Houston Chronicle

University's ban reversed in the face of unified opposition by student body
AUSTIN — Faced with the biggest freedom of speech issue to hit campus in a long time, the University of Texas at Austin backed down from a threat barring two students from classes next semester for failing to take down a political poster displayed on their dorm window.

AUSTIN — The state's education boss is warning school superintendents that pizza parties, field trips and other rewards for students who pass the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills may violate education privacy laws by inadvertently outing students who fail.

In a move that must have been calculated more toward avoiding hassles with educators than to promoting the best interests of students, Houston school trustees voted last week to let pupils skip the days that Hurricane Ike forced them to miss. The employees might like it, but the kids will be worse off for it.

GALVESTON — Parents and children walked past piles of storm debris to Rosenberg Elementary School on Tuesday morning, the first day of classes since Hurricane Ike smacked this island city more than three weeks ago.

There's a growing number of reported attempts to abduct children as they wait at bus stops or walk to schools in the Houston area. Yet, no central clearinghouse is keeping count or tracking the incidents, which often — but not always — end in children escaping unharmed.

Many Houston-area students will forgo field trips and spend less time rehearsing for Thanksgiving programs this year to make up class time lost to Hurricane Ike.

The Houston school board on Tuesday allowed Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra's contract to extend through 2009, giving a nod of approval to the sometimes divisive chief.

But a decision to oust Abelardo Saavedra could come at Tuesday's board meeting.

COLLEGE STATION — The president of Texas A&M University on Friday outlined a five-point plan to push the school into the top of the nation's ranks, starting with a promise to cover all tuition costs for any Texas resident admitted to the College Station campus whose family earns less than $60,000 a year

Challenge will be to get teens back into school despite jobs, family duties
On a sunny day sandwiched between the threat of Hurricane Gustav and the pounding of Hurricane Ike, hundreds of volunteers swept through Houston's neighborhoods in search of potential high school dropouts.

AUSTIN — Several state Board of Education members are encouraging public school districts to use a particular Bible curriculum that some experts predict will land them in court if they do.

The Galveston school district is spending about $1 million a day to clean, repair and dehumidify campuses in hopes of welcoming back students in early October.

Shaken students, educators getting back in classrooms
Seventeen-year-old Ileana Cerda may have physically returned to school Tuesday, but her mind remained with her family, who watched Hurricane Ike rip off the roof of their apartment last week. With little money and ruined belongings, the KIPP Houston High School senior isn't sure where her family will live next week. Still, Cerda is trying to remain optimistic.

There's much work to be done if you're college-bound
School is closed indefinitely. This is the message that was posted on my school district's Web site a week after Hurricane Ike hit Galveston dead on, wreaking havoc in the daily lives of Houstonians.

DALLAS — U.S. District Judge Barefoot Sanders, who presided over more than two decades of litigation to desegregate Dallas schools, died Sunday. He was 83.