Texas Weekly Newsreel: Property Tax, Speed Limit, PAC Money
This week on the Newsreel, a look at property taxes versus sales taxes, 85-mph speed limits and Super PAC contributions from Texas. Full Story
The latest public education news from The Texas Tribune.
This week on the Newsreel, a look at property taxes versus sales taxes, 85-mph speed limits and Super PAC contributions from Texas. Full Story
Because of the complexity of school finance, it’s tempting to turn to per-student spending to understand how well — or how poorly — a district is spending its money. But that approach has its perils. Full Story
Houston conservationists reintroduce native plants to the area, and we examine how much money school districts spend per student. Full Story
In 2011, Texas drastically changed the way it regulates school district purchases of instructional materials. Last week, a new online marketplace opened, giving districts more than 100,000 options to exercise their newfound freedoms. Full Story
How school districts manage personnel costs will be increasingly monitored as debate over efficiency progresses — as will the ways they have coped with the loss of roughly 25,000 employees they shed before the 2011-12 school year. Full Story
Despite a half-hearted attempt at the end of the 2011 legislative session, the last real grasp lawmakers made at passing private school vouchers was in 2007. But that could soon change. Full Story
An initiative from San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro that would direct a portion of sales tax revenue to fund full-day pre-kindergarten unanimously passed the City Council, leaving it for voters to approve in November. Full Story
After a UT-Austin professor's research suggested a flaw in the design of the state's standardized tests, an official with the testing vendor said the firm welcomes an "open dialogue" based on well-founded evidence — but not what he called "wild conclusions." Full Story
Only 44 percent of Texas schools met No Child Left Behind requirements for 2012. That's a drop from 66 percent last year, meaning many of them will be subject to federal sanctions. Full Story
The author of a new book that investigates what communities lose when schools are shuttered talks about standardized testing and how students, teachers and parents cope with testing pressures. Full Story
Less than one in two Texas students met the state’s “college readiness” standards in math and verbal skills on the ACT, SAT and TAKS in 2010. And although the data shows that something is not going right, pinpointing why is difficult. Full Story
Researchers believe they have uncovered a glitch in the DNA of the state's standardized exams that suggests, because of the statistical method used to assemble them, they are virtually useless at measuring the effects of instruction in the classroom. Full Story
A little-watched board that operates out of the General Land Office cast a vote last week leaving public schools $300 million short — and the lawmakers who put that money into the 2012-13 budget scratching their heads. Full Story
As the latest round of school finance litigation goes to trial this fall, it appears there is reason for optimism about the number of Texas students leaving high school with a diploma. But it's hard to know what's responsible for the success. Full Story
Ted Cruz has argued more cases before the U.S. Supreme Court than any practicing lawyer in Texas, reporter Aman Batheja explains. And reporter Morgan Smith discusses how to track Texas schools with the Tribune's Public Schools Explorer. Full Story
Because of concerns over a partnership between the national organization that develops the GED and Pearson, a for-profit, London-based testing company, Texas may create its own high school equivalency exam. Full Story
The Schools Explorer, the Tribune's most comprehensive education tool to date, debuts today. Nathan Bernier of KUT News talks with the Tribune's Morgan Smith about what's in the app and how to use it. Full Story
The Schools Explorer is your go-to source for academic, enrollment and financial data on Texas’ 1,300 districts and 8,500 public schools. Track graduation rates, test scores and more. Sort campuses by accountability rating and demographics. Take a bird’s-eye view of statewide stats. Full Story
In Texas, where the curriculum-setting State Board of Education has engaged in high-profile skirmishes over science education, there will be no rush to implement new nationally developed common standards. Full Story
“STEM,” an acronym for “Science, Technology, Engineering and Math,” is a term that is becoming increasingly common across education circles. But why is it so important? We put the question to several key Texans in the field. Full Story