The State Board of Education took more steps this week toward allowing two new companies to begin administering high school equivalency tests in Texas, but the pace is frustrating adult education advocates.
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.
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Energy
Vista Ridge Pipeline Opponents Win Small Victory
A controversial plan for a 142-mile pipeline to carry water to San Antonio suffered a small defeat this week when the state water development agency staff said it wasn’t eligible for an $885 million low-interest construction loan.
Posted in
Public Education
Computer Glitch Affected Thousands of Exams
Technical issues last week that caused students to lose their answers on state standardized exams impacted about 14,220 computerized tests, Commissioner Mike Morath told the State Board of Education on Wednesday.
Posted in
Politics
Multiple Lawsuits, Oil Prices Could Spell Budget Doomsday for State
Over four lawsuits, the state is potentially facing billions in legal expenses at a time when stubbornly low oil prices are simultaneously threatening to blunt its coffers.
Posted in
Higher Education
Texas Behind in Preparing Kids for College, Panel Told
Texas lags most other states in preparing high schoolers for college and needs to update its readiness standards, Higher Education Coordinating Board Commissioner Raymund Paredes told state senators at a hearing on Tuesday.
Posted in
Energy
Deal Struck to Move Forward with Pipeline
The financial troubles of a Spanish company hired to build San Antonio’s $884 million Vista Ridge water pipeline won’t drag down the project, utility and city officials contend.
Posted in
Energy
Houston-area Residents Protest Hurricane Plan
A public meeting to gather input from Houston-area residents on various hurricane protection plans turned into a mini protest Tuesday with several attendees challenging a levee proposal that would leave some communities around Galveston Bay unprotected.
Posted in
Energy
Report: High Arsenic Levels in Many Texans’ Drinking Water
Tens of thousands of Texans live in places where the drinking water contains toxic levels of arsenic — a known carcinogen — and the state isn’t doing enough to discourage them from consuming it, according to a new report from an environmental group.
Posted in
Energy
New Houston Hurricane Plan Stirs the Pot
A new proposal to protect the Houston area from hurricanes is reigniting controversy — and potentially diminishing the odds that a consensus will emerge anytime soon on the best plan to safeguard the nation’s fifth-largest metropolitan area.
Posted in
Protecting the Coast
Hell and High Water: Risks Grow for Low-Lying Cities in Houston Region
Several experts worry that the low-lying residential areas in the Houston region are now more vulnerable to storms. Read more in our “Hell and High Water” project, done in collaboration with ProPublica.
