Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Friday, Nov. 10, 2023.
How Texas changed teacher certification – and that changed teaching in general
In the early 2000s, Texas was dealing with a familiar problem: teacher shortages. One of the ways the state sought to address it was by lowering the educational requirements needed to become a licensed teacher.
Today, the majority of new Texas teachers are licensed under those new requirements, according to research from the University of Oklahoma’s Sarah Guthery. She joins the Standard with more on how it changed the profession and education in Texas.
Texas power grid watchdog steps down after clash with ERCOT officials
Carrie Bivens is stepping down from the position of “Independent Market Monitor” for the Texas power grid. Bivens has served as a kind of third-party auditor for the Texas energy market since 2020.
KUT’s Mose Buchele reports her resignation comes after she clashed with officials over what she called “artificially inflated energy prices.”
Austin homes used to sell in a week. Now sales take months, if they happen at all.
Buying and selling a house in many parts of Texas looks very different than it did just two years ago. Gone are the days when someone selling their house got dozens of offers.
In Austin, potential buyers were bidding tens of thousands of dollars over asking price just to compete. As KUT’s Audrey McGlinchy explains – things have changed.
Pest-related illnesses are on the rise. Here’s what Texas and the feds are doing.
Vector-borne diseases – illnesses you can get from pests, like the Zika virus, or Lyme disease – are on the rise in Texas. Now, researchers are also seeing diseases thought to be uncommon in Texas, like dengue fever and bubonic plague.
Federal authorities recently committed $8 million to fight vector-borne diseases in Texas and the gulf coast. Program co-leader Janet Hurley with Texas A&M’s AgriLife Extension Service joins the Standard with more.
A sweet preview of Houston’s Honeyland Festival
Houston’s Honeyland Festival is a celebration of Black southern culture – and so much more. Organizer Staci Hallmon joins the Standard with a look at the festivities.
Meet a Latino WWII hero ahead of Veterans’ Day
Leonard Fuentes flew eight successful missions over Italy during World War II, and tested planes to assess damages in between missions. He hungered for more combat, so after fighting had subsided in Europe with Germany’s surrender, he volunteered to fly missions in the Pacific.
For the Voces Oral History Center, Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez brings us Fuentes’ words ahead of Veterans’ Day.
The gang delivers another custom poem. Reach out to Texas Standard with your topic suggestions!
Texas Tribune managing editor Matthew Watkins stops by with a recap of the week that was in Texas politics.
All this, plus the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.
