O’Rourke’s PAC donated more than $1 million to Democrats during redistricting battle
A judge temporarily barred Powered by People from fundraising for Democrats or financially supporting the quorum break.
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Texas students’ STAAR scores for this year are out. Here’s how your school or district did.
Test scores rose slightly after math scores previously fell last year.
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public education
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Texas Legislature 2025
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criminal justice
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Latest News
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Texas school ratings improve, but more campuses inch closer to state sanctions
Fewer schools received a D or an F in the 2024-25 school year than the year prior. But for campuses that are underperforming, two or more years of low grades in a row means more pressure to improve — or risk more state oversight. Full Story
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![Students head to their classrooms at Calk-Wilson Elementary School in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Aug. 11, 2025.]()
Credit: John Oliva/Corpus Christi Caller-Times via REUTERS -
Four-day school weeks are on the rise as Texas districts look for teacher perks on a tight budget
More than 500 schools are using four-day school weeks, a dramatic increase from two years ago driven by fierce competition for educators amid a statewide teacher shortage. Full Story
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![WOODSON, TEXAS — JULY 29, 2025: Casey Adams, superintendent of Woodson Independent School District (ISD), poses for a portrait at the Woodson ISD library in Woodson, Texas, on Tuesday, July 28, 2025. The district adopted a four-day school week model during the 2019–20 school year. CREDIT: Desiree Rios for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Desiree Rios for The Texas Tribune
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Texas released two years of A-F ratings for schools and districts. See how yours did.
In the 2024-25 school year, 14% of Texas school districts got an A, 71% got a B or a C, and 15% got a D or an F, new state data shows. Full Story
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![Temple, Texas - 4/17/25: JoMeka Gray teaches a class of kindergarteners at Kennedy-Powell Elementary in Temple, Texas. Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune -
U.S. will build sterile fly factory in Texas to stop screwworm from devastating livestock industry
Mounted patrol officers, known as tick riders, who typically patrol the southern border to protect cattle from fever tick, will also now serve as the first line of defense against screwworm. Full Story
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![Forty to fifty head of cattle down from 5,000 due to restrictions on cattle imports from Mexico at the Vaquero Trading stockyard in Sunland Park, New Mexico on January 8, 2025.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune
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Abbott calls second special session as first round ends with Democrats still out of state
The second session is set to consider the same agenda that stalled in the first, with redistricting and disaster response at the top of the governor’s priorities. Full Story
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![Governor Greg Abbott speaks at a press conference Friday, Aug. 15, 2025 in Austin, Texas. Abbott spoke about Texas’s response to screw worm as well addressed California Governor Gavin Newsom comments and actions regarding redistricting.]()
Credit: Ronaldo Bolaños/The Texas Tribune -
Dallas and Fort Worth end their diversity efforts to keep federal funding
The North Texas city councils said hundreds of millions of dollars were in jeopardy if they didn’t shut certain programs to comply with the Trump administration. Full Story
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![Children play at the Nancy Best Fountain at Klyde Warren Park in downtown Dallas on Sunday, July 27, 2025 in Dallas, Texas.]()
Credit: Ronaldo Bolaños/The Texas Tribune -
Texas megadonor Alex Fairly will fund legal bid to keep GOP lawmakers on the primary ballot
The Amarillo businessman said he would tap into the $20 million political action committee he launched last year to preserve ballot access for censured Republicans. Full Story
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![Alex Fairly attends a board of directors meeting for the Amarillo Economic Development Corporation on Monday, April 21, 2025, in Amarillo.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune
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Poll finds Cornyn, Paxton in dead heat in Texas’ Senate GOP primary
Every previous public poll had shown the attorney general with a considerable lead over Texas’ incumbent senator. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is challenging U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in the 2026 Republican primary.]()
Credit: The Texas Tribune -
Federal judge appears ready to dismiss 2 of 14 charges in Henry Cuellar’s bribery case
The dismissal comes after Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memo narrowing the enforcement of laws relating to foreign lobbying and bribery. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, R-Laredo, at a Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on April 10, 2024.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Michael A. McCoy -
Texas Democrats say they will return to state once session ends, California unveils retaliatory map
In a statement, the House Democratic Caucus said its lawyers had advised returning “to build a strong public legislative record for the upcoming legal battle” against the GOP’s map. Full Story
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![Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin speaks during a press conference surrounded by members of the Texas House Democratic Caucus at Painters District Council 30 in Aurora, Ill., on Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025.]()
Credit: Jamie Kelter Davis for The Texas Tribune
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Justice Department presses Texas for list of registered voters and the officials who check it
For now, the state is holding off on fulfilling the request while it switches to a new voter registration management system. Full Story
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![The line wraps around the sidewalk at the Cinco Ranch Branch Library on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, in Ft Bend County.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Casar, Doggett would run for same Austin congressional seat under GOP map, setting up clash of generations
The contest would unearth brewing Democratic tensions over age and experience, forcing Austin politicos to choose between two well-liked progressives. Full Story
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![U.S. Reps. Lloyd Doggett and Greg Casar, both of Austin (left), listen as Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio speaks during a press conference with Texas Democratic leaders at the Texas Capitol on July 31, 2025. Doggett and Casar could face each other in a primary under the new congressional redistricting maps drawn by the Texas Legislature at Pres. Trump's prompting.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
History repeated itself when the Guadalupe River swept away Camp Mystic. Why few lessons were learned after the 1987 flood.
The Fourth of July flood bore a striking similarity to the Hill Country flood that killed 10 summer campers in 1987. In the following years, officials took little action to protect against the next storm. Full Story
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Credit: Desiree Rios for The Texas Tribune
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Trump vowed to end “wasteful” federal spending. Beloved Texas school programs got caught in the middle.
Sweeping and sudden funding changes this year put two revered after-school programs for low-income Texans and a rural teacher training initiative at risk of closure. Full Story
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![Boys & Girls Club members H’Sanii Blankenship, 17, and Ray, 16, (left to right) play Dominoes with other club members at Navarro Early College High School in Austin, Texas on July 22, 2025. Photo by Montinique Monroe for the Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Montinique Monroe for The Texas Tribune -
Texas economy, job growth slowing amid trade war and immigration crackdown, Dallas fed report says
Increasing tariffs on foreign goods and the impact of deportations on the work force cited as job growth slows in Texas. Full Story
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![A truck travels on U.S. Highway 281 in Pharr. 281 stretches from the U.S.-Mexico border to the U.S.-Canada border.]()
Credit: Reynaldo Leal for The Texas Tribune -
Bill protecting sex trafficking victims from some criminal charges passes Senate
Senate Bill 10 would shield victims from prosecution from some crimes if they’re threatened or coerced into the act by their trafficker. Full Story
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![The state Capitol in Austin on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025.]()
Credit: Ronaldo Bolaños/The Texas Tribune
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Illinois court rejects Texas request to enforce arrest warrants against House Democrats
Judge Scott Larson ruled that the Texas speaker and attorney general had “failed to present a legal basis for the court” to take up the issue. Full Story
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![Democratic Texas Rep. Ron Reynolds speaks during a press conference with members of the Texas House Democratic Caucus at IBEW Local 701 in Warrenville, Ill., on Monday, Aug. 4, 2025. More than 30 Democratic Texas lawmakers fled the state the day before to block a quorum and delay a redistricting plan backed by former President Donald Trump. They regrouped in Illinois to prevent the Legislature from advancing a mid-decade congressional map that could shift several seats to Republican control.]()
Credit: Jamie Kelter Davis for The Texas Tribune -
If Texas were to ban or regulate THC, crime labs say they would need more resources
Crime lab officials told lawmakers Wednesday they are struggling to keep up with deadlier drugs like fentanyl and a THC ban or new regulations would add to the challenge. Full Story
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![Steve Dye, city of Allen chief of police, testifies in favor of Senate Bill 5 banning THC during a committee hearing at the state Capitol in Austin on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. Dye spoke on the worrying cost of testing THC products and enforcing regulation.]()
Credit: Ronaldo Bolaños/The Texas Tribune -
Texas’ oldest wildlife refuge was set to expand. Then the Trump administration changed course.
Established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge was set to grow up to 700,000 acres to protect wildlife in West Texas and the Panhandle. Full Story
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![Sandhill crane, seen at Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge.]()
Credit: Wyman Meinzer/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - More News