Local officials, demographers and advocates are worried the census could be particularly tough to carry out in Texas in 2020. They are bracing for challenges both practical and political that could make the state, which is already hard to count, even tougher to enumerate.
March 2018
Posted inState Government
The Texas Legislature took away $118 million in pre-K funding. Now districts are scrambling.
School officials are accessing other grants, pulling from local taxpayer dollars and diverting funding from different parts of their budgets to meet state pre-K requirements. They’re making things work for now, but they anticipate problems.
Posted in
Public Education
Texas schools suspended tens of thousands of students in second grade or younger, report says
The report warned educators and policy leaders of the risks that in-school suspensions continue to have on pre-K to second-grade students in Texas public schools.
Posted in
Public Education
Feds approve Texas school accountability plan that includes parts of A-F rating system
Federal officials gave final approval to a Texas plan for school improvement, which includes portions of the new system for grading schools on a scale from A to F. Texas education officials say it’s not too late for the public to weigh in on the A-F system.
Posted inState Government
Analysis: Why Texas Republicans hope 2018 won’t be like 1990
Texas Republicans busted through a Democratic wall in 1990, but only because their candidate in the big race that year came close enough to make other victories possible. Texas Democrats haven’t been able to get that close.
Posted in
Politics
Texas high school students bring together Ted Cruz, Joaquin Castro for “Day of Unity” event
An event organized by Houston-area high schoolers and aimed at promoting bipartisanship drew some of the state’s most well-known partisans, including Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, a Democrat, and the chairs of both state parties.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Thousands of Texans protest for gun control across state in March for Our Lives rallies
“This is a defining moment for our city, our state and our country,” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said at the city’s Tranquility Park Saturday morning, speaking at one of several rallies in Texas that collectively drew tens of thousands of attendees.
Posted in
Higher Education
Departing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson emerges as a potential candidate for UT System chancellor
Tillerson’s exit from the U.S. Department of State was announced less than two weeks ago.
Posted inState Government
Months after Sutherland Springs, Sen. John Cornyn and Texas colleagues push improved gun background checks into law
Cornyn, the most powerful Texan in Congress, attached the measure to a $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill.
Posted in
Demographics
How Donald Trump’s border wall fared in the $1.3 trillion spending bill he just signed
“We funded the initial down payment of $1.6 billion,” Trump said of border wall funding Friday. “We’re going to be starting work – literally – on Monday on not only some new wall … but also fixing existing walls.”