House panel approves scaling back schools’ A-F grading system
About 200 Longhorns gathered at the steps of the University of Texas Tower on Monday evening to honor and remember slain student Haruka Weiser at the oneyear anniversary of her killing.
UT President Gregory L. Fenves, newly elected student body vice president Micky Wolf and Weiser’s roommate Sylvia Fadalli spoke at the ceremony as members of the university community lit candles for Weiser and grieved her loss.
Weiser “will always be part of our thoughts to inspire us,” Fenves said. “The Weiser family’s courage and bravery has helped us to heal our community and to move forward with a purpose. They have led us through this unimaginable tragedy with grace and strength.”
Weiser, an 18-year-old freshman, was last seen a year ago; she was found dead in Waller Creek two days later on April 5, 2016. The trial for the man accused of killing her, Meechaiel Criner, is set for this fall. Criner, who was a minor when police say he killed Weiser, faces up to a life sentence if convicted.
Since her death, actions have been taken to help improve campus safety.
The “Be Safe” campaign was rooted in the tragic incident. Wolf said the three messages of the campaign are: walking together on campus and taking care of each other, being aware of your surroundings, and calling 9-1-1 whenever you feel unsafe.
Wolf said a flame was added to the Be Safe campaign logo to represent the name that, following a Japanese cultural tradition, was given to Weiser after her death — Bright Faith.
The Weiser family wrote a letter to the UT community that Fadalli read at the ceremony.
“We have been thinking about how we will be facing the anniversary of the worst day of our life,” the Weiser family wrote.
As much as they don’t want to remember that day, Weiser family members said they know it is a important reminder of the need to work on campus safety and build a stronger community. “We want to remember that day in a special way so everyone
The House Public Education Committee approved a bill Tuesday that would scale back the way that the state plans to grade public school performance each year.
The panel unanimously approved House Bill 22 filed by committee Chairman Dan Huberty, R-Houston, which would delay the implementation of the A-F accountability system and cut down the number of categories under which schools are graded.
“We don’t want districts being punished, but we want them to have the opportunity to ... achieve a better grade,” Huberty said during the committee hearing.
Approved in 2015, the system has garnered backlash from school district officials, who have said the system’s letter grades are vague, put too much emphasis on standardized test scores and are meant will always remember who she was,” the Weisers wrote.
Weiser family members said they hope Haruka’s legacy will be carried on through random acts of kindness, and thanked Austin police for continuing to support and care for them.
“Haruka was murdered the day after I took office,” said former UT Student Body President Kevin Helgren. He said much of his term was spent working with the Weiser family and addressing campus safety needs.
Helgren will be replaced by Alejandrina Guzman, who takes office Tuesday. “The advice I would give to them is to make sure campus safety and security remains at the forefront of every conversation,” Helgren said.
At the end of the ceremony, the tower chimed 18 bells, one for each year of Weiser’s life. to stigmatize public schools.
The system is slated to go into effect in August 2018, but as required by the law, the Texas Education Agency released scores in January, based on test scores and other data measured in the 2015-16 school year. They were supposed to give school officials a taste of what’s to come but prompted even more criticism.
Under the current accountability system, the state simply reports whether school districts and campuses meet requirements.
HB 22, which next goes to the House floor, would delay implementing the A-F system by a year and trim the categories for which schools and districts would be graded, including how well they prep students for college and careers, and how well they reduce the performance gap between lowand high-income students. hope to expand it throughout the city eventually.
To illustrate how it works, Austin police Cmdr. Justin Newsom told commissioners about how the team recently helped “Bernard,” a man whom Newsom identified with a pseudonym to protect his identity.
A psychiatric specialist and a police officer were talking to Bernard when they noticed he had gauze on his foot, Newsom recounted. Bernard told them he had been burned and had been wrapping it himself because he didn’t want a hospital bill.
The officials got paramedics from Austin-based CommUnityCare to look at his leg and get him a Medical Access Program card, which would cover his health care costs, Newsom said. CommUnityCare also made plans for follow-up wound care once he was discharged.
“This is not a panacea for the homeless problem,” Newsom said. “This is just one more ingredient in that recipe” to mitigate homelessness.
Commissioners were also interested in what initiatives Austin police were implementing on the streets that border the UT campus. Although authorities believe Criner attacked and killed Weiser on university grounds along Waller Creek, a coalition of parents and students has urged Austin police to increase patrols, particularly along the stretch of Guadalupe Street known as the Drag, citing aggressive panhandlers who congregate there.
Austin police officers on bicycles have been working with businesses on the Drag to keep an eye on criminal activity on that street, Austin police Assistant Chief Troy said.
Students have reported several recent crimes just outside campus. Austin police say a panhandler threatened to kill a UT student walking on the Drag toward campus early Friday because she refused to give him money.
According to his arrest affidavit, 24-year-old Christopher Crowley told a UT senior, “Don’t make me take you to an ATM to get $30 out.” When the woman again tried to walk away, she said, Crowley grabbed her backpack, trying to pull it off of her, and said, “I am going to kill you,” the affidavit said.
She was able to get away, but he continued to follow her and yelled, “Don’t call the police on me . ... When I kill someone for money it will be your fault,” the affidavit said.
Generally, panhandlers along the Drag tend to be younger and more aggressive compared with those in downtown Austin, Newsom said.
Even though there are far more resources in downtown Austin for those who are homeless, such as food from the organization Caritas and the possibility of a bed at the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless, Newsom speculated that those who panhandle might gravitate toward the Drag because of the sheer amount of foot traffic.
Tens of thousands of people travel between UT and West Campus each school day, and if even a tiny percentage of them give money, it’s enough to get by on the streets, Newsom said. He advised people who walk along the Drag not to give money to panhandlers.
“It feels right as a human being to give something to another human being in need,” Newsom said, but he suggested that those looking to help should donate to homeless services instead.
Ann Howard, executive director of the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition in Austin, said this is good advice. She often gives water, food, socks and information to panhandlers, she said.
“I rarely give money,” Howard said.
Some people in Austin live in boarding homes and care homes that charge a fee for people to stay there, but none of Austin’s emergency night shelters charge a fee, she said.