Since Abbott first declared a border emergency in 2021, he’s renewed or amended the proclamation at least 69 times. The proclamation has greatly expanded his powers.
Lexi Churchill
Lexi Churchill is a reporter for the ProPublica-Texas Tribune Investigative Initiative. Before joining ProPublica, Lexi interned at CNBC, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Columbia Daily Tribune and KCUR 89.3, Kansas City’s NPR affiliate. Her reporting on the University of Missouri’s Title IX appeals process won the GateHouse Public Service Award for 2018. Lexi graduated from Mizzou in 2019 with a degree in investigative convergence journalism.
Posted in
Investigations
How Mike Morath’s agency helped get an AI tool in Texas public school classrooms
The State Board of Education raised concerns about Alpha School’s AI tool. Then the Texas Education Agency helped pilot it in public school districts.
Posted in
Investigations
Texas rejected an AI-driven school’s bid to open a charter. Then the state approved it for the voucher program.
Alpha School quadrupled its Texas private school campuses. Most are eligible for state dollars through the new voucher program.
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Investigations
How a man once ordered to pay libel damages helped launch an investigation into Islamic private schools
A man convicted of libel in Britain helped spur investigations into Islamic private schools applying to Texas’ voucher program, legal filings say.
Posted in
Investigations
Texas lawmakers repeatedly failed to pass flood protections. Some could have saved lives.
Dozens of bills were rejected over nearly 60 years, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune found. Some measures would have prohibited youth camps and new construction in high-risk flood areas.
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Investigations
Kerr County was among dozens of Texas communities to turn down state flood money, saying it wasn’t enough
Texas earmarked $1.4 billion to help fund flood prevention projects. But after learning that so many communities turned down the money, two lawmakers who approved the program acknowledged it was flawed.
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The Texas Tribune-ProPublica Investigative Unit
New Uvalde records reveal how school district changed course on supporting police chief
The details were revealed in more than 25,000 pages of records released after a yearslong legal fight by news outlets including ProPublica and The Texas Tribune.
Posted in
Politics
Texans ask for eligibility fixes, stronger accountability in school voucher program
For the first time since Texas authorized the program, the state heard public testimony from people concerned about pre-K funding, special education provisions and data reporting.
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Investigations
Some of Texas’ highest-paid charter superintendents run some of its lowest-performing districts
Three Texas charter school districts underreported compensation paid to top leaders. They also recently had failing or near-failing performance ratings.
Posted in
Investigations
Some Texas private schools hire relatives and enrich insiders. Soon they can do it with taxpayer money.
An investigation by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune found more than 60 instances of nepotism, self-dealing and conflicts of interest among 27 private schools that likely would have violated state laws had the schools been public.
