Eleven Texas school boards ordered to the classroom
The Texas Education Agency told 11 school boards and superintendents they must take special training because their plans for fixing underperforming schools haven't made the grade. Full Story
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![Houston ISD trustees admonish TEA for delaying campus turnaround plan implementation.]()
Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman / The Texas Tribune -
Speaker Joe Straus calls for immediate special education overhaul
House Speaker Joe Straus asked the Texas Education Agency on Wednesday to immediately overhaul its system for identifying students in need of special education services. Full Story
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![Texas House Speaker Joe Straus is shown at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland on July 19, 2016.]()
Credit: Alana Rocha / The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: High property taxes start in Austin, not in school districts
State lawmakers complain that local property taxes need to be leashed. But state lawmakers are more responsible for the increases than they let on. Full Story
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Credit: Todd Wiseman -
Analysis: Rising local school property taxes ease state budget woes
State officials would like to lower local school property taxes, but they've got a secret: Some of those local school tax revenues make it easier to balance a tight state budget. Full Story
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![Ramon Cavazos teaches a middle school business class in the Olfen Independent School District in Rowena, Texas, on Jan. 20, 2016.]()
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Help Wanted to Investigate Student-Teacher Relationships
Faced with growing state attention on improper student-teacher relationships, the Texas Education Agency is asking lawmakers for hundreds of thousands of additional dollars to help investigate them — plus new legislation. Full Story
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![Texas Education Agency investigator Doug Phillips testifies on punishing educators for inappropriate student-teacher relationships during a public hearing Dec. 7, 2015 before the Senate Education Committee.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Poorly Written Special Education Law Could Be Costly to School Districts, Paxton Says
The attorney general's opinion lends credibility to school district officials who have criticized the special-education law for being expensive to comply with. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton during a May 25, 2016, press conference.]()
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Proposed Mexican-American Studies Textbook "Dripping With Racism," Group Says
Saying that a proposed Mexican-American studies textbook is "dripping with racism and intolerance," a group of educators and students is calling for the State Board of Education to reject the controversial book. Full Story
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![Dr. Christopher Carmona, chair of the National Association of Chicana and Chicano Studies-Tejas Foco's Committee on Pre K-12 Edu. in Texas Schools speaks during a press conference on July 18, 2016]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Education Agency Recommends Class Size Limits for Pre-K
To improve pre-kindergarten education, Texas schools should keep class sizes small and student-teacher ratios low, according to a newly released state report. Full Story
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![Pre-kindergarten students at the Dallas Independent School District's Cesar Chavez Learning Center.]()
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Embattled STAAR Test Vendor Facing $20 Million Fine
The Texas Education Agency is slapping the New Jersey-based company that develops and administers the state's controversial STAAR tests with a $20.7 million fine over widespread logistical and technical issues. Full Story
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Credit: Texas Education Agency / The Texas Tribune -
How a South Texas School District Spurred a Massive Turnaround
After five years of landing on the state’s list of low-performing schools, a tiny South Texas district that drew national headlines for cutting its sports program to ward off closure is now meeting state academic standards. Full Story
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![Premont High School cheerleader Stacy Morales, 17, and student basketball player Ernesto Gonzalez leave the gym after a game in 2012 — the year before the long-struggling school district opted to suspend its sports program to ward off closure.]()
Credit: Eddie Seal for The Texas Tribune -
Failing Texas Schools Facing Tougher State Intervention
Education Commissioner Mike Morath on Tuesday outlined plans to crack down harder on chronically low-performing schools, saying he wants to cut in half the number of them that end up on the state’s failing list over the next five years. Full Story
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![State Education Commissioner Mike Morath testifies Tuesday Aug 16, 2016 before the Senate Education Committee at the Texas Capitol.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich/Texas Tribune -
Panel Backpedals on Swapping Out STAAR Tests
A special panel recommending changes to the state’s public school testing and accountability system has stopped short of proposing that Texas scrap the controversial assessment regime known as STAAR. Full Story
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![Theresa Treviño, president of Texans Advocating for Meaningful Student Assessment, speaks at a special panel charged with suggesting changes to the state’s testing and school accountability system on July 27, 2016.]()
Credit: Qiling Wang/The Texas Tribune -
In School Choice Fight, a Fresh Force Emerges
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. Full Story
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![Texans for Education Opportunity Executive Director Randan Steinhauser, also an adviser for National School Choice Week, speaks during a school choice rally at the Texas Capitol in 2015.]()
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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. Full Story
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Deaf Texans' Suit Against State Reaches U.S. Supreme Court
Before they can get driver's licenses, some young Texans must take state-mandated driving courses taught by private contractors. Five deaf students sued the state after they couldn't get anyone to provide sign-language interpreters. Full Story
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Education Commissioner Expands on Decision to Scrap School Test Scores
Education Commissioner Mike Morath expanded Monday on his decision to waive requirements for 5th and 8th graders who failed this year's STAAR exams, saying that a delay in the return of test scores forced the need to take action. Full Story
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Eanes District, Vendor at Odds Over Supposed Loss of State Exams
A high-performing West Austin school district says it was told the state’s new testing vendor misplaced some or all of the STAAR exams its 3rd through 8th graders took this spring. But New Jersey-based Educational Testing Service says that’s not true. Full Story
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Parents Sue Texas Education Agency Over STAAR Exams
A backlash against this year’s STAAR exams escalated Monday when a group of parents sued the state in an attempt to keep schools from using 2016 test scores to rate students. Full Story
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Republic of Turkey Targets Houston-Based Charter School
Lawyers working for the Turkish government plan to file a complaint with the Texas Education Agency next week against Houston-based Harmony Public Schools, alleging financial malfeasance and other misconduct, school officials said. Full Story
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![Advocates showed their support for charter schools during an April 29, 2015, rally at the Texas Capitol.]()
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Texas AG Seeks Clarification on Federal Transgender Directive
Three state attorneys general are asking the federal government for clarification of its recent directive to accommodate transgender students or risk losing federal funding. Full Story
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Credit: Graphic by Callie Richmond / Bob Daemmrich / Pete Souza