Select Committee Hearings Around the State May 2008 Rep. Branch chaired the public hearings of the Select Committee on Higher and Public Education Finance that were held in Dallas, McAllen, San Antonio and Houston. The committee heard testimony from institutions and individuals highlighting the varying educational needs in each region of the state. The Presidents of the UT Heath Related Institutions answered questions from the committee at the T. Boone Pickens building at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas on Monday, May 5th. The committee was concerned with the ways in which institutions collaborate their financial planning by sharing and developing best practices within the UT System.

Dr. Juliet Garcia, Dr. Blandina Cardenas, and President William Powers, Jr. answer questions from the committee during the hearing held at the McAllen City Hall on May 9th.

Dr. Karl Eschbach, the State Demographer, provided the committee with an overview of the changing population of our state.  Dr. Eschbach, who oversees the Texas State Data Center in San Antonio, was recently appointed to the post of State Demographer.

Texas A&M International Univesity at Laredo students Nancey De La Fuente and Rene Camacho informed the committee that they would have liked to receive more academic rigor in high school to prepare them for the demands of college.

Superintendents Dr. Jerry Christian (Alamo Heights ISD), Dr. John Folks (Northisde ISD), Dr. Willis Mackey (Judson ISD), Dr. Robert Duron (San Antonio ISD), and Dr. Richard Middleton (North East ISD) appeared before the committee at the San Antonio City Council Chamber on Tuesday, May 13th.

The committee dais at the University of Houston Hilton hotel: Committee Clerk Michael DeLeon, Chairman Branch, Vice-Chairman Scott Hochberg (Houston), and Rep. John Otto (Dayton). Not pictured but present: Rep. Helen Giddings (De Soto), Rep. Lois Kolkhorst (Brenham), and Rep. Jessica Farrar (Houston).

Houston Independent School District Superintendent Dr. Abelardo Saavedra and Northwest Independent School District Dr. Karen Rue presented testimony to the committee in Houston on Friday, May 16th.

Students Jazmin Chavez, Jeffrey Gomez, and Francis Matthews share their life experiences with the committee. These students seized the opportunity to complete their education and to provide themselves better futures by enrolling in the S.O.A.R. Evening High School, which was developed by the Alief Independent School District.