News and Issues

"Education outcomes, including learning losses and achievements, take time to measure, aggregate, and analyze. As we enter the fourth academic year affected by the pandemic, data on student performance are becoming more available. Much of this early data confirms our initial concerns. For example, early test scores show that throughout the country nine-year-olds suffered a decline in learning outcomes during the pandemic. But other data also indicate that learning losses were unequal and disproportionately affected low-performing students and low-income students. It is likely that the sudden shift to online classes contributed to the learning declines. According to the Board's 2020 Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (the SHED), only 22 percent of parents with children attending virtual classes agreed that their children learned as much as they would have attending classes in person at school."    … more »

CraftTexas 2022 is the eleventh in a series of juried exhibitions showcasing the best in Texas-made contemporary craft. Juried by Andres Payan Estrada, the curator of public engagement at Craft Contemporary in Los Angeles, CA, this year’s show includes 40 pieces by nearly 30 artists, highlighting works that speak to personal stories of struggle and resilience, while challenging expectations of contemporary craft. Filling both the main and front gallery spaces at HCCC, the exhibition includes a wide variety of artworks and installations, with a particularly strong showing of work created from fiber, metal, and mixed media. more »

Grandparents, foster parents or people caring for siblings or other relatives should check their eligibility to receive the 2021 child tax credit. People who claim at least one child as their dependent may not realize they could be eligible to benefit from the child tax credit. Eligible taxpayers who received advance child tax credit payments last year should file a 2021 tax return to receive the second half of the credit. Eligible taxpayers who did not receive advance child tax credit payments last year can claim the full credit by filing a 2021 tax return. COVID Tax Tip 2022-165: Grandparents and others with eligible dependents shouldn’t miss out on the 2021 child tax credit. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) sent this bulletin at 10/27/2022 10:39 AM EDT IRS Tax Tips October 27, 2022… more »

"Academic research and agency experience suggest the following fees and fee practices fall within this category: Mandatory fees that often hide the full price. Some sellers publish a low price and then add mandatory fees later, at the “back-end” of the buying process or when a consumer tries to terminate the service... As the research shows, by hiding the full price, this practice can lead consumers to pay more than they would otherwise, and it also makes it hard for consumers to comparison shop... An example is the “service fees” added to the cost of a ticket to a concert or sporting event. more »