Why is the Taylor County GOP shunning Susan King?

At Taylor County Democrats we proudly link to our candidate for TX HD 71, Mel Hailey. The Taylor County GOP page only mentions outgoing Rep. Bob Hunter. Are they somehow ashamed of Susan King? Looks like it.

Taylor County Republican Party: "Bob Hunter was elected to serve the people of Abilene and Taylor County in the Texas House of Representatives in a Special Election on August 9, 1986, and was re-elected at the November General Elections in 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, and 2002. As a result of redistricting, he now represents all of Nolan and Taylor Counties in Texas. He currently serves on the House Committee on Regulated Industries as Vice-Chairman and is a member on the House Committee for Urban Affairs."

Bill would delay new textbooks

Dallas Morning News

Texas teachers are fuming over a provision in the Senate’s education reform bill that would delay the ordering of new math textbooks for elementary school students.

The provision is tucked in a bill that would use part of the state’s budget surplus to reduce school property taxes. It was one of several school reform measures a Senate committee added to the bill Friday, including a $2,000 teacher pay raise and bonuses for teachers who raise students’ scores on standardized tests.

The full Senate could begin debating the bill Tuesday, but its future is uncertain as senators argue over how much property-tax money wealthy districts should be required to share with poorer districts. The bill’s sponsor, Republican Sen. Florence Shapiro of Plano, has vowed to use legislative rules to block it from being considered.

If it passes, the State Board of Education will have to stop taking bids from publishers for math textbooks that schools are scheduled to receive in 2008.

That’s a huge problem for students and teachers because the books they’re currently using were adopted in 1998 and don’t cover all the topics included in the standardized test the state began using in 2003, said Colleen Clower, the elementary math coordinator for the Denton school district.

For example, a section on charts and graphs in the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills stumped one third-grade class in her district because it wasn’t in their textbooks and their teacher wasn’t expecting to see so many questions like that on the test, Clower said.

It’s even more troublesome for fifth-graders, who have to pass the math section of the TAKS to be promoted to sixth grade.

“If the state has not provided materials like that to every student and teacher, then how can they legitimately test them over it, much less hold them back a grade,” said Penny McAdoo, director of elementary mathematics for the Lewisville school district."

This special session is turning out to be about everything and anything, except education, children and teachers. Who needs textbooks?