Lynn Walsh

Story written for Texas Watchdog:

Video: Houston ISD Trustee Larry Marshall says to beware of federal government, calls magnet school plan ‘overly ambitious’
Fri Mar 26 13:52:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

The Houston Press and Houston Chronicle have been reporting on a plan to open five new magnet schools within the Houston Independent School District. HISD Superintendent Terry Grier presented his plan to convert the five schools, and seek $12 million in federal tax dollars to pay for them, at a board workshop meeting Thursday. The plan would create or improve magnet programs at the following schools: Jones High School, Garden Oaks Elementary School, Fondren Middle School, Dodson Elementary School and Whidby Elementary School.

Trustee Larry Marshall said converting entire schools all at once may be “overly ambitious.” Marshall said the district has seen success with a model that employs a magnet school format for some students within a larger campus where other students follow a traditional model. But Grier said the rules governing the federal grant moneyHISD is seeking bar the district from using such a school-within-a-school approach.

See Marshall’s comments — including a caution against getting too involved with the federal government — in the video clips below.