Third-grade teacher Liliana Kendrick prepares for her second year teaching in a portable classroom at Whitestone Elementary School in Leander on Aug. 21, 2014.
Third-grade teacher Liliana Kendrick prepares for her second year teaching in a portable classroom at Whitestone Elementary School in Leander on Aug. 21, 2014. Charlie Pearce

Schools in Santa Fe and other parts of New Mexico were recently surprised by a new state requirement authorizing that attendance be factored into teachers’ performance evaluations. School districts had been given the option to include either teacher attendance records or parent and student surveys as 10 percent of a teacher evaluation. However, last week the state announced that it is requiring both. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

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Alex Samuels was a reporter for The Texas Tribune from 2017 to 2021. She helped with national campaign coverage, wrote stories about the intersection of race and politics in Texas, and covered the hottest...