An ambitious new player has emerged in the controversial effort to use taxpayer dollars to help Texas parents send their kids to private or religious schools.
Kiah Collier
Kiah Collier was a reporter for the ProPublica-Texas Tribune investigative initiative from 2020 through 2023. She previously worked at the Tribune as a reporter and associate editor, covering energy and the environment through the lens of state government and politics. Kiah has reported for numerous other publications across Texas since 2010, including the Austin American-Statesman and the Houston Chronicle. Her beats also have included government and politics, public education and business. Kiah’s work has been honored with numerous prizes, including a George Foster Peabody Award, a Gerald Loeb Award, the Knight-Risser Prize for Western Environmental Journalism, the National Edward R. Murrow Award for best investigation and the AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Award. A seventh-generation Texan, she grew up in the Austin area and graduated with high honors from the University of Texas at Austin with degrees in journalism and philosophy.
Posted in
Higher Education
Education Officials Point Fingers over College Readiness
The strained relationship between the state’s higher and public education leaders were on full display Wednesday as Texas Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes told the State Board of Education it isn’t doing enough to prepare students for college.
Posted in
Public Education
Some Schools Rejecting Pared Down State Pre-K Grants
More than 20 school districts have turned down state grant money to bolster their pre-kindergarten programs because the amount offered to them isn’t enough to cover required improvements.
Posted in
Public Education
Student STAAR Performance Improves, With Caveat
Elementary and middle school students appear to be performing better on required state exams after four years of stagnant scores. But the improvement is compared to old passing standards that no longer apply.
Posted in
Public Education
Summer School a Tossup After Testing Mishaps
After the state decided standardized test results for 5th and 8th graders were unreliable, it said failing students didn’t have to retake the tests to advance a grade. But districts were given wide discretion on what to do next.
Posted in
Public Education
State Rep Seeks Investigation of Charter School
Two months after lawyers for the Republic of Turkey filed a complaint against Harmony Public Schools, a high-ranking state representative has asked the Texas Attorney General to investigate allegations against the state’s largest charter school network.
Posted in
Public Education
Half of Students Who Failed Exams Cleared to Graduate, State Data Shows
Nearly 6,000 Texas high school students were cleared for graduation in 2015 even though they didn’t pass all of their end-of-course exams, according to data the Texas Education Agency posted online this spring but did not announce.
Posted in
Public Education
Texas Announces Hundreds of Schools Receiving Pre-K Grants
The state will divvy up $116 million among 578 school districts and charters to bolster high-quality pre-kindergarten programs, Education Commissioner Mike Morath announced Tuesday.
Posted in
Rough Patch
Oil Patch Schools Facing Budget Nightmare
The oil bust is threatening to deal a serious financial blow to schools in oil-producing regions across the state — particularly if it lingers.
Posted in
Energy
Texas Awarded $50 Million in Massive Volkswagen Settlement
Volkswagen has agreed to pay Texas $50 million as part of what is being described as the largest auto-related class-action settlement in U.S. history.
