School district leaders said the state’s increasing reliance on takeovers to improve academic performance threatens local control. The emergence of private school vouchers could pose another challenge.
Jaden Edison
Jaden Edison is the public education reporter for The Texas Tribune, where he previously worked as a reporting fellow in summer 2022. Before returning to the Tribune full time, he served as the justice reporter for The Connecticut Mirror, another nonprofit newsroom covering government, politics and public policy. He also interned at Poynter, a nonprofit media institute. Jaden has a master's degree from the Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at Columbia University and a bachelor's degree from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State University, where he was editor-in-chief of the The University Star, the campus' student-run newspaper.
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Public Education
Texas State Board of Education advisers signal push to the right in social studies overhaul
Some advisers have criticized diversity efforts, questioned the historical contributions of people of color, and promoted debunked beliefs.
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Public Education
Texas put its chief financial officer in charge of school vouchers. Here’s what you need to know.
The Texas comptroller holds tremendous power over the program, including choosing which companies the state will pay millions to help manage it. Voters will decide who runs the agency next year.
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Public Education
Fort Worth ISD takeover was largely based on STAAR test, despite plans to replace it
Both Republicans and Democrats have said STAAR sets students up for failure, raising questions about basing a state takeover on the test’s results.
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Public Education
How a single Fort Worth ISD campus prompted a state takeover
The district has struggled to bring students’ grades up, especially at campuses in low-income neighborhoods with large Black and brown populations.
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Public Education
Texas Education Agency takes over Fort Worth ISD, replacing its elected school board
The North Texas district is the 11th since 2000 to be taken over by the state and the second largest after Houston ISD.
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Public Education
Texans could begin applying for school vouchers in February
Private schools looking to educate participating students may also have a chance to apply to the program before the end of the year.
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Public Education
Texas selects company that will help develop its school voucher program
Finance and technology company Odyssey will help design the application process, manage payments and review complaints for the state’s education savings accounts.
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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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Public Education
Texas investigation into teachers’ posts after Charlie Kirk’s death violates their free speech, experts say
Free speech experts say that when teachers speak in their personal capacity, even on school grounds but outside their official duties, they retain their right to comment on matters of public concern.