Dozens of bills were rejected over nearly 60 years, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune found. Some measures would have prohibited youth camps and new construction in high-risk flood areas.
Lexi Churchill
Lexi Churchill is a reporter for the ProPublica-Texas Tribune Investigative Initiative. Before joining ProPublica, Lexi interned at CNBC, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Columbia Daily Tribune and KCUR 89.3, Kansas City’s NPR affiliate. Her reporting on the University of Missouri’s Title IX appeals process won the GateHouse Public Service Award for 2018. Lexi graduated from Mizzou in 2019 with a degree in investigative convergence journalism.
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Investigations
Kerr County was among dozens of Texas communities to turn down state flood money, saying it wasn’t enough
Texas earmarked $1.4 billion to help fund flood prevention projects. But after learning that so many communities turned down the money, two lawmakers who approved the program acknowledged it was flawed.
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The Texas Tribune-ProPublica Investigative Unit
New Uvalde records reveal how school district changed course on supporting police chief
The details were revealed in more than 25,000 pages of records released after a yearslong legal fight by news outlets including ProPublica and The Texas Tribune.
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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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Investigations
Some of Texas’ highest-paid charter superintendents run some of its lowest-performing districts
Three Texas charter school districts underreported compensation paid to top leaders. They also recently had failing or near-failing performance ratings.
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Investigations
Some Texas private schools hire relatives and enrich insiders. Soon they can do it with taxpayer money.
An investigation by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune found more than 60 instances of nepotism, self-dealing and conflicts of interest among 27 private schools that likely would have violated state laws had the schools been public.
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Investigations
Texas lawmakers largely ignored recommendations aimed at helping rural areas like Kerr County prepare for flooding
Texas lawmakers’ inaction on flood prevention often hits rural and economically disadvantaged communities the hardest, experts said.
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The Texas Tribune-ProPublica Investigative Unit
Texas lawmakers pull funding for child identification kits again after newsrooms report they don’t work
For the second time, lawmakers cut funding for kits meant to help find missing kids after ProPublica and The Texas Tribune documented the lack of evidence that the kits work.
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Investigations
Texas lawmakers push to enforce election transparency law after newsrooms found school districts failed to comply
ProPublica and The Texas Tribune found nearly three dozen school districts were missing required campaign finance reports online. Now lawmakers are pushing to impose steep penalties on local governments that fail to abide by the law.
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Investigations
Texas lawmakers want to spend millions on Child ID kits. Experts say there’s no evidence they work.
Texas legislators slipped millions for child ID kits into a 1,000-page budget proposal. The move comes two years after they quietly cut funding for such kits following a ProPublica and Texas Tribune report that showed there’s no evidence they work.