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.

On Monday, a panel of senators questioned Barbara Cargill on her appointment to lead the State Board of Education. If she wins their approval, she will be the first SBOE leader to earn confirmation from the Legislature since 2005.

El Paso Democrat Martha Dominguez's apparent absence from the campaign trail has prompted her SBOE opponent to call her a "ghost" — and has sparked criticism from members of her own party. But that may not stop her from winning the race.

In Texas, where the curriculum-setting State Board of Education has engaged in high-profile skirmishes over science education, there will be no rush to implement new nationally developed common standards.

Two influential incumbents on the State Board of Education — who are often at odds with each other — are both facing primary challenges that could result in a power shift on the fractious board. 

The Texas Association of Business announced today that it has joined a school finance lawsuit against the state, demanding a study of school system efficiency.

The new K-12 math standards will have a staggered rollout, with K-8 standards taking effect in 2014 and the high school standards coming out in 2015.

The director of The Revisionaries, a new documentary about the Texas State Board of Education’s battle over science and history education, on whether there are any villains in the film and the process of getting content into textbooks.

As the State Board of Education prepares to approve new K-12 math standards, it is receiving significant pushback from leaders in Texas' business community, who contend that they're are not up to snuff.

Aaronson on the sharp rise in the number of Texans on food stamps, Aguilar investigates the Black Market Peso Exchange, Grissom on the humbling of John Bradley, Hamilton on the tweet heard round the world, Ramsey and Murphy on the newest redistricting maps, Ramsey on why Formula 1 screeched to a halt, Ramshaw and Tan scrutinize Rick Perry's attack on congressional insider trading, Root on Perry's plan for a "part-time citizen Congress" and M. Smith on already ugly State Board of Ed races: The best of our best content from November 14-18, 2011.

The official filing period for State Board of Education races hasn't even begun, but the mudslinging certainly has. That's no surprise: Political control over the divisive board hangs in the balance. 

Hamilton on efforts to boost faculty productivity, Grissom on newly uncovered evidence in an old murder case, Galbraith on a wind-powered construction boom, Dehn unfurls the new Texas Tribune Weekend Insider, Aguilar on this year's record number of deportations, Ramshaw and Tan on budget cuts and cervical cancer screenings, M. Smith on local control over student grades, Root and Ramshaw on Rick Perry's latest debate performance, Philpott on an issue that didn't get its due in that debate and Titus and Murphy on fundraising and spending in congressional races: The best of our best content from October 17 to 21, 2011.

A new state law decentralizing the selection and purchase of instructional materials for Texas students has sparked debate about how it will affect the politically charged State Board of Education's power to control what’s taught in Texas classrooms.

We'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.

Former Dallas Cowboys cornerback Deion Sanders' charter school application was among eight approved by the Texas State Board of Education today.

Gov. Rick Perry told a child questioner in New Hampshire today that Texas public schools teach creationism alongside evolution — a statement that state education experts are refuting in varying degrees.

Ramshaw on the lioness of the Texas House, Dehn and Tan review 20 years of Rick Perry's political ads, Murphy's latest database includes the governor's political accounts over the last decade, Aaronson's visualizations of what was said in the biggest legislative debates, M. Smith on the woman in the middle chair at the State Board of Education, Galbraith on how the drought is forcing ranchers to sell their herds, Grissom has the story on a cattle rustler who's asking the courts to give him an old-fashioned sentence, Hamilton covers Rick O'Donnell's latest salvo at higher education,  Aguilar on whether and how the sanctuary cities issue will translate at the ballot box next year, yours truly on Ron Paul's candidacy and the candidate in his own words: The best of our best from July 18 to 22, 2011.

Texas bypassed the Obama administration's Department of Justice on Tuesday, opting to ask a panel of federal judges in Washington, D.C., to review the state's new maps for congressional, legislative and State Board of Education districts.