Houston Chronicle's School Zone

Houston ISD Trustee Diana Davila, who told us Wednesday evening that she planned to resign, made it official at the school board meeting today. "It is something that my family and I have been talking about for a while now,"...

HISD Superintendent Terry Grier has hired a new chief officer over high schools to replace David Simmons, who abruptly announced his resignation last month, citing "unforeseen personal circumstances." The new high school chief, Aaron Spence, comes from the same school...

The prestigious YES Prep charter school chain is still recruiting students for a new campus opening this summer at North Forest' Kirby Middle School, 9709 Mesa. After its admissions lottery Friday, about 40 seats remain for sixth- and ninth-graders. Seventh...

The Houston school board voted 7-0 this evening to approve a $1.6 billion spending plan that, as we reported in today's paper, includes modest raises for some teachers. Trustees Harvin Moore and Larry Marshall were absent. Moore is out of...

The Houston Independent School District tried to keep secret the names of the employees accused of violating federal E-rate technology bidding and gift-giving rules. The alleged wrongdoing cost taxpayers an $850,000 settlement with the federal government plus tens of millions...

David Simmons, Houston ISD's chief officer over high schools, officially has resigned, citing "unforeseen personal circumstances," four months after Superintendent Terry Grier hired him for the $165,000-a-year job. Here's the catch: Simmons' official resignation date isn't until Sept. 24, though...

Houston ISD today named Sowmya Kumar as director of the office of special education services, which serves about 21,000 children with special needs and disabilities. Kumar, who has been a special education specialist at the Region 4 Education Service Center...

The Houston school board heard a sobering statistic this morning: Only 15 percent of the school district's ninth-graders had college degrees four years after high school graduation day. This isn't an estimate (UPDATE: It's partly an estimate. See explanation below)....

Pamela Farinas, the principal of Houston ISD's Foerster Elementary, was honored Wednesday night as Principal of the Year for the district's west region. It turns out that was her final hurrah in the state's largest school district. Farinas is headed...

Louis Stoerner, who has served as the superintendent of the 46,000-student Alief Independent School District since 2001, has announced he plans to retire "sometime during the next school year." In an email to Alief staff, he explained: This was probably...

As the Chronicle's education editor, Jason Spencer, noted Monday, Newsweek magazine's list of America's Best High Schools included two schools, Lee and Sharpstown, targeted for reform under HISD Superintendent Terry Grier's "Apollo 20" plan. The news prompted questions about whether...

David Simmons David Simmons, Houston ISD's new chief officer over high schools, is on leave, district spokesman Norm Uhl confirms. Uhl had no other details. HISD Superintendent Terry Grier hired Simmons, who had abruptly resigned from his job as...

Well, here's a head-scratcher. Two of the Houston ISD high schools that Superintendent Terry Grier says are in dire need of major overhauls to rescue kids from almost certain failure are ranked among the nation's elite on Newsweek magazine's latest...

More than 160 teachers in Houston ISD's under-performing middle and high schools weren't offered jobs at those campuses next year, the district announced Friday evening. The decision affects staffing at nine schools targeted in Superintendent Terry Grier's "Apollo 20" reform...

Houston ISD announced today that Jeremy Beard, the principal of a top-rated charter school in the small border town of Donna, will oversee the under-performing middle and high schools targeted by Superintendent Terry Grier's "Apollo 20" reform plan. Beard is...

Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier has eliminated the position of manager of magnet programs. That means Dottie Bonner, who held the job since March 2002, is out. She submitted her letter of resignation effective Aug. 31, according to the district....

UPDATE (8 p.m.): The HISD school board voted 6-1 to amend the CEP contract. The changes cut the cost of the deal but keep the company as a vendor. Trustee Anna Eastman was the "no" vote. Trustees Diana Davila and...

In cased you missed these stories: *I wrote today about the Texas Education Agency reducing the number of questions students had to get right to pass the TAKS this year. TEA officials say it's because the questions were harder. But...

So new research shows that teens may be biologically inclined to make bad decisions and partake in risky behavior. University of Texas at Austin psychologist Russell Poldrack and fellow researchers have taken a major step in identifying which brain...

There's no easy answer, of course, and it depends on how you define "best," but the New Teacher Project, on behalf of the Houston Independent School District, has crunched an interesting sliver of data. The researchers looked at which of...