The new state ban took effect on Sept. 1, and Texas’ more than 1,200 public school districts have adopted policies ranging from secure phone pouches to increased monitoring.
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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Health care
Texas’ new parental consent law leaves school nurses confused about which services they can provide to students
The law’s authors urged districts to use “common sense.” But some nurses worry they could violate the law and face discipline for providing basic care without a parent’s approval.
Posted in
Public Education
Texas AG Ken Paxton encourages students to recite Lord’s Prayer in latest test of church-state separation
The endorsement comes as Texas elected officials push for more Christianity in public life and as Paxton’s office fights a legal challenge to religion in education.
Posted in
Public Education
1 in 4 Texas school districts sign up for new Bible-infused curriculum
The numbers may grow as the state collects more data. Some districts adopted the plan not for its religious emphasis but for more funding and to better align with teaching requirements.
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Texas Legislature 2025
STAAR test overhaul nears Abbott’s desk with Texas Senate approval
Before House Bill 8 can go to the governor, the House must formally agree with changes from the Senate, which approved the proposal Wednesday night.
Posted in
Public Education
Trump vowed to end “wasteful” federal spending. Beloved Texas school programs got caught in the middle.
Sweeping and sudden funding changes this year put two revered after-school programs for low-income Texans and a rural teacher training initiative at risk of closure.
Posted in
Hill Country floods
Weather warnings gave officials a 3 hour, 21 minute window to save lives in Kerr County. What happened then remains unclear.
Federal forecasters issued their first flood warning at 1:14 a.m. on July 4. Local officials haven’t shed light on when they saw the warnings or whether they saw them in time to take action.
Posted in
Higher Education
Texas Tech University System leader says he will retire this year
Texas Tech Chancellor Tedd Mitchell has led the 64,000-student university system since 2018. His departure will mark the latest shake-up in the state’s higher ed leadership.
Posted in
Public Education
Texas Education Agency to release schools’ 2024 performance ratings after court ruling
An appeals court granted the state approval to release the ratings after doing the same for 2023 scores in April.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2025
Texas’ public ed funding boost brings some relief but erodes districts’ independence, school leaders say
A law providing $8.5 billion in new funding for Texas public schools lacks the spending flexibility that previously let districts address their campuses’ needs as they saw fit.
