By KERA News & Wire Services
Dallas, TX –
Eighty percent of Texas schools and districts have met federal improvement standards required by the No Child Left Behind Law.
The Texas Education Agency announced the preliminary results Thursday, noting an improvement from 67 percent last year. The standard, known as "adequate yearly progress," is based on student performance on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, graduation rates and attendance. Schools are required to make gains each year with the goal of having all students proficient in English and math by 2013-14.
The number of Texas schools that met AYP is up this year after the state adopted a new projection measure, which gives schools credit even if students didn't meet the required testing standard.
Authorities investigate why teen booked into jail
Dallas police are investigating why officers booked a 13-year-old girl into the Dallas County Jail.
WFAA-TV in Dallas reports that, although the girl gave authorities a fake name and date of birth, questions have been raised about why police did not verify her identity.
The girl spent nearly two weeks in jail before her true age was discovered, the station reported.
Feds to begin immigration detention makeover
Immigration officials are immediately ending the housing of families at a former prison in central Texas as a first step in transforming immigration detentions from a criminal to a civil system.
The head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, John Morton, says some families from the T. Don Hutto Detention Center in Taylor, Texas, will go to Berks Family Detention Center in Pennsylvania. But he also says decisions about what to do with families will be made on a case-by-case basis.
Morton told reporters Thursday that redesigning immigration detention will take several years but the result will be more accountable and uniform. He says the agency will continue to detain people and do so on a large scale.
Immigration advocates said not detaining families at the Hutto detention center was a good first step. But they say the Berks center also has problems such as the children sleeping in separate rooms from their parents at night. Hutto has held up to 400 people; Berks has 84 beds.
Supreme Court Justice O'Neill won't seek new term
Texas Supreme Court Justice Harriet O'Neill says she won't seek re-election in 2010.
In a statement released by the court, O'Neill says she told Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson of her plan not to seek another term earlier this week. The Republican has been on the court since 1999. The former district and lower appeals court judge says she believes the Texas judicial system is strong.
O'Neill says she doesn't know what her future career plans are. Republicans currently hold all nine seats on the court.
Former coach pleads guilty in pawning case
A former suburban Dallas high school football coach has pleaded guilty to a reduced charge related to pawning school equipment. An attorney for 53-year-old Steve Halpin said Wednesday the former Mesquite High School coach will get two years probation and a $500 fine on a misdemeanor charge of abuse of official capacity after last week's plea.
Halpin was indicted in May on a felony charge of abuse of official capacity involving property valued between $100,000 and $200,000.
Paul Johnson, Halpin's attorney, said the value of the pawned items, including laptops and cameras, didn't warrant a felony charge.
Halpin resigned at Mesquite in 2008 and later quit as president of the state coaches association, citing a gambling problem.