The latest Texas Education Agency news from The Texas Tribune.
TEA said it needs to make adjustments to account for changes in students’ academic performance after the pandemic. The delay comes after several school districts sued to stop the agency from releasing school rankings produced under a new rating system. Full Story
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Lawmakers failed to pass legislation on school vouchers or teacher raises this year, but they approved other education-related laws like an $800 million investment in high-quality instructional materials and new rules for students found vaping or using marijuana. Full Story
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House Bill 900 requires book vendors to rate all their materials based on their depictions or references to sex before selling them to schools. Vendors say the law aims to regulate protected speech with “vague and over broad” terms. Full Story
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Thousands of Houston-area students returned to radically different campuses Monday as a new era begins in Texas’ largest school district. Full Story
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Two Texas bookstores and three national bookseller associations file suit over House Bill 900, which requires private booksellers to rate books on appropriateness, and bans “sexually explicit” material from libraries. Full Story
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Experts say many of the changes will bolster school safety but some requirements may be challenging for public schools to implement by the upcoming school year with limited funding and staffing constraints. Full Story
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Mike Miles said the cuts will be mostly from academics-related departments with more positions to be cut in coming weeks, he said. Full Story
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Mike Miles has wasted no time in restructuring schools and proposing administrative layoffs. The changes are designed to pay teachers at struggling schools more if their students show improvement. Full Story
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Threat assessment teams were created to prevent the next school shooting. However, confusion surrounds how these teams operate and what they even do with a child exhibiting threatening behavior. Full Story
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Lawmakers sacrificed school funding to block school vouchers, but the issue could be debated again in a special session. Districts will get new funds for school safety, though Uvalde families were ultimately left disappointed with inaction on gun restrictions. Full Story
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The former Dallas ISD superintendent and a state-appointed board of managers will replace Houston’s elected school board in response to years of poor academic outcomes at a single campus in the district. Full Story
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Both chambers have said school safety is a priority this session after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at a Uvalde elementary school last year. Full Story
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The Texas House’s education committee is soon expected to discuss the new version of Senate Bill 8, which was heavily modified to sway votes in the lower chamber. Full Story
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Texas is among at least 11 states that have agreed to distribute fingerprinting kits sold by Kenny Hansmire’s Waco-based National Child Identification Program. Some are spending millions even though similar kits are available for free. Full Story
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Use our database to learn about Texas public school districts and campuses, including hundreds of charter schools and alternative campuses. Data is current as of the 2021-2022 school year. Full Story
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A bill passed by the Texas House on Wednesday would also help schools rehire retired teachers and offer other incentives in an effort to fight the state’s teacher shortage. Full Story
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Lawmakers have said school safety is a priority this session, but it is still unclear whether they’ll listen to Uvalde families who want to raise the minimum age to purchase semi-automatic guns from 18 to 21. Full Story
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Senate Bill 11, which aims to get hundreds of districts without adequate safety protocols to adopt one, would also beef up truancy laws. Full Story
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At one elementary school, protesters chanted as the school day was about to begin. Parents sought petition signatures at a high school. The demonstrations are planned throughout the day. Full Story
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The TEA recommended the move, citing the district’s failures serving special education students. The announcement comes two weeks after the agency appointed a board of managers to oversee Houston ISD. Full Story
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