A Comment on a Colleagues Work

Our Lone Star Texas blog had a nice little piece on Austin's plastic bag ban.They made very strong points. I find it slightly amusing that the City of Austin has probably made the better decision in the long run to ban plastic bags, and yet our State Government (who's buisness is conducted in Austin) are laying plans to ban city bans (I couldn't resist the word play). Plastic bags and other non-biodegrading plastics also litter our oceans and kill wildlife. Texas, with it's miles and miles of coast line, should be learning from Austin instead of undermining it out of convenience.

Sue or Support?

KUT, Austin's public radio station, recently had a report on truancy in Austin schools. Cuurently under Texas law, truant students, as well as their parents can be taken to court by the School. Senator John Whitmire (D-Houston) has filed a bill that would protect students from legal charges, but not their parents.

   In our imperfect world, with it's inequality and inequity, education might be the single most important resource a person has in order to live the life we Americans dream of, which is why in Texas its a constitutional right to have access to public education. Yet there are vast numbers of children who forfeit that right for an equally numerous number of reasons. Truancy is a symptom of more fundamental problems in student's lives.   These causes of truancy are what must be dealt with, and taking students and their families to court solve nothing... unless the purpose of that court case is to help provide the family with resources that can address the underlying causes of truancy. Admonishment changes nothing unless there is a sense of support along with it.