Districts Take Advantage of STAAR Rule Change
School districts are taking advantage of the Texas Education Agency's decision to waive the requirement that STAAR exams count for 15 percent of students' grades for the 2011-12 school year. Full Story
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Interactive: 25,000 Fewer Public School Employees
Public schools in Texas employ about 25,000 less employees than they did at this time last year. Use this interactive to see what happened in your school district. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman -
The Weekly TribCast: Episode 118
On this week's TribCast, Ben, Ross, Emily and Morgan discuss redistricting, public school accountability testing and the controversy involving Susan G. Komen for the Cure and Planned Parenthood. Full Story
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Credit: Todd Wiseman -
Schools Find Many Ways to Adapt Grades to Test
This year, for the first time, students' scores on standardized tests will count 15 percent toward their final grades. It sounds straightforward, but how some districts are applying the so-called 15 percent rule threatens to spark the next political battle over a test that has seen plenty of them. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman -
Schools Face Tough New Rules on Financial Hardship
The TEA has released new guidelines that set tough thresholds for school districts hoping to take advantage of special legal exemptions passed by the Legislature and intended to help schools cope with significant budget cuts. Full Story
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Credit: Todd Wiseman -
Little Opposition to Measure That Would Increase School Funding
Proposition 6 on the Texas constitutional ballot would allow the land commissioner to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars to public education. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports that the measure has seen little opposition. Full Story
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School Dropouts, Politicians and the Funny Arithmetic of State Budgets
Every time a student drops out of public school, taxpayers save money. That’s one fewer student, at an annual savings of more than $11,000 per year from state and local sources. Full Story
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Online Classes Booming, But With Red Flags
As the popularity of online learning grows, public schools are grappling with how to most effectively integrate it into their classrooms — and some in the education community worry about the increasing influence of for-profit companies. Full Story
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![Eagle Scout and high school graduate Will Clarkston, 20, logged in to The Bridge School from his bedroom in Houston on Tuesday, October 4, 2011. He is taking online classes now and planning to attend community college in the spring.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Once Again, Texas Faces Lawsuits Over How It Funds Its Schools
The lawsuits over public education funding that are currently taking shape will be the latest in a long history of court intervention in Texas' school finance system. But how much can the judiciary do to fix it? Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman -
Schools, Textbook Publishers Adjust to Power Shift
A new state law decentralizing the selection and purchase of instructional materials for Texas students has sparked debate about how it will affect the politically charged State Board of Education's power to control what’s taught in Texas classrooms. Full Story
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Liveblog: Public and Higher Education at The Texas Tribune Festival
We'll be liveblogging throughout the weekend from The Texas Tribune Festival's public and higher education track — which includes panels on the role research should play at state universities and how to pay for public education. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Ben Hasson -
Texas Still Undecided on No Child Left Behind Waiver
Despite more details from the Obama administration today about how it would exempt states from complying with the law's signature requirements, the Texas Education Agency has yet to decide whether it will apply for a waiver on federal accountability requirements under the 2001 act. Full Story
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Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
More Texas Schools Teach Safe Sex With Abstinence
Abstinence still rules on a state policy level, but from Midland to Spring Branch, a quiet message is spreading through Texas schools: It's time to start teaching students about contraception. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Michael Stravato / Geoffrey McAllister -
News App: The Texas Public Schools Database
With the Tribune’s Texas Public Schools Database, parents, students and other readers can access key academic, financial and administrative information about every public school district and campus in the state. Full Story
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31 Days, 31 Ways: Fewer Classes, Teachers for Incarcerated Texans
DAY 23 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: The state's prison education system, known as the Windham School District, eliminates or reduces classes for Texas inmates. Full Story
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Video: 31 Days, 31 Ways: Fewer Classes for Incarcerated Texans
DAY 23 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: The state's prison education system, known as the Windham School District, eliminates or reduces classes for inmates. Full Story
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31 Days, 31 Ways: Students Switch from TAKS to STAAR
DAY 8 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: Armed with fewer resources, educators prepare students for rigorous new STAAR test. Full Story
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Credit: Texas Education Agency / The Texas Tribune -
School Ratings "Far More Accurate" — and Lower
The vise squeezing Texas schools since the Legislature voted to remove $4 billion in state funding is getting a little tighter. Full Story
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Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
31 Days, 31 Ways: Thousands of Texas Teachers Losing Jobs
DAY 1 of our 31-day series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: Thousands of Texas teachers will not have jobs to return to in the fall, the result of a school finance plan that cut $4 billion from districts statewide. Full Story
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![Bryan McClintock, a special education teacher from Frisco, worked in the Little Elm School District until he was laid off last spring. The Texas Legislature slashed public education funding by $4 billion during the 2011 special session, leading districts statewide to cut down on personnel costs.]()
Credit: Bryan McClintock -
Interactive: 2011 Texas School District Accountability Ratings
After changing its formula, the Texas Education Agency has released the 2011 accountability ratings for the state's 1,228 districts. Search our ratings database and compare how your school fared this year compared to last. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Ryan Murphy / Todd Wiseman