The Texas House voted Tuesday to swallow a bitter pill and accept a version of a school finance bill that had $1.5 billion less in funding for schools than the lower chamber initially approved.
Aliyya Swaby
Aliyya Swaby was the public education reporter for The Texas Tribune, where she worked from 2016 to 2021. Previously she worked at the hyperlocal nonprofit New Haven Independent, where she covered education, zoning and transit for two years. After graduating from Yale University in 2013, she spent a year freelance reporting in Panama on social issues affecting black Panamanian communities. She was an Education Writers Association finalist in 2017 for beat reporting and a Livingston Awards finalist in 2019 for a series on school desegregation.
Posted in
Public Education
Texas House, Senate move toward school finance compromise
The Texas House and Senate tentatively passed each other’s priority school finance bills Monday, preparing to discuss potential compromises with two days left in the special session.
Posted in
Public Education
Senate education chair: House school finance plan “not a long-term solution”
Senate Education Committee Chairman Larry Taylor said he would not accept the House’s proposal to put $1.8 billion into public schools, comparing it to driving a broken car into the ground.
Posted in
Public Education
House approves $1.8 billion package of school finance bills
The Texas House voted to approve a package of bills that would put $1.8 billion into public schools, increase funding for certain student groups and help out struggling small, rural schools.
Posted in
Economy
In Texas House, property tax proposals range from minor tweaks to abolishment
After a proposal to give a property tax exemption to Purple Heart recipients hit a snag on the House floor Monday, a committee considered a more radical idea: eliminating school district property taxes altogether.
Posted in
Public Education
House backs bill putting $212 million toward retired teachers’ health care program
The Texas House voted Tuesday to use $212 million from the Rainy Day Fund, a savings account largely fed by oil and gas production taxes, to decrease premiums and deductibles for retired teachers in the state-run health insurance program.
Posted inState Government
With retired teachers’ health care at stake, legislators clash on fixes
The House and the Senate are figuring out whether they can compromise on exactly how to put $212 million into an underfunded health insurance program for retired teachers. Teachers say they’ll take their frustration to the polls.
Posted in
Public Education
When school’s out, rural Texas towns struggle to feed their hungry kids
In East Texas, 86-year-old Clara Crawford shuttles kids to a summer meal program at the local community center. In the Panhandle, Kay Calvert and a group of volunteers want to revive a similar program in tiny Quitaque.
Posted in
Public Education
Texas has more kids eligible for free summer meals. Why is the state feeding fewer?
After peaking in 2013, the number of students who received free summer meals at Texas schools dropped last summer. No one seems to know exactly why, but one possible reason is lack of transportation.
Posted in
Public Education
Texas Senate approves teacher bonuses, benefits — but not pay raises
The Texas Senate passed a bill that would provide funding for teacher bonuses and retirement benefits, slashing a controversial provision that would require school districts to increase teacher salaries without additional state money.
