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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush will be among those addressing a Texas Senate committee today about education policy. In a speech last night, he urged Texas to dismantle what he called the "monopoly of public education" by dramatically expanding access to charter schools, embracing online learning and overhauling how teachers are evaluated.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Texas lawmakers are working on a proposal to tie higher education funding to completion rates at state universities. Much of the funding for colleges is now based on enrollment figures. House Higher Education Committee Chairman Dan Branch wants to link more appropriations with measures of student success.

LOCKHART, Texas (AP) A former elementary school teacher in San Marcos has been sentenced to 32 years in prison for sexually abusing a student. Steven De Leon of Martindale was arrested after a girl's mother found a sexually explicit conversation from De Leon on a phone. He resigned last May.

EL PASO, Texas (AP) Two large smokestacks at the now-closed ASARCO copper smelter in West Texas will be demolished in April. One smokestack towers more than 600 feet and the other is more than 800 feet. Contractors and environmental officials briefed the public last night at a meeting in El Paso.