separation is never a strategy,” he said in a speech. “Those who depart the church are not, I think, fulfilling Christ’s call but are fulfilling the expectations the world has about the church, that we cannot really get along,” he said. Bishop Stanton is a leader in the conservative Anglican Communion Network and shares the opinions...

AUSTIN -- Faced with the prospect of a court-ordered shutdown of public schools in a gubernatorial election year, lawmakers on Monday completed their task of overhauling the way Texas finances its education system. On the 29th day of the 30-day special legislative session, the final pieces of the school finance puzzle were sent to the governor's desk, where they are expected to be signed into law. The Legislature adjourned for good around 5 p.m. Gov. Rick Perry, who failed in five previous attempts to address the thorny issue of school finance, said success this time could be attributed to his...

They'll be serving champagne cocktails and scrambled eggs at the Petroleum Club, offering a 40th-floor view when the Landmark Tower implodes Saturday morning and removes a deteriorating eyesore from the Fort Worth skyline. Courtyard by Marriott, itself a rehabilitated downtown building near the Landmark, has been renting rooms with a view to people -- mainly curious North Texans -- who want a firsthand glimpse of this footnote to urban history on Houston Street between Sixth and Seventh. One hotel guest is an implosion enthusiast who's traveling from Arizona to watch the tallest Texas structure ever demolished. Courtyard guests have booked...

The tinderbox that is North Texas erupted Tuesday into wind-blown grass fires that torched homes in Tarrant and Hood counties and blackened thousands of acres across the region. In Hood County, flames destroyed 20 to 30 homes, displacing 50 to 75 people, officials said. Five homes in Arlington and three in Kennedale were seriously damaged or destroyed, officials said. Near Gainesville, a woman died trying to protect a home from fire, authorities said. "I can't tell you how fast these fires have ignited," said Traci Weaver, a spokeswoman for the Texas Forest Service. "It's just crazy." Gov. Rick Perry issued...