The Texas Education Agency (TEA) oversees primary and secondary public education for the state, including setting accountability standards. The Commissioner of Education, Robert Scott, manages the TEA, and the agency works in conjunction with the State Board of Education (SBOE) in setting curriculum standards.
According to its website, the TEA:
We’ve built a searchable database to feature Children At Risk’s 2012 rankings for the state’s 5,800-plus public schools. Using data from the Texas Education Agency, this year’s rankings are based on 16 criteria, which are adjusted to account for each school’s percentage of economically disadvantaged students.
Full StoryE. Smith interviews Dan Patrick about John Carona, Root on the race to replace Ron Paul, Batheja on a nest of open House seats in Tarrant County, Aguilar on a border brawl over a congressional seat in El Paso, Tan on the fight over Planned Parenthood in West Texas, Aaronson maps the holes in the state's health care provider network, M. Smith on who might be the next Texas education commissioner, Ramshaw on social media sabotage, Hamilton and Ramshaw on the reaction to news of job insecurity for UT-Austin's president and Grissom on a knickers-twisting historical marker: The best of our best content from May 7 to 11, 2012.
Full StoryWith the state government tightening its belt, there are now 10,200 fewer state government employees, according to our latest analysis of data collected by the state auditor’s office.
Full StoryState Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock, R-Killeen, is launching a website to try to kickstart discussion on what will surely be a hot topic in the next legislative session: school accountability.
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Education Commissioner Robert Scott's successor will have his or her hands full. The job requires a delicate balancing act in regard to state officials and school administrators. So who could get Gov. Rick Perry's nod for the post?
Full StoryAguilar on the House District 77 primary, Batheja on the HD-101 and SD-9 primaries, Galbraith on the GOP candidates for two Railroad Commission slots, Grissom on the latest in the Kerry Max Cook case, Hamilton on Texas A&M's new accountability website, Murphy and M. Smith on how much superintendents make, Ramsey interviews a would-be Democratic Party chair, Root on that nice Ted Nugent, M. Smith on the resignation of the state's education commissioner and Tan on the continuing court fight over Planned Parenthood: The best of our best content from April 30 to May 4, 2012.
Full StoryOn this week's podcast, Ross, Emily, Morgan and Ben weigh the recent resignation of Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott and the back-and-forth court rulings on Planned Parenthood and the Women's Health Program.
Full StoryDuring the 2011 legislative session, we compiled a salary database of all the state’s highest-paid school administrators: superintendents. After a year and a $5.4 billion reduction in state funding to public education, we are doing it again.
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Texas Education Agency Commissioner Robert Scott is leaving the post Gov. Rick Perry appointed him to in 2007.
Full StorySchool districts are taking advantage of the Texas Education Agency's decision to waive the requirement that STAAR exams count for 15 percent of students' grades for the 2011-12 school year.
Full StoryPublic schools in Texas employ about 25,000 less employees than they did at this time last year. Use this interactive to see what happened in your school district.
Full StoryOn this week's TribCast, Ben, Ross, Emily and Morgan discuss redistricting, public school accountability testing and the controversy involving Susan G. Komen for the Cure and Planned Parenthood.
Full StoryThis year, for the first time, students' scores on standardized tests will count 15 percent toward their final grades. It sounds straightforward, but how some districts are applying the so-called 15 percent rule threatens to spark the next political battle over a test that has seen plenty of them.
Full StoryThe TEA has released new guidelines that set tough thresholds for school districts hoping to take advantage of special legal exemptions passed by the Legislature and intended to help schools cope with significant budget cuts.
Full StoryProposition 6 on the Texas constitutional ballot would allow the land commissioner to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars to public education. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports that the measure has seen little opposition.
Full StoryEvery time a student drops out of public school, taxpayers save money. That’s one fewer student, at an annual savings of more than $11,000 per year from state and local sources.
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As the popularity of online learning grows, public schools are grappling with how to most effectively integrate it into their classrooms — and some in the education community worry about the increasing influence of for-profit companies.
Full StoryThe lawsuits over public education funding that are currently taking shape will be the latest in a long history of court intervention in Texas' school finance system. But how much can the judiciary do to fix it?
Full StoryWe'll be liveblogging throughout the weekend from The Texas Tribune Festival's public and higher education track — which includes panels on the role research should play at state universities and how to pay for public education.
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Despite more details from the Obama administration today about how it would exempt states from complying with the law's signature requirements, the Texas Education Agency has yet to decide whether it will apply for a waiver on federal accountability requirements under the 2001 act.
Full StoryAbstinence still rules on a state policy level, but from Midland to Spring Branch, a quiet message is spreading through Texas schools: It's time to start teaching students about contraception.
Full StoryWith the Tribune’s Texas Public Schools Database, parents, students and other readers can access key academic, financial and administrative information about every public school district and campus in the state.
Full StoryDAY 23 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: The state's prison education system, known as the Windham School District, eliminates or reduces classes for Texas inmates.
Full StoryDAY 8 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: Armed with fewer resources, educators prepare students for rigorous new STAAR test.
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The vise squeezing Texas schools since the Legislature voted to remove $4 billion in state funding is getting a little tighter.
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DAY 1 of our 31-day series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: Thousands of Texas teachers will not have jobs to return to in the fall, the result of a school finance plan that cut $4 billion from districts statewide.
Full StoryAfter changing its formula, the Texas Education Agency has released the 2011 accountability ratings for the state's 1,228 districts. Search our ratings database and compare how your school fared this year compared to last.
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The new accountability ratings released Friday for public school campuses in the state's 1,228 districts and charter schools are markedly lower from the ratings given last year.
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