UPDATED: Asked why the state had delayed a transition away from lower passing standards on state exams, Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams told state lawmakers Tuesday that classroom instruction had failed to meet the rigor demanded by the new tests. 

Texas' education commissioner announced on Friday that the state would suspend a law that requires fifth- and eighth-graders to pass end-of-year math exams to advance to the next grade level.

For-profit teacher certification companies are flourishing in Texas. But as the industry grows, so do questions about the state's ability to control the quality of training the programs provide.

The rivalry between U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and Gov. Rick Perry warmed up over the weekend.

In the second year of a new school accountability system, nine out of 10 Texas districts met state standards, according to ratings released by the Texas Education Agency on Friday. The 2014 ratings show a slight decline from last year.

In December, the Texas Education Agency moved to shutter six charter school operators under a new law. Nearly 10 months later, three of those schools remain open — fighting a process they say is overly simplistic.

As Texas education officials announced the third year of record-breaking high school graduation rates on Tuesday, critics continued to raise questions about the method the state uses to calculate them. 

Many unaccompanied minors fleeing violence in Central America remain in Texas, and public school administrators face the challenge of providing an education for them.

Hey, Texplainer: If high school students take AP U.S. history, does that mean they are studying Common Core? Wouldn't that be illegal in Texas?

Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams told federal education officials the state would take an additional year to pilot a new teacher evaluation system based in part on student standardized test performance.

UPDATED: Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams told State Board of Education members Wednesday that said that when he approved a charter school's expansion into the Dallas area, he was following the spirit of a 2013 law. 

Stacked up against other states, Texas public schools could win the best-bang-for-your-buck competition. The state spends less than most others, and its students perform better than many. But the commitment to fiscal restraint has come with its own burdens for teachers.

Over the last decade, Texas students have made steady progress on a number of academic measures. But in recent years, that improvement has begun to stall.  

State legislatures are scrambling to renounce Common Core standards as a grassroots movement builds against them. But their most vocal and earliest opponent was Texas.

Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams has effectively overruled a vote by the State Board of Education to deny an Arizona-based charter school's expansion into the Dallas area.