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Investing in the young
July, 7, 2008
by Rebecca Rimel and Robert Dugger
Washington Times
Joanna Selena was born five days after the building that would have been her first home burned to the ground.
Her Parents lost almost everything they owned in the five-alarm fire that ravaged Mount Pleasant in late March. So business, community and city leaders joined forces to make sure Joanna's basic needs were met during her vulnerable first weeks. The neighborhood organized a baby shower, catered by local restaurants and hosted by the owner's of Pfeiffer's Hardware.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jul/07/investing-in-the-young/
 

Texans: Start making yourselves heard
July 2, 2008
by Jason Sabo
Special to the Express-News
All across Texas, families and communities are preparing to celebrate the most American of holidays - Independence Day. The Fourth of July this year has a special meaning as the presidential election has created unprecedented enthusiasm across the political spectrum
http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/stories/MYSA.070308.OPED.sabocomment.1894d5db.html
 

Special-education students more likely to face disciplinary action
One mother had years of meetings, problems involving her daughter
June 22, 2008
by Terry Webster
Star-Telegram
Behavior problems for Germecia Thomas began in first grade
She knocked pictures off a classroom wall, broke a clock, locked herself in a bathroom and ran away from her teachers as Souder Elementary School in Everman.

http://www.star-telegram.com
 

Report card on kids' healthcare gives Texas an F
May 28, 2008
by Maria M. Perotin
Star-Telegram staff writer
With a fifth of Texas children going without health insurance, the state's child health system ranks among the nation's worst.
http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/667353.html
 

Lead exposure in children linked to violent crime
May 28, 2008
byThomas H. Maugh II and Marla Cone
Los Angeles Times staff writers
A study finds that even low levels can permanently damage the brain. The research also shows that exposure is a continuing problem despite efforts to minimize it.
The first study to follow lead-exposed children from before birth into adulthood has shown that even relatively low levels of lead permanently damage the brain and are linked to higher numbers of arrests, particularly for violent crime.

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-lead28-2008may28,0,6207472.story
 

Patient Voices: A.D.H.D.
May 21, 2008
by Karen Barrow
The New York Times
The challenges faced by those with A.D.H.D. -- weighing the decision to take stimulant medication, facing those who doubt your disorder and adapting to your symptoms -- are daunting and deeply personal. Here, in their own words, are the stories of adults and children coping with A.D.H.D.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/05/21/health/healthguide/TE_ADHD_CLIPS.html?th&emc=th
 

Food stamp recipients pinched by high food prices
May 19, 2008
by Don Babwin
Associated Press Writer
Chicago -- Danielle Brown stands outside a South Side market at midnight, braving the spring chill for her first chance to buy groceries since her food stamps ran out nearly two weeks ago.
For days, Brown said, she has been turning cans of "whatever we go in the cabinet" into breakfast, lunch and dinner for her children, ages 1 and 3.

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/shared-gen/ap/National/Scrambling_for_Food.html
 

Project aims to give low-income Dallas toddlers an educational boost
May 19, 2008
by Staci Hupp
The Dallas Morning News
Preschool is moving to the potty-training set.
Toddlers are shaping up to be the next generation of preschoolers, a pattern fueled by fears that poor children aren't ready to learn when their first school bell rings.

http://www.txcn.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/tv/stories/DN-learningtotschart_19met.ART.State.Edition1.462c547.html
 

City, state take aim at Bexar's high teen pregnancy rate
May 8, 2008
by Michelle De La Rosa
Express Newsr
City and state officials on Wednesday -- National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy -- announced their intentions to come up with a comprehensive plan to combat Bexar County's persistently high teen birth rate
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA050808.Teenpregnancy.EN.3c9bd77.html
 

Survey of youths in custody finds half have mental health problems
May 8, 2008
by Sarah Viren
Houston Chronicle
Nearly 3,500 juveniles at the county detention center were tested.
Nearly half of the youths locked up in the Harris County Juvenile Detention Center suffer from mental health problems -- far more than the estimated 20 percent with mental disorders in the general youth population -- figures released Thursday show.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5766286.html
 

Forget Teacher Education Level, Pre-K Students Benefit Most When Teachers are Supportive
May 15, 2008
Science Daily
States are investing considerable amounts of money in pre-kindergarten programs for 4-year-olds. A new study finds that the quality of interactions between teachers and children plays a key role in accounting for gains in children's development when compared to typical quality indicators such as teachers' educatiohn, class size, and child-to-teacher ratio.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080515073026.htm
 

Private firms cleared to help Texans applying for food stamps
Provision was a response to Texas struggles with contractors.
May 6, 2008
by Jason Embry
American Statesman Staff
Washington -- A move in congress to limit the role of private firms in doling out food stamps is dead for now, allowing Texas to move forward with its privatization plans.
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/05/06/0506foodstamps.html
 

Study: Restaurant tobacco bans influence teen smoking
May 6, 2008
by Steve LeBlanc
Associated Press
Boston -- A Massachusetts study suggests that restaurant smoking bans might play a big role in persuading teens not to become smokers.
Youths who lived in towns with strict bans were 40 percent less likely to become regular smokers than those in communities with no bans or weak ones, the researchers reported in the May issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/nation/05/06/0506smokingstudy.html
 

Texas health, environmental groups will unveil asthma-fighting plan
May 5, 2008
San Antonio Business Journal
Texans spent more than $1.3 billion diagnosing children and adults with asthma from 2000 to 2005, according to figures released Monday by the Asthma Coalition of Texas.
The dollar figure represents total charges for inpatient hospital admissions for asthma-related visits. This figure does not include losses due to missed days of school and work in Texas.
Nationwide, some 11.8 million school days are missed each year because of asthma.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/stories/2008/05/05/daily6.html?f=et77&ana=e_du
 

Twenty-Five Years Later, A Nation Still at Risk

April 26, 2008
by Chester E. Finn, Jr.
Wall Street Journal"
Today marks the 25th anniversary of "A Nation at Risk," the influential Reagan-era report by a blue-ribbon panel that alerted Americans to the weak performance of our education system. The report warned of a "rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a nation and a people.": That dire forecast set off a quarter century of education reform that's yielded worthy changes -- yet still not the achievement gains we need to turn back the tide of mediocrity."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120916804732546311.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries
 

Science, politics and preschool
Experts agree: Kids need early education programs. But how early?
April 27, 2008
by Jeremy Manier

Chicago Tribune
A tide of recent research on early childhood development is inspiring prominent scientists and politician to argue for an unprecedented investment in schooling that begins virtually at birth.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-earlybrain_bd27apr27,0,5759147.story
 

'Everything's gonna be new'
April 27, 2008
by Eric Dexheimer
American Statesman
Billy's World: Part 1
After serving 15 months at the Youth Commission's Crockett State School, Austin teen has high hopes and big plans."
"Byers!" the guard shouted on day in June. "Your ride is here."
Billy Byers strolls around the low-ceilinged cinder block room, muttering goodbyes, pulling friends in guy-clinches and clapping backs.
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/04/27/0427billysworld.html
 

Struggling on Parole
April 27, 2008
By Eric Dexheimer
American Statesman
Billy's World Part 2
Adjusting to life at home and as an adult, Billy tries to fulfill the items on an ambitious to-do list.
The entire family accompanies Billy on  his first visit to the Texas Youth Commission's parole office on East Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. It's in a low, tan, unmarked building across the street from a convenience store. The Nos. 23 and 18 busses run there.
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/04/28/0428billysworld.html
 

A Constant Struggle
April 27, 2008
by Eric Dexheimer

American Statesman
Bily's World: Part 3
Billy tries to deal with disability, financial and mental health issues.
Billy left Crockett State School in June with a General Educational Development certificate and high hopes, but by late July, he seems stalled. Concerned that he is drifting back to his old habits, his parole officer Virginia Martinez visits him at home.
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/04/29/0429billysworld.html
 

In Trouble Again
April 27, 2008
by Eric Dexheimer
American Statesman
Billy's World: Part 4
Billy attempts to spend time with his daughter but soon faces his first criminal charges as an adult.
"Oh, my God," Charlie, the mother of Billy's daughter , said one day in the fall. "In three months, I'll be 20, But I don't fee 20. I feel. . .13."
Aaliyah, now about 18 months old, grabs at a bowl of bright orange macaroni and cheese, Charlie pulls it away absently and jams a cookie into her daughter's hand.
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/04/30/0430billysworld.html
 

A Man With a Record
April 27, 2008
by Eric Dexheimer
American Statesman Staff
Billy's World: Part 5
Billy pleads no contest to a theft charge and is released after a month in prison.
In a 6-by4-foot cinder block room in the courthouse basement divided by a glass security window -- jail on one side, free world on the other -- Billy weighs his options.
As is the case with many of his decisions, a teen-age near-sightedness distorts his view of the horizon. He must select between an immediate reward and a future payoff that's hard to see -- particularly for a young man who has spent the past month in jail and his entire 17th year in a juvenile lockup.
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/05/01/0501billysworld.html
 

The Cost of Dropping Out
April 27,  200
by Eric Dexheimer
American Statesman
Billy's World: Part 6
Despite his struggles in school, Billy wants his brother to stick with it; however, it may be too late.
Billy started skipping classes in middle school, He recalls sharing a joint with friends as he strolled around Fulmore Middle School. By seventh grade, he'd miss school for weeks at a time. When he missed enough school, he'd get suspended. By the time he returned, he'd fallen further behind, making him feel lost, leading to more absences.
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/05/02/0502billysworld.html
 

'Not a bad kid'
April 27, 2008
By Eric Dexheimer
American Statesman
Billy's World: Part 7
Billy turns 19, with another baby on the way and another arrest on his record.
On the day before Christmas, the waiting room of the Del Valle jail is crowded with half-families. Most are wives and girlfriends hauling
children in for a holiday visit with their fathers.
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/05/03/0503billysworld.html
 

'You're not a bid kid'
April 27, 2008
by Eric Dexheimer
American Statesman
Billy's World
With the exception of the time he spent locked up in various juvenile detention programs, Billy has spent his entire life in government subsidized housing.
Both Oak Creek Village Apartments on Wilson Street in South Austin and the Height on Congress near St. Edward's University are owned by companies
 that receive direct payments from the federal Housing and Urban Development Department in exchange for agreeing to keep rents low.
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/05/03/0503billysworldside.html
 

Counting Dropouts
April, 27, 2008
by Eric Dexheimer
American Statesman
Billy's World
For kids like Billy, who left Travis High School in ninth grade, dropping out represents more than a missed opportunity to learn geography and many.
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/05/02/0502billysworldside.html
 

S.A. Team Finds Mercury, Autism Link
April 24, 2008
by Anton Caputo

San Antonio Express News
A team of San Antonio Scientists has found a correlation between autism rates in Texas school districts and their proximity to power plants or other large industrial sources of mercury.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA042408.03B.autism.30df04a.html
 

Autism Help Expanding
April 23, 2008

by Don Finley
San Antonio Express News

In the wake of a new study that finds services for autistic children in San Antonio sorely lacking, the city could eventually have two new campuses providing badly needed help for families.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA042308.01B.autism.386d066.html
 

County Task Force to Look at TYC Fallout
April 22, 2008
Bexar County Commissioners, anticipating a possible legislative decision to abolish the Texas Youth Commission, voted Tuesday to create a task force to study the potential cost to taxpayers.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA042308.02B.newsroundutyc.8e3d889f.html
 

Public Forum to Address Safety Issues on Vaccines
April 11, 2008
By Gardiner Harris
The New York Times
WASHINGTON--In the midst of yet another controversy about whether vaccines cause autism, the federal government will hold its first ever public meeting on Friday to discuss a government wide research agenda to explore the safety of vaccines.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/11/health/policy/11vaccine.html?th&emc=th
 

Momentum Seen on Pre-K in States that Have Lagged
April 10, 2008
By Linda Jacobson
Education Week
They've been called the "wilderness" states when it comes to prekindergarten services.  And in one prominent advocacy group's yearbook of state pre-K activity, they earn a full page with the words "no program" in large, obvious print.
http://www.edweek.org/login.html?source=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.edweek.org%2Few%2Farticles%2F2008%2F04%2F16%2F33prek.h27.html%3FlevelId%3D2100%26&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.edweek.org%2Few%2Farticles%2F2008%2F04%2F16%2F33prek.h27.html%3FlevelId%3D2100%26&levelId=2100&baddebt=false
 

Health care plan for low-income adults won't start this year after all
Hawkins:  Draft plan didn't give patients enough choice
April 8, 2008
By Corrie MacLaggan
Austin American-Statesman
Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner is backing off a plan to provide health care to thousands of low-income, uninsured Texas adults by the fall.
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/04/08/0408hop.html
 

Study:  Infants who sleep less have greater risk for obesity at age 3
TV viewing heightens the effect, researchers say.
April 8, 2008
By Carla K. Johnson
Associated Press
CHICAGO--When the wind blows, the cradle will rock.  And when babies sleep less, they might gain too much weight.
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/nation/04/08/0408infantsleep.html
 

Philly School Effort Cuts Weight Gain
April 7, 2008
By Stephanie Nano
Associated Press Writer

New York (AP)--Five Philadelphia elementary schools replaced sodas with fruit juice.  They scaled back snacks and banished candy.  They handed out raffle tickets for wise food choices.  They spent hours teaching kids, their parents and teachers about good nutrition.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/D/DIET_SCHOOL_FOODS?SITE=ALMON&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
 

Immobile leadership likely stalls solutions
April 7, 2008
By Michelle De La Rosa and Nancy Martinez
San Antonio Express-News
Mayor Phil Hardberger pushed through the redevelopment of Main Plaza, and he's a strong backer of May bond issues that would spend hundreds of millions of dollars on the River Walk, performing arts, the AT&T center and sports complexes.

He set things in motion for Haven for Hope, a new $70 million homeless campus.

But such determined attention by the city on large projects falls short when it comes to dealing with teen pregnancy, which many say is at the heart of San Antonio's social ills.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA040708.01A.TeenMomSolution.38f0759.html

 

Foster children get electronic health "passport"
Part of new managed health care plan through Medicaid
April 6, 2008
By Corrie MacLaggan
Austin American-Statesman

Many Texans don't have neat records of their medical history, but for foster children, that can make getting proper health care especially difficult.

Because they tend to move around often--shifting among foster homes after being taken from their parents because of abuse or neglect--their medical history is often a mystery.
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/04/06/0406foster.html

 

Texas ranks low in child well-being, report says
Report by nonprofit evaluates states on 10 indicators
April 3, 2008
By Suzannah Gonzales
Austin American-Statesman
Texas ranks 46th among the states in terms of child well-being, according to a report released Wednesday by a nonprofit group that promotes adopting national policies for children, youth and families.
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/04/03/0403texaschild.html
 

Disadvantage cited in teacher bonuses
April 1, 2008
By Gary Scharrer
San Antonio Express-News Austin Bureau
AUSTIN--Forcing property poor school districts to help pay for a state bonus program for superior teachers "is illegal and inequitable," a state senator contends in a letter to Education Commissioner Robert Scott.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA040208.01B.teacherbonuspay.385e068.html
 

U.S. to Require States to Use a Single School Dropout Formula
April 1, 2008
By Sam Dillon
The New York Times
Moving to sweep away the tangle of inaccurate state data that has obscured the severity of the nation's high school dropout crisis, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings will require all states to use one federal formula to calculate graduation and dropout rates, Bush administration officials said on Monday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/01/education/01child.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
 

Sex ed in Bexar varies by district
March 31, 2008
By Michelle De La Rosa
San Antonio Express-News
Nationally, health-care professionals, educators and advocacy groups are debating what school sex education programs should include.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA033108.11A.TeenMomDay2sidebar.2b2748e.html
 

Mom has family's support
March 31, 2008
By Michelle De La Rosa
San Antonio Express-News
Second of two parts
Nicolette Perez plops down on the floor of her closet shortly after 5:30 a.m. to begin the part of her day she most enjoys.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA033108.01A.TEENMOMPART2.382320a.html
 

Teen mom has to grow up fast
March 30, 2008
By Nancy Martinez
San Antonio Express-News
First of two parts
Felicia Perez lay in a hospital bed, writhing in pain.
Dr. Mohsin Kapasi checked to see how her labor had progressed.
"How much longer?" Felicia begged.
"She's making good progress," Kapasi said to nurses and others in the room.  "She should have this baby by happy hour."
"What time is happy hour?" Felicia asked.
She started to moan again, and began to cry softly.
The fetal heartbeat played on the monitor like background music--whoosh thump-thump, whoosh thump-thump.
"Oh, I want to push," she said.  "Oh my God, I want to push."
"Just blow, don't push," said her doula Suzanne de Leon, whose nonprofit, San Antonio Birth Doulas, helps teen mothers through labor.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA033008.01A.TEENMOM.38a7b89.html  
 

Activists fear state's new low-income health plan
March 28, 2008
By Peggy Fikac
San Antonio Express-News
AUSTIN--As state officials work on a proposal they say will give more low-income Texans health-care coverage, community organizers want more assurances that public hospitals already serving the poor won't lose funds. 
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA032908.04B.healthcare.367ae7b.html
 

Editorial:  Expanded and better preschool necessary
March 20, 2008
San Antonio Express-News
The latest study out of Rutgers University confirms what we have suspected for some time:  4-year-olds in Texas are not getting the quality education they deserve.

As Express-News education writer Lindsay Kastner reported this week, Texas' public preschool programs have a long way to go in terms of quality.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/editorials/stories/MYSA032108.01O.preschool1ed.2925e00.html
 

ABCs of pre-K could soon include XYZ
March 20, 2008
By Lindsay Kastner
San Antonio Express-News
Texas 4-year-olds have been skating by on just 10 alphabet letters for almost a decade now, but that could change soon.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA032108.05B.PREK.3823c58.html
 

Report:  Texas public preschool program has quantity, not quality
March 18, 2008
By Lindsay Kastner
San Antonio Express-News
Texas' public preschool program serves more 4-year-olds than any state-funded program in the nation, but it has a long way to go when it comes to quality.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/education/stories/MYSA031908.01B.PREK.37a0328.html
 

Methodist begins development of South Side Wesley Health and Wellness Center
March 17, 2008
San Antonio Business Journal

Methodist Healthcare Ministries is set to begin construction next week on a new $12 million health and wellness center on San Antonio's South Side.

The new Wesley Health and Wellness Center will be located in the Columbia Heights neighborhood.  The new center will replace the current Wesley Community Center at Columbia Heights and Wesley Primary Care Clinic.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/stories/2008/03/17/daily7.html?f=et77&ana=e_du

 

NHSA Warns that 14,000 Head Start Child Slot Cut Proposed by Bush Administration is New White House Effort to 'Dismantle' Head Start
March 13, 2008
WASHINGTON--Head Start officials from across the United States warned today that the Bush White House is once again trying to dismantle the Head Start program, after it was rebuffed during 2003-2006 in its controversial first attempt to do so.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20080313/pl_usnw/nhsa_warns_that14000_head_start_child_slot_cut_proposed_by_bush_administration_is_new_white_house_effort_to__dismantle__head_st

 

Jagged Little Pills.  The Debate about Sex Ed in Schools Continues
Latina Magazine, March 2008
By Shirley Velasquez
Article in the March issue of Latina Magazine about teens and contraception does a good job about highlighting the high rate of teen pregnancy among Latinas and some important approaches to reducing this rate.
http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/media/pdf/Latina_3_08.pdf
 

Perry adviser appointed TYC chief of staff
Alfonso Royal, four others named to top Youth Commission spots.
March 5, 2008
Austin-American Statesman
A policy adviser in Gov. Rick Perry's office who was criticized during a scandal at the Texas Youth Commission last year has been named chief of staff of the  troubled agency.

The aide, Alfonso Royal, is among five new top management appointments announced by Youth Commission Conservator Richard Nedelkoff on Tuesday.  The chief of staff serves as a top aide to the conservator and will be based at the Youth Commission office in Austin.

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/03/05/0305tyc.html

 

Record-High Ratio of Americans in Prison
February 29, 2008
By David Crary
AP National Writer
New York (AP)--For the first time in U.S. history, more than one of every 100 adults is in jail or prison, according to a new report documenting America's rank as the world's No. 1 incarcerator.  It urges states to curtail corrections spending by placing fewer low-risk offenders behind bars.

 

Clinton offers plan to cut child poverty in half in a dozen years
February 29, 2008
By Mike Glover
Associated Press
Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton offered a plan to improve childhood nutrition and set a goal to reduce by half the 12 million youngsters living in poverty over the next dozen years.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8V3N7OG1.html
 

Colleges and Latinos have much work left
February 29, 2008
By Jeorge Zarazua
Express-News
The number of Latinos dropping out of high school has been cut in half during the past 25 years, but great disparity remains when it comes to their college graduation rates, according to a study from the Pew Hispanic Center.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA022908.01B.EducationStudy.1a276e5.html
 

TYC to close Sheffield Boot Camp
Closure of remote West Texas facility is first for troubled agency.
February 28, 2008
By Mike Ward
Austin American-Statesman Staff
Texas Youth Commission officials plan to close the Sheffield Boot Camp in remote West Texas, a facility that has been plagued for months by staff shortages and a dwindling count of incarcerated youths.
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/02/29/0229tyc.html
 

Creative Play Makes for Kids in Control
February 28, 2008
By Alix Spiegel
It's playtime at the Geraldyn O. Foster Early Childhood Center in Bridgeton, N.J., and in one corner of a busy classroom, 4-year-olds Zee Logan and Emmy Hernandez want to play bookstore.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=76838288&sc=emaf&sc=emaf
 

Children in Poverty:  There Is No Excuse
February 22, 2008
To the Editor:
"Poverty is Poison, by Paul Krugman (column, Feb. 18), echoes what members of Congress heard at a national summit meeting about child development that Democrats convened last year.  Children who grow up in poverty have a much lower chance of success in school and in life, but investments in early childhood development help to even the odds, offering hope and opportunity where little existed before.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/22/opinion/lweb22krugman.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
 

STEM program is grooming future math, science leaders
February 22, 2008
By Mike W. Thomas
San Antonio Business Journal

A new educational initiative geared toward encouraging students to pursue science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers has taken root in San Antonio and promises big results in just a few years.

http://sanantonio.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/stories/2008/02/25/story3.html?b=1203915600^1594697&page=1
 

Old-Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills
February 21, 2008
By Alix Spiegel
On October 3, 1955, the Mickey Mouse Club debuted on television.  As we all now know, the show quickly became a cultural icon, one of those phenomena that helped define an era.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19212514
 

Texas food stamps applications being delayed under new system
February 20, 2008
Associated Press
Texans seeking food stamps are waiting longer to have their applications processed through an updated computer system intended to modernize enrollment, state records show.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8UTV4J80.html
 

Higher Education Gap May Slow Economic Mobility
By Erick Eckholm
February 20, 2008
New York Times
Economic mobility, the chance that children of the poor or middle class will climb up the income ladder, has not changed significantly over the last three decades, a study being released on Wednesday says.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/20/us/20mobility.html?ex=1204174800&en=6f66cac2a0185c45&ei=5070
 

Saving kids with a surge
February 20, 2008
By Rick Casey
Houston Chronicle
With the capital murder indictment Tuesday of Travis Mullis for allegedly killing his crying baby by stomping on his head, Galveston prosecutors will decide between spending $1 million or so to jump through the legal hoops necessary to get the death penalty, or a similar amount for putting Mullis away for life.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/moms/5554280.html
 

Valero developing new child care center on corporate campus
San Antonio Business Journal
Valero Energy Corp. officially began construction Wednesday on a new child care center at the company's corporate headquarters in Northwest San Antonio. 
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/stories/2008/02/18/daily22.html?f=et77&ana=e_du
 

Failed Follow-Up:
More than words are needed to support Head Start.
February 20, 2008
Washington Post
Last year's reauthorization of Head Start was cause for celebration.  Congress gave overwhelming, bipartisan support to the successful preschool program, and the president agreed that it should be renewed, even strengthened.  Sadly, the celebration was short-lived.  It has since become clear that educating this country's poor children gets paid lip service--not the money that's needed to do the job.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/19/AR2008021902391.html
 

Higher Education Gap May Slow Economic Mobility
February 20, 2008
By Erik Eckholm
The New York Times

Economic mobility, the chance that children of the poor or middle class will climb up the income ladder, has not changed significantly over the last three decades, a study being released on Wednesday says.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/20/us/20mobility.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
 

Poverty is Poison
February 18, 2008
By Paul Krugman
New York Times
"Poverty in early childhood poisons the brain."  That was the opening of an article in Saturday's Financial Times, summarizing research presented last week at the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/18/opinion/18krugman.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
 

Curriculum pitch sparks controversy
February 13, 2008
By Gary Scharrer
Austin Bureau
AUSTIN--Conservatives on the State Board of Education are expected to make an 11th-hour move today to scrap two years of work on a language arts curriculum revision in favor of adopting an alternative curriculum rejected more than a decade ago.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA021308.03B.English_rewrite.371cf2f.html
 

Ken Rodriguez:  Impact of turnover within child protection agency is 'immense'
February 12, 2008
Express-News
When caseworkers began to flee Child Protective Services in staggering numbers, someone did an exit poll.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/columnists/krodriguez/stories/MYSA021308.01B.krod_0213.371c9d6.html
 

TYC acting executive director resigns under pressure
February 12, 2008
By Lisa Sandberg
Express-News Austin Bureau
Austin--The second in command at the scandal-ridden Texas Youth Commission resigned under pressure Monday, and the No. 1 man in charge came under fire for keeping the matter under wraps.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA021208.01B.tyc__dimitria.359f401.html

 

TYC reforming but still target of complaints
February 10, 2008
By Jim Vertuno
Associated Press
When a sex abuse scandal turned a red-hot spotlight on the Texas juvenile justice system in early 2007, state officials vowed to tear down and rebuild an agency rife with abuse, neglect and dangerous facilities.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8UN49LO0.html
 

Child Protective Services' issues 'worse now,' follow-up reveals
February 8, 2008
By Elizabeth Allen
Express-News
Amid a high number of child deaths, and an even higher turnover rate at the agency tasked with overseeing the state's abused and neglected children, the local Child Protective Services remains troubled, according to the findings of a judicial report released Friday.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA020908.03B.CPS.355688e.html
 

TYC conservator resigns from private sector job
Nedelkoff says he wants to avoid appearance of conflicts, focus full time on Texas job.
February 8, 2008
By Mike Ward
American-Statesman Staff
Under fire for possible conflicts of interest, Texas Youth Conservator Richard Nedelkoff resigned Thursday from his job as a top executive at a national youth corrections firm "to avoid any appearance of impropriety."

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/02/08/0208tyc.html
 

TYC head defends biz ties
February 7, 2008
By Lisa Sanberg
AUSTIN--In a clear sign that leadership woes continue to plague the Texas Youth Commission, the agency's newly appointed conservator, Richard Nedelkoff, was grilled by a panel of lawmakers Wednesday over his business ties to experts he has consulted with for his state job.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA020708.01B.tyc_money.371c160.html
 

Domestic Violence -- How can it affect Children?
By Efrain Gonzalez, M.A., L.P.C.
February 6, 2008
Domestic Violence seems to be growing in our community daily as seen by current news reports.  It is a big issue that is not affecting just adults.  When I talk with children at the hospital they don't tell me there is domestic violence at home, but instead they tell me horrific stories of nightmares, being woken up in the middle of the night by screams and yells and how they hit a sibling because mommy and daddy fight like that.
http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblogs/smhc/2008/02/domestic_violence_how_can_it_a_1.html
 

Settlement demands safety at South Texas juvenile prison
February 5, 2008
Associated Press
To settle a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice, the Texas Youth Commission has agreed to make changes to protect the safety of inmates at a South Texas juvenile prison.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8UK2F180.html
 

Ten city clinics join county system
February 4, 2008
By Wendy Rigby
KENS 5 Eyewitness News
It's one of the largest mergers of city-county business ever in San Antonio.  On Monday, 10 San Antonio Metropolitan Health District clinics became University Health System clinics.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA020408.medical.merger.KENS.8e44cbf5.html
 

Editorials:  Good plan helps kids in drug users' homes
February 4, 2008
San Antonio Express-News
Law enforcement and Child Protective Services officials last month signed an agreement to work proactively to help children whose parents are arrested in drug raids.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/editorials/stories/MYSA020508.01O.drugkids1ed.25e3417.html
 

Congress may throw wrench in Texas privatization plan
Proposal attempts to limit the role of private workers in food stamp program.
By Jason Embry and Corrie MacLaggan
American-Statesman Staff
February 4, 2008
WASHINGTON--In a direct response to problems in Texas, Congress is considering new limits on the role that private companies can play in states' public assistance programs.
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/nation/02/04/0204foodstamps.html
 

Bexar child death rate still high
February 3, 2008
By Nancy Martinez
Express-News
The rate at which Bexar County children died of abuse or neglect continued essentially unabated--and above the national average--for another year, according to state Child Protective Services officials.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA020408.01A.ABUSEDEATHS.371c263.html

 

State senator wants CPS to do more to keep kids connected
By Tamarind Phinisee
February 1, 2008
State Senator Leticia Van de Putte is pushing to change Child Protective Services' (CPS) operating guidelines that can sometimes prevent siblings who are placed in separate permanent placement environments from maintaining contact with each other.
http://sanantonio.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/stories/2008/02/04/story10.html
 

Texas Watch report contends tort reform hurts health care
By W. Scott Bailey
San Antonio Business Journal
February 1, 2008
Tort reform, especially as it relates to health care, has been a polarizing issue for years.

Supporters claim tort reform has improved the overall state of health care in Texas, benefiting patients, physicians and providers.  Critics claim those reforms have had an opposite effect.
http://sanantonio.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/stories/2008/02/04/story9.html?f=et166&b=1202101200^1585637&ana=e_vert
 

Dental students providing free care to children
February 1, 2008
By Wendy Rigby
KENS 5 Eyewitness News
Cavities are a huge problem for San Antonio children.  In fact, tooth decay is five times more common than childhood asthma.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA020108.dental.KENS.7ec01af2.html
 

125 public health jobs, nine clinics moved to UHS
January 31, 2008
By Don Finley

Express-News Medical Writer
Promising that the transition will be "budget-neutral" to taxpayers--at least in the city--the San Antonio City Council on Thursday voted to transfer 125 public health jobs and nine clinics to the tax-supported University Health System.


The move of services from the Metropolitan Health District, which has been under discussion for several years as part of city-county consolidation efforts, came with a recommendation that the city property tax rate be reduced by 0.7 cent per $100 valuation, while the UHS tax rate could rise by perhaps 1/2  cent to absorb the costs--although they might be absorbed in some other way, UHS officials said.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA020108.03B.health.35f729b.html
 

Haven for Hope to open one facility next month
January 30, 2008
By Wendy Rigby
KENS 5 Eyewitness News
San Antonio's new multimillion-dollar community for the homeless will open its first building next month.  The detox center is a first for Bexar County.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA013008.homeless.KENS.748dc3ad.html
 

Head Start Group Decries Renewal's 'Broken Promises'
January 30, 2008
Just last month, Head Start supporters were celebrating the passage of a five-year reauthorization bill they say will strengthen the 43-year-old preschool program for poor children.

Now, the same advocates are lamenting what they're calling "broken promises" from the Bush administration over funding for the program, and saying they've been "saddled" with loads of new requirements in the reauthorization.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/01/30/21fedfil.h27.html
 

Texas drafts bill of rights for foster children
Similar list of rights failed in 2007 legislative session.
By Corrie MacLaggan
American-Statesman Staff
January 26, 2008
A proposed bill of rights for Texas' 17,000 foster children died in the Texas House last year after a contentious debate that one opponent said would have children demanding designer jeans.  But the head of the state agency that oversees the foster care system has been quietly working to make that list of rights a reality.
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/01/26/0126foster.html
 

Fewer children spending nights in CPS offices
January 25, 2008
AUSTIN--The number of abused or neglected children forced to spend the night in Texas Child Protective Services offices has decreased since reaching more than