Ward Farnsworth, an associate dean at Boston University School of Law, will take over as dean of the University of Texas School of Law on June 1.
Morgan Smith
Morgan Smith was a reporter at the Tribune from 2009 to 2018, covering politics, public education and inequality.
In 2013, she received a National Education Writers Association award for “Death of a District,” a series on school closures. After earning a bachelor’s degree in English from Wellesley College, she moved to Austin in 2008 to enter law school at the University of Texas.
A San Antonio native, her work has also appeared in Slate, where she spent a year as an editorial intern in Washington D.C.
Posted inPublic Education, State Government
Interactive: How Much Do Superintendents Make?
During the 2011 legislative session, we compiled a salary database of all the state’s highest-paid school administrators: superintendents. After a year and a $5.4 billion reduction in state funding to public education, we are doing it again.
Posted in
Public Education
Texas Schools Chief Stepping Down
Texas Education Agency Commissioner Robert Scott is leaving the post Gov. Rick Perry appointed him to in 2007.
Posted in
Public Education
Six Years After District is Closed, Signs of Rebirth
Plagued by financial and academic troubles, Wilmer-Hutchins ISD was closed six years ago. Now, the area appears to be on the verge of academic transformation, with three new Dallas ISD campuses.
Posted in
Public Education
District Still Has Work to Do After Cutting Sports
Premont ISD in South Texas has made drastic moves to improve its finances — including cutting high school sports. But critics fault the state’s accountability and school finance systems, which they say punish districts that serve largely low-income populations.
Posted in
Public Education
North Forest Lives On, But So Do Its Struggles
North Forest ISD has gotten what amounts to a stay of execution. But the question of whether students would be better off attending different schools still lingers.
Posted in
Public Education
Texas School District Closures Are Rare, But Should They Be?
There’s little research that indicates closing districts will improve outcomes for students, but letting chronically low-performing and financially mismanaged schools stay open doesn’t work either.
Posted in
Public Education
STAAR Almost Over, but Debate Isn’t
The STAAR exams are almost over, but for elected officials, educators and other members of the education community, wrangling over the new tests — and the effects of standardized testing in the classroom — has just begun.
Posted in
Public Education
Slideshow: Save Our Schools Rally at Texas Capitol
Hundreds of educators, lawmakers and parents descended on the Capitol Saturday to protest cuts to public education. Here are some images from the scene.
Posted in
Public Education
Who Will Lead the Senate Education Committee?
Sen. Florence Shapiro’s departure means the end of a nearly two-decade-long tenure in the state Senate — and an opening in the top position on the Senate Education Committee for the first time since 2003.
