(Houston schools) could shut or merge 17 campuses

[Newsjock]

Source: Houston Chronicle

Tight budgets and a get-tough attitude on teacher quality have Houston ISD officials laying off hundreds of educators and considering the closure or consolidation of 17 small schools.

Officials with the Houston Independent School District announced Tuesday that about 730 teachers have been notified they won't have jobs next year — because of budget cuts or poor performance.

Like many districts across Texas, HISD is purging jobs and possibly closing schools to save money amid a state funding shortfall. But HISD leaders have coupled those cuts with a rare, aggressive approach to weeding out teachers deemed ineffective.

... The number of teachers being removed for poor performance has spiked from two years ago, when 36 were ousted for similar reasons. Nationwide, researchers say few teachers are fired for being ineffective in the classroom.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7519051.html

[Mosaic]

1. The country is toast

730 friggin teachers! Get ready to join Haiti and Nicaragua in the third world dummies.

[Bandit]

2. Keep them ignorant so they will vote Republican when they grow up.

Plain as the nose on your face.