“Originally, what was on the table was an out-of-state increase of 3.6 percent, but we changed it to 2.6 percent because of the feedback at every forum we have that out-of-state tuition has been rising. We wanted to do something to balance it out a bit. Obviously, 2.6 percent is still higher, but it’s a little bit of relief.”
— Senate of College Councils President Andrew Clark on student leaders’ proposal to UT regents regarding tuition.
“[We are] trying to figure out ways to have new housing types across the city to meet the demands of a very diverse and growing population within the central city. [Code NEXT] does not fix that problem in any real way.”
— City Council Member Chris Riley regarding CodeNEXT, a plan to revise Austin’s land development code by approximately 2017 in the wake of the “stealth dorm” ordinance that goes into effect Monday.
“The tragic incident that occurred during this year’s festival touched a nerve … and frankly it felt to me and many others I’ve heard from like a warning signal.”
— City Councilman Mike Martinez, who drafted the proposal to conduct an in-depth review of South By Southwest activities as they relate to city safety and capacity.
“If Texas is serious about implementing high quality pre-K, there is a need for greater transparency of pre-K programs. This will increase districts’ ability to share information and facilitate the diffusion of classroom best practices. Transparency will also enable policymakers to assess the return on taxpayers’ investment in state-funded pre-K by providing the necessary information to hold school districts and private providers accountable for the quality of their pre-K programs. This type of transparency and accountability is sorely lacking under the current model.”
— Greg Abbott on his proposal to reform pre-K education.
“There’s no doubt that we can win, but, in order to do that, we have to let go of the stale tactics of the past. How could a party that uses out-of-date, behind-the-times technology expect to be competitive with millennials, the very generation that is the most technology-savvy generation to live?”
— Skot Covert, College Republican National Committee co-chairman on the future prospects of the Republican Party with young people at Saturday’s State College Republican Convention at the Student Activity Center.
