Starting in the 2014-15 school year, eighth-graders in Texas public schools will be required to have graphing calculators or tablets for STAAR assessments. Some poorer school districts are concerned that the mandate ignores fiscal challenges they’re already facing.
State Board of Education
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Public Education
SBOE Opts for Compromise on Mexican-American Studies
UPDATED: Instead of making Mexican-American studies an official high school course, the Texas State Board of Education settled on a tentative compromise that would leave the decision whether to offer it to school districts.
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Public Education
SBOE May Get Private Funds to Visit Out-of-State Charter Schools
A proposal under consideration by the Texas State Board of Education would allow private foundations to pay for elected officials on the 15-member board to visit out-of-state charter schools whose applications they approve.
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Public Education
CSCOPE, Algebra II Emerge as Issues in State Board of Education Races
How the Texas State Board of Education has handled its purview over curriculum standards has cropped up in three primary races that will likely determine who will join the board in January.
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Demographics
Supporters of Mexican-American Studies Class Push for State Approval
Supporters of adding Mexican-American studies as an official Texas high school course say time is running out for the State Board of Education to approve the class for next school year.
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Public Education
SBOE Votes to Repeal Algebra II as Graduation Requirement
The State Board of Education voted Friday to drop an existing requirement that all students at Texas public schools take algebra II to graduate. It also approved two high-level math courses that students can take as an alternative.
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Bidness As Usual
News App: Expanding the Ethics Explorer
We’ve expanded the officials in our Ethics Explorer to include the judges on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and the members of the State Board of Education. We’ve also updated our existing analysis on members of the Legislature.
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Public Education
Abbott, Davis Diverge as They Focus on Education
The two leading candidates for governor are making education a talking point in their campaigns. Attorney General Greg Abbott is exploring charter schools and virtual learning, while state Sen. Wendy Davis is focused on teacher recruitment.
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Year in Review 2013
Year in Review: Public Education
A new direction for standardized testing, expansion for charter schools, No Child Left Behind jettisoned and the aftermath of a cheating scandal: 2013 was a significant year for Texas public education policy.
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Politics
Polling Center: GOP Candidates, Voters and Creationism
If you want to know why Republican candidates for lieutenant governor favor teaching creationism in schools, just look at conservative voters’ views on the subject.
