Under a new accountability system, Texas schools are placed in two categories: "met standard" or "needs improvement." The state education agency announced Thursday that 93 percent of Texas school districts achieved the first designation.

 Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst unveiled a campaign team heavy on national grassroots experience as he officially announced his bid for re-election Wednesday.

Under a major new Obama administration initiative promoting early education, Texas is eligible for $308 million in federal money to fund full-day pre-kindergarten programs. But the money might never get here. 

Under House Bill 5, students entering high school this fall will take 10 fewer state exams than their classmates two years ahead of them. This story is part of our month-long 31 Days, 31 Ways series. 

For parents and educators who want less classroom time spent on state exams, hopes rest on recently passed legislation, but it comes with a challenge: Texas likely must first obtain waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

An extended drama over a controversial curriculum tool used by Texas public schools took a new turn Wednesday as Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst entered the fray with a letter to the State Board of Education and Senate Education Chairman Dan Patrick pushed to add the issue to the special session agenda.

UPDATED: The State Board of Education will take up the issue of whether school districts can continue to use lessons from a controversial state curriculum system at its September meeting. And the Texas Attorney General's office, along with Education Chairman Dan Patrick, has requested an official state audit of the program.

Attorney General Greg Abbott's story of adversity has the potential to resonate deeply with voters. But in the past, it has exposed him to criticism from those who say he has battered the legal protections he benefited from for political gain.

After a report from the State Auditor's Office pointed out flaws in the Texas Education Agency's oversight of a $462 million testing contract, the agency said Tuesday it will "immediately" implement new monitoring guidelines.

As educators welcome the coming changes in state testing requirements, some school districts are looking ahead at another part of recently passed education reform. The state is expanding the courses that will count toward a high school diploma.

UPDATED: With a vote of 19-11, the Senate on Friday night sent controversial abortion legislation to Gov. Rick Perry. While the crowd outside of the chamber chanted, there were none of the eruptions inside that helped kill the abortion bill in the first special session.

When state Sen. Dan Patrick endorsed Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst's unsuccessful U.S. Senate bid last year, it helped turn the two men from sometime-rivals into allies. But now, Patrick has become Dewhurst’s fiercest critic among the field of candidates hoping to unseat him.

Citing the need for "authentic conservative leadership" in Texas, state Sen. Dan Patrick announced on Thursday that he would run for lieutenant governor against incumbent David Dewhurst.

Wendy Davis came off the Senate floor early Wednesday as the national Democratic Party's newest star. But what effect her 11-hour filibuster to stop abortion legislation will have on her political prospects in Texas is an open question.

Your evening reading: lawmakers fight against the clock to pass abortion and transportation funding legislation; Pitts files resolution to impeach UT regent; Abbott talks about the accident that paralyzed him in a new campaign ad.