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TEXAS SCHOOL FINANCE
Questions remain
Judge quiet on how much money, how to divide it By WILL WEISSERT ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — Pumping an extra $3.4 billion into Texas public schools didn’t convince a judge that the state is adequately funding classrooms. But how much more money it will take — and how those funds should be divvied up — isn’t likely to get sorted anytime soon.
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State District Judge John Dietz ruled Thursday that Texas’ school finance system is unconstitutional, failing to provide adequate funding or to distribute it fairly between rich and poor areas. His latest, 400-page written opinion reaffirmed his verbal decision from last year, when Dietz found that the state’s “Robin Hood” funding formula fails to meet the Texas Consti-
tution’s requirements for an efficient system providing a “general diffusion of knowledge.” This time, Dietz blocked Texas from using portions of its current school finance system, but also put that order on hold until next July. That gives the Legislature, which reconvenes in January, an opportunity to “cure the constitutional deficiencies,” the ruling says.
The case, though, still has a long way to go — and likely won’t be concluded until well after lawmakers have completed the 2015 session. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office, which had argued that the system was flawed but nonetheless constitutional, says it will appeal — and that means the
See SCHOOL FINANCE PAGE 11A
DINOSAURS
TRACKING ANCIENT TIMES
ZAPATA CISD
Nuques to discuss health By JUDITH RAYO THE ZAPATA TIMES
A Zapata County Independent School District official will visit the White House in September to discuss youth’s health. Raul Nuques, ZCISD superintendent, will join the U.S. Fitness, Sports and Nutrition President’s Council on Sept. 15 to participate in the Lets Move! Active School Leadership Roundtable. “I’m excited. It’s an honor,” he said. Nuques will discuss students’ health with Alonzo Mourning, former professional basketball player; Dominique Dawes, retired United States gymnast; Jason Collins, professional basketball center; and Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling. He added ZISD is trying to establish a physical education curriculum though pre-kindergarten to 12th grade. The curriculum would motivate students to become healthier and help fight diseases such as diabetes. “It’s a way to keep kids actively involved and keep them physically fit,” Nuques said. Nuques will be discussing the curriculum with council members to receive feedback. According to fitness.gov, Let’s Move!
See SCHOOL PAGE 12A
FEDERAL COURT
Photo by Marvin Pfeiffer/San Antonio Express-News | AP
Russell Fishbeck, deputy director of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, (from left), Chris Holm, superintendent of Government Canyon State Natural Area, Jennifer Shaffer, Dr. Thomas Adams and Todd McClanahan, region director of Texas Parks and Wildlife, inspect dinosaur tracks.
By MARVIN PFEIFFER SAN ANTONIO — It walked slowly along the tidal flat, looking for something to eat that might have washed up on the shoreline. To its right were the sounds of the surf and the ancestral Gulf of Mexico. To its left was a dense forest. Acrocanthosaurus, a fearsome meat-eating dinosaur 40 feet long and 16 feet tall, was on the move. “It’s the size of Tyrannosaurus rex — not as bulky, but as big. And here it is, walking across the beach 110 million years ago in what is now San Antonio,” said Thomas L. Adams, Ph.D., curator of paleontology and geology at the Witte Museum. It’s a striking discovery: the only publicly known dinosaur tracks in Bexar County. Officials have known about the tracks at Government Canyon State Natural Area for about 10 years, but it wasn’t until this summer that scientists and students began
work to catalog and protect them. Dinosaur tracks might not seem to be as interesting as fossilized bones, but scientists beg to differ. “The hard parts of the animals that are preserved are remains of dead animals,” Adams told the San Antonio Express-News. “They tell you something about a dead animal. “This was made by a living animal. He was moving. He was interacting with his environment. It tells you many, many things. It tells you what the shape of its foot was like because in a skeleton we can’t see that. These are the remains of living animals. They tell you a story.” The Witte is working with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which manages Government Canyon, on a joint project to bring the tracks to the public. Adams and John Koepke, natural area interpreter/volunteer coordinator at Govern-
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By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Scientists study dinosaur tracks SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
One faces transport charges
Photo by Marvin Pfeiffer/San Antonio Express-News | AP
The best preserved Sauropod track on the lower trackway at Government Canyon State Natural Area measures 29 ½ inches-by-19 ½ inches.
A Zapata woman was arrested Monday accused of transporting nine illegal immigrants for money, according to court records released Friday. Federal agents identified the suspect as Racheal Jimenez, 20. A criminal complaint filed against her Thursday charges her with transporting illegal immigrants with a motor vehicle. She remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing. On Monday, a U.S. Border Patrol agent patrolling Grant Avenue in San Ygnacio observed a silver GMC Yukon get in front of him and accelerated toward the river. Court records state it appeared the Yukon’s driver wanted to get the agent’s attention. As the agent kept driving toward on Grant, he spotted a black GMC Denali heading east on Grant. The Denali appeared to be riding “very low,” according to court documents. While attempting to catch up to the Denali, the vehicle accelerated not before several people
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