Houston, TX

House Bill 1, which the governor signed into law in May of 2006, included a provision that denied any waivers for an early school start date and established that school may not begin before the fourth Monday in August.

This provision, which takes effect this month, is a compromise. Senator Eddie Lucio (D-Brownsville) has been working for more than a decade to reinstate the traditional school year, which was repealed in 1990. The traditional school year would always begin after Labor Day.

Proponents of the traditional school year movement say that the majority of Texans prefer a traditional school year. They also claim that a traditional school year decreases operating costs for school, doesn’t negatively affect student performance and achievement, positively benefits the entertainment and travel industry, and helps children of migrant workers miss less school.

Some teachers I spoke with were less enthusiastic. Although they heard the theory behind the movement, they felt it didn’t apply in actuality.

“The longer the break, the longer the student readjustment to school and school schedule,” one teacher, who preferred to remain anonymous, told me.

“If the long break is supposed to benefit teachers to prevent attrition and burn-out, that’s interesting since I’ve been working all summer as a teacher, not in a second job, and am starting school tired already,” said another.

“I worked in a school district that was closer to year-round,” the first teacher said, “We found that teaching new material, then taking a short break, then returning for review and testing was a very successful teaching method. Kids don’t retain it across three months, though. We also found that the tutoring sessions worked better for improved performance over summer school sessions.”

“I prefer a consistent start date,” said one mother, who is also a teacher, “I work in one school district and my children attend school in another. For a while, we had to deal with two different times school started. That gets complicated.”

This difference in opinion is reflected in the membership of the Texas State Teachers Association (TSTA), “Members held different opinions, so the association did not take a position on the school start date issue at this time,” explained Joe Bean of TSTA.

However, two education groups did oppose the mandatory school start time in House Bill 1: Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) and the Association of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE). Adam Rondeau of ATPE said, “ATPE opposed the legislation because individual school districts are best suited for determining when school should start based on local need.”

Why, then, did the state feel a need to mandate a state-wide start date?

Supporter Senator Lucio explains, “School Districts retain flexibility on: School start and end dates, when to set semesters, when to set holidays and vacations, when to set staff development/in-service days. The state sets the number of classroom instruction days, classroom size, the zero tolerance policy, bilingual programs, the TAKS test, and hundreds of other mandates. Why would any of these mandates be acceptable to this body in spite of local control, but setting a school start date would not? And my mandate doesn’t even fall under the category of an unfunded mandate.”

Other supporters cite consistency as their main consideration, “It provides consistency and predictability to children who are moved within the state, state to state and who have parents serving 2 and 3 tours in Iraq,” states information from the supporting position by The Military Child Education Coalition.

Senator Lucio concurs with the consistency and predictability factor, among others. Doris Sanchez, Press Secretary for Senator Lucio, wrote, “The Senator’s main concerns for introducing a later start date were to give families more summer time and to give migrant students an opportunity to start the beginning of school closer to their peers’ starting times. They often return from working up north in September and miss many weeks of school. Energy costs were certainly a factor. Research on air quality was not conclusive, but certainly a factor since the highest ozone days are usually in the summer and adding more buses and cars to the traffic could potentially increase the ozone.”

The data supports both sides of the discussion since most of the supporting information is projection and theory. Nevertheless, the data was compelling enough to gain both Democrat and Republican support. Therefore, school will begin on August 27, 2007, the fourth Monday in August. This provided a lengthy summer, but many parents—such as those whose summer included travel plans—didn’t mind.

“We loved being able to spend six weeks out of state with family. I can’t believe it’s time for school already,” said a stay at home mother.

Senator Lucio’s office agrees and also endorsed the bill to assist working parents, “Families find it easier and less costly to find childcare in block periods as opposed to one- or two-day increments throughout the year. Longer summers provide more opportunities to visit with extended family members who pass down traditions and family values.”

Texas schools collectively remain in the bottom half of the nation’s rankings for proficiency and achievement. Proponents of the traditional school year maintain that the schools in the top percent of rankings begin later, in late August or September, and suggest that a later date can improve performance, although the two pieces of information are not definitely linked.

Because the start date is now law, all groups will follow it. The only allowed exception to the rule is in Section 25.084, which provides an exception for a year-round system.

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The 2007-2008 school year begins in one week for Texas students. Will they return to find the same school experience they left last year? Yes…and no. In honor of the last week of summer and the start of school, this week I’ll focus on education. Today, I’ll provide a quick overview of a few topics that have brought changes to public school this year.

* House Bill 1 is a comprehensive bill that affects, among many other things, the school calendar. HB 1 incorporates elements of a movement for a “traditional” school year. Although this movement prefers a school start date after Labor Day, the compromise in HB 1 stipulates that schools in Texas may not begin before the fourth Monday in August. Students are required to be in school for 180 days each school year. On the horizon is legislation that puts an end date requirement (no school past first week of June) on the school calendar, creating a strict bracket for beginning and ending the school year. What does this mean for the school calendar, students, parents and teachers? I’ll provide more details about HB 1 and the school schedule in a future column, so check back.

* House Bill 1034 (authored by Representative Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball) alters the Texas State Pledge of Allegiance. The new pledge now includes the words, “one state under God,” and is effective September 1, 2007. There is not currently a legal challenge to this, although the challenge to the moment of silence is still active in the Federal District Courts. State Representative Bill Zedler (R-Arlington), who co-authored HB 1034 said, “This new legislation is a great victory for religious freedom in Texas.”

* Senate Bill 1031 ended TAKS test as graduation requirement. According to Representative Mike O’Day’s policy brief, “A random survey by one teacher’s organization found that more than three out of four teachers believe the TAKS does not accurately measure a student’s academic level and is turning students into test takers rather than critical thinkers.” In response to this overwhelming concern by teachers, the 80th legislature voted to replace the TAKS test as a graduation requirement with end of course exams instead. Supporters explained that these exams are a better measure of progress because they are more in line with the material students actually learned in the classroom, and thus are a more accurate indicator of graduation and continuing education readiness.

* House Bill 2237 established

House Bill 2237 creates the High School Completion and Success Initiative Board to develop a strategic plan that coordinates public and private high school improvement initiatives. For college students, the Texas Tomorrow Fund has been re-established this session. This is a pre-paid tuition program for Texas families to save for college education. Under this plan, families will be able to lock in current rates for tuition and required fees for their children’s future higher education needs. This program will give parents more certainty about the cost of their child’s education. Also appropriated in this session’s budget is an additional $146 million in college financial aid, to assist our children’s ability to gain access to the top tier colleges in Texas.

Tomorrow, more information about House Bill 1 and the movement for a traditional school year, with details about how this affects the average Texan.

On Tuesday, August 14, 2007 the National Weather Service upgraded Dean to a Tropical Storm. As of Tuesday evening, the storm was moving in a northwesterly direction towards Puerto Rico.

So what does this mean for Houston?

With so many variable conditions contributing to storm path, it’s nearly impossible to predict. However, sea surface temperatures, pressure and wind patterns and so forth are all favorable for supporting storms, and even allowing them to escalate to hurricanes.

In fact, just last week National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center issued an updated 2007 Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook. They are not only holding to their predictions to expect above-normal severe storm to hurricane activity, but they’ve predicted an even more dire season than they originally did in May

The outlook calls for an even higher probability of an above-normal season than was predicted in May (75%), and reiterates the expectation for a sharp increase in activity from the near-normal season observed last year. The 2007 season is expected to become the tenth above-normal season since the current active hurricane era began twelve years ago (in 1995). See NOAA’s definitions of above-, near-, and below-normal seasons.

The 2007 outlook calls for a likely range of 13-16 named storms, 7-9 hurricanes, and 3-5 major hurricanes. The likely range of the ACE index is 140%-200% of the median. These ranges are slightly tighter than those predicted in May (13-17 named storms, 7-10 hurricanes, 3-5 major hurricanes, and an ACE range of 125%-210%). The tighter ranges reflect not only an increased confidence for an above normal season, but also a reduced likelihood of seeing as many as 10 hurricanes and 17 named storms.

Currently, there is a system in the Gulf that is the first bit of concern for Houston in this year’s hurricane season

SATELLITE IMAGES AND SURFACE DATA INDICATE THAT THE AREA OF LOW PRESSURE IN THE SOUTH CENTRAL GULF OF MEXICO IS GRADUALLY BECOMING BETTER ORGANIZED AND A TROPICAL DEPRESSION COULD BE FORMING. A RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT IS SCHEDULED TO CHECK THE AREA THIS
AFTERNOON. THIS SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO MOVE TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST OR NORTHWEST AT 10 TO 15 MPH.

In other words, if you live in Houston (or anywhere along the Southern Texas and Northeastern Mexico Coastal areas) pay close attention to the weather in the coming days. In case this system does continue to organize, conditions are ripe for it to turn into a hurricane just beneath the strength of Rita. Be prepared to close up shop and evacuate if you live in an evacuation zone. (For information about hurricane preparedness, read this.)

Note: And to those of you who don’t live in evacuation zones? A kind request from those of us who do: please remember the evacuation rules (only those in designated zones—which were updated in May 2007 so check this PDF link to a zip code map—should evacuate, and in their zone order) and the hurricane rule of thumb—run from water, hide from wind. Let’s not make this as horrific as Rita.

At a minimum, expect rain Wednesday and Thursday.

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The financial markets were in turmoil last week, and the experts blame the credit-ratings firms and subprime lending practices of mortgage lending companies.

Robert Siegel of NPR interviewed Bethany McLean, Editor-at-Large for Fortune magazine, on Monday. Local NPR-affiliate KUHF carried the story about credit-ratings firms and how their “ratings for hire” and amortization of high-risk ventures across stable lending have created a mortgage-backed security monster.

McLean detailed the dangers of investing in subprime debt—which is lending money to people with poor credit ratings and history—and explained how credit-rating firms are involved in the subprime-lending crisis to Siegel. She also detailed this in an article for Fortune magazine in April.

Because ratings firms graded—through complicated recombinations of debt—subprime debt as investment-worthy, people who simply took these trusted agencies at their words invested heavily.

Unfortunately, now, trust in ratings has decreased. This has created some market instability and puts many who invested at risk for major losses if the housing market continues to slide.

McLean explains

All this has real-world implications. If the rating agencies do downgrade some of this paper, investors who can’t own non-investment-grade debt would be forced to sell in droves. The losses could affect the bottom line of an untold number of companies, including insurers and possibly even mutual funds.

And if CDOs stop purchasing mortgage paper, then a major source of liquidity will evaporate. That tightening of credit could affect the demand for homes, thereby turning the virtuous circle of recent years into a vicious one of falling home prices. That, say Rosner and Mason, creates the “potential for prolonged economic difficulties that also interfere with home ownership in the U.S.” And who will take credit for that?

In July, new home sales fell 6.6 percent for a grand total of a 22 percent drop from last year (25% in Houston). In Houston, although pricey homes are still selling briskly, homes in the $80,000 to $130,000 price are most affected.

This drop is directly related to tighter mortgage lending standards, with a dramatic decrease in subprime lending, and a large number of defaults on subprime mortgages.

Subprime lending hit a record high of $1.3 trillion, taking advantage of the good interest rates and people’s desire to buy into the housing market for the first time. Now that this bubble has popped, it’s starter and first time home buyers most affected.

Lawmakers are on their usual August hiatus, but when they return, Democrats say they plan to push for stricter control on the practice of subprime lending to protect consumers, investors and the market from recent volatility

House Democrats say stricter lending requirements will not only help consumers but also could provide some future protections for investors in the market for mortgage securities. The market has experienced upheaval as a result of a surge in defaults among borrowers with weak, or subprime, credit.

“We’ve been told by some that if we do this, we’ll ruin the market,” said Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, who plans to introduce a predatory lending bill in September or October. “I think that, if we do this right, we could help the market.”

With slumping sales of starter and existing homes locally, last week’s market volatility, and distrust of ratings due to credit-rating agencies practice of selling good ratings to high bidders, perhaps Democrats are right. Currently the economy is strong, and one piece of evidence of this is the brisk sales of upscale homes. Perhaps the Democrats are wrong to meddle in the market. Is the lending and investment practice “broken” and does it need fixing, as the Democrats say? Or not?

What do you think?

subprime lending, subprime investing, financial market, housing market, Houston housing market, financial market volatility, subprime-lending crisis

Each year the city of Pasadena—Southeast Houston area—hosts an awards picnic to celebrate community building and spirit. With hundreds of attendees enjoying the many activities, the Pasadena fairgrounds were packed with happy people on August 11, 2007 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

In the air-conditioned Campbell Hall, attendees enjoyed life-sized chess, hot dog and watermelon eating contests, an appearance by SpiderMan, dance contest, and excellent buffet lines with choices among barbecue, catfish, and kids’ favorites. Kids and adults alike also enjoyed making wax hands and getting their faces painted. Clowns made fun-shaped balloons, as well. The Rodeo arena featured a four way super trampoline, multiple bouncy houses, a super slide and an Orbitron.

The free event for Pasadena residents also awarded Pasadena neighbors and neighborhoods for outstanding community service. The City of Pasadena’s Neighborhood Network Division (a part of the Pasadena Police Department) assists citizens in forming neighborhood or homeowners organizations as well as in helping current organizations to continue to improve the quality of life within their neighborhoods. The program also offers residents of Pasadena grant money for community improvements.

The program explains why it exists to support residents

The goal of the Neighborhood Network Division is to empower the citizens of Pasadena through funding initiatives, education, recreation and social events to work with their neighbors to improve the quality of life in their neighborhoods. A well organized neighborhood or homeowners association can work with the residents within their neighborhood to address such issues as crime, social activities, recreation, land use issues, deed restriction compliance, code enforcement, landscaping and beautification, emergency preparedness and civic leadership, just to name a few.”

To learn more about the Neighborhood Network Division or how to create a neighborhood organization, contact Karen Hollon, Program Manager (pictured above) by telephone 713-477-2695 or email khollon@ci.pasadena.tx.us.

Community building is an important part of the Houston-area spirit. Bringing together residents and supporting resident efforts to improve quality of life is a crucial civic duty.

What activities, events, or programs does your community offer?

community, community spirit, community building, Pasadena+Texas, Neighborhood Network

As you expect here in Houston—where there’s always something fun for every interest and age group—there’s a lot of exciting events this weekend!

Now…for the great things to do. This is by no means everything, but it’s a few things that begin this weekend, are ending this weekend or soon, or are hot right now. If you know of any good events, please leave a comment with the information.

Check back later for a guide to the best burger joints around Houston!

Visual Arts Events

Buffalo Soldiers—Starts 8/11 at Buffalo Soldiers National Museum
1834 Southmore Blvd
Houston, TX 77004-5947
Phone: (713) 942-8920
Hours: Mon-Fri 10am-5:30pm, Sat 10am-4pm
Take a trip back in time and learn about the brave Buffalo Soldiers—an African-American troop formed in 1866 by the U.S. Army—through artifacts, videos, prints and other pieces of history.

Current Exhibits at Museum of Fine Arts Houston
1001 Bissonnet
Houston, TX 77005
Phone: (713) 639-7300
Hours: Tue-Wed 10am-5pm, Thu 10am-9pm, Fri-Sat 10am-7pm, Sun 12:15pm-7pm

Catch these soon because they end soon!

The Great Wall of China: Photographs by Chen Changfen
Through August 12, 2007
At the Audrey Jones Beck Building

Building Foundations: Ima Hogg and Bayou Bend in the 1920s
Through August 12, 2007
At the Caroline Wiess Law Building

Brett Weston: Natural Abstractions
Through September 3, 2007
At the Audrey Jones Beck Building

Performing Arts Events

Stargazer’s Guide—Starts 8/11 at Burke Baker Planetarium
One Hermann Circle Dr.
Houston, TX 77030
Phone: (713) 639-4629
Hours: Mon-Fri 12pm-3pm, Sat-Sun 12pm-5pm
The NASA-funded planetarium offers state of the art technology to provide you with an experience almost as real as being in space yourself! Watch real time images from the Hubble Space Telescope and see additional special effects of planets and more.

Romeo & Juliet—Starts 8/11, Ends 8/11 at Miller Theatre, 8:30 p.m.
Miller Theater, In Hermann Park, 100 Concert Drive
Phone: (281) FREEFUN
Web site: www.milleroutdoortheatre.com

Musical Events

Faye Robinson and The Mid City Players—starts 8/11-8/17 at Sammy’s at 2016 Main, includes Funk, Soul & R&B
2016 Main St
Houston, TX 77002
Phone: (713) 751-3101
Cross Street: Gray Street
Specialties: Dance Club, Live Music Venue
Hours: Wed-Sat 8pm-2am

Food and Fun Events

The Main Event—8/11-2/8 at Downtown Main Street, includes Community, Food & Wine
Come enjoy this car-free area of downtown. Sample food, wine, enjoy art and crafts sold by artisans, and listen to the strolling musicians.

Coming events!

Diva Row—Starts 8/13-2/11 at The Magnolia Hotel, includes Jazz and Blues music

Grady Gaines—Starts 8/15-2/6 at Sammy’s at 2016 Main, includes Funk, Soul & R&B

The Amazing Astronomers of Ancient Rome—Starts 8/16 at Burke Baker Planetarium

Rock the Dock—Starts 8/16-8/30 at Kemah Boardwalk, includes Funk, Soul & R&B

Fried Ice Cream—Starts 8/24 at Sammy’s at 2016 Main, includes Funk, Soul & R&B

Starry Night Express—Starts 9/1-9/2 at Burke Baker Planetarium

Texas Renaissance Festival—Starts 10/6

For more events: City of Houston

Houston, events in Houston, Houston events, Houston fun, what to do in Houston

If I had $300 dollars I would buy________.

What would you buy with $300? Or even $200 or $100? Now is your chance to find out! Comment on any 451 Press site during the month of August and you could win! Three comments will be chosen at random to win a cash prize of $300, $200 or $100. The more you comment the more chances you have to win. So start reading and let those fingers fly.

If I had $300 dollars I would buy________.

What would you buy with $300? Or even $200 or $100? Now is your chance to find out! Comment on any 451 Press site during the month of August and you could win! Three comments will be chosen at random to win a cash prize of $300, $200 or $100. The more you comment the more chances you have to win. So start reading and let those fingers fly.

This site is currently in need of a blogger. If you have any interest in writing about Houston, TX, feel free to submit an application at 451 Press.

Thank you

Blogger Needed, 451 Press, Houston TX

This site is currently in need of a writer. If you have any interest in writing on the topic this site covers, feel free to submit an application at 451 Press. Thank you.

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Hello there! Thanks for stopping by to check out the new, “About Houston” blog on 451 Press. My good friend, Dee at Tot TV Watch, convinced me that having one blog wasn’t nearly enough for someone that spends on the upswing of 10 hours a day on the internet, in front of a computer.

I moved to Houston in February 2005 when I was four months pregnant with my son, Zachary. I lived with my parents in a suburban community in southeast Houston and worked all the way up until 5 days before Zac was born on July 8, 2005. I had always intended to move to a cooler climate where people wear socks and Birkenstocks with fleece jackets and carry reusable travel mugs filled with fair trade coffee or organic chai tea after Zac’s birth, but somehow Houston sucked me in. Maybe it was the cheap cost of living or the ability to wear shorts in January. Whatever the reason, I’m here to stay for the time being.

I’m hoping to explore parts of Houston with this blog through reviews on local restaurants, bars, museums, parks and quite possibly some of the 20+ daycare centers that I was forced to tour recently. Of course, there will be the prerequisite rants on Houston traffic and culture. I personally love living in a town where women will try to talk to you in a public restroom, while simultaneously peeing and talking on their cell phone. You can’t find that kind of friendliness or lack of concern about basic hygiene in many other major metropolitan cities.

That’s Houston to me - the only city I’ve ever lived in that I can simultaneously love and hate at the same time.

Houston, Culture, Restaurants, Bars, Museums, Daycares

Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund

April 16, 2007, will be remembered as one of the darkest days in the history of the Virginia Tech community and the world beyond.

To remember and honor the victims of those tragic events, the university has established the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund to aid in the healing process and generate financial support.

The fund will be used to cover expenses including but not limited to:

• Grief counseling
• Memorials
• Communication expenses
• Comfort expenses
• Incidental needs

If you plan to give, please click the link below: