If Texas’ less-than-theatrical 83rd legislative session is remembered at all, it will be known for accords, not discord. Here's a look at top storylines from this session and what they could portend for the future.

Texas colleges, universities and public schools could see more firearm-carrying students or authorities under two gun rights expansion bills that got preliminary approval in the House on Saturday. 

Two years ago, lawmakers couldn't find the money they needed to run the government they had promised their voters. Now they have the money — and a completely different set of political problems. 

Voters asked lawmakers to cut down on the high-stakes standardized tests in schools and to replace some of the budget cuts made in 2011. Will they soon be asking why lawmakers made it easier to get a high school diploma?

Batheja on a House budget without vouchers or Medicaid expansion, Aguilar on obstacles to a new power plant in El Paso, Permenter on deer breeder regulations, E. Smith’s interview with San Antonio’s Castro twins, Galbraith on proposals for new underground water reservoirs, Root finds holes in a UT regent's appointment files, M. Smith on a planned school rating system that defied recommendations, Murphy maps oil and gas disposal wells in Texas, Dehn on objections to a bigger Medicaid program and Hamilton on efforts to lure gun makers to Texas: The best of our best for the week of April 1-5, 2013.

Sen. Dan Patrick's Senate Bill 2 is the most ambitious attempt to expand the state’s charter school system since it was established in 1995. It will have to pass a Legislature that defeated more modest proposals two years ago.

The president of Rice University on the declining reputation of higher education, the difference between public and private universities, and the future of academic research.

Sam Houston State University administrators credit a nationally recognized advising center for moving their graduation rates in the right direction.

UTEP's graduation rates are among the worst in the state, but President Diana Natalicio is adamant that the metric doesn't accurately reflect the institution.