Guest Column: High-Stakes Tests Breed Schools for Scandal
The scandal in El Paso ISD is the worst to come along under the high-stakes testing regime that rules our schools, but we have no right to act surprised in Texas. Full Story
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Updated: School Districts, State Trade Blame in First Day of Finance Trial
After school district lawyers attacked Texas for underfunding public schools, an attorney for the state shot back, saying that decisions made at the local level — not the state — were to blame for school districts’ failures. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman -
Texas' School Finance System Goes on Trial
As the trial over how Texas funds its public schools kicks off, we've compiled all our school finance coverage — from the battles of the last legislative session to the latest developments in the case — in one place. Full Story
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Long-Awaited School Finance Case Heads to Court
Opening arguments begin Monday in a major school finance case pitting more than 500 school districts against the state in a legal battle that could reshape how money is distributed to classrooms across Texas. Full Story
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Something Borrowed, Something Sued
The decision that comes from the school finance trial that will begin on Oct. 22 will set the tone for the next round of reforms. But there’s a separate conversation happening outside the courtroom that could be equally instructive — and indicates funding for schools may face challenges not only at the state but the local level. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman -
Updated: East Texas Cheerleaders Keep Their Banners, for Now
An East Texas judge has allowed the Kountze cheerleaders to continue carrying banners bearing Bible verses on the football field until a trial over the issue set to begin on June 24. Full Story
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Faith Meets Football and a Legal Dispute Ensues
Kountze has become the latest setting in a string of lawsuits over where students' rights to religious expression end and the constraints on Texas public schools as governmental entities begin, showing the fine line administrators must walk. Full Story
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![As two Kountze football players prepare to play a game on Oct. 5, 2012, one holds a banner with a Bible verse. A Hardin County judge recently ruled that the high school's cheerleaders can continue to display signs with religious messages at football games.]()
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PAC Uses Football to Target Voucher Proposals
In a video that ponders potential threats to the viability of high school football, Progress Texas PAC urges Texans to fight plans to institute school voucher programs. Full Story
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TribuneFest: A Conversation About Educating Latinos
At the 2012 Texas Tribune Festival, New York Times reporter Manny Fernandez talked about educating the emerging Hispanic majority with Sarita Brown of Excelencia in Education, Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD Superintendent Daniel King, South Texas College President Shirley Reed and University of Texas at Brownsville President Juliet Garcia. Full Story
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In Pilot Program, Student IDs Track the Students
A San Antonio district has implemented a pilot program to track students while on campus, having them wear radio frequency identification chips on cards around their neck. Administrators say it's the best way to make sure they get all the state money they're entitled to. Full Story
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![Students scan their radio frequency identification tags as they pass through the lunch line at Jones Middle School in San Antonio, September 14, 2012.]()
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Education: The Other Infrastructure Problem
The state's biggest education deficit is in its fastest-growing population. If that persists, Hispanics will have problems operating at full potential in the Texas of the future. Full Story
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Credit: Todd Wiseman -
For Some Teachers, Classroom Strain Runs Deeper Than Budget Cuts
Some consequences of the Legislature's more than $5 billion budget cut to public schools — like a loss of morale and stress levels in the classroom — aren't easily measured. But the pressure on teachers may have more complex origins. Full Story
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![At Houston's High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Keenan Hurley (left), 18, and Roby Attal, 17, react to missing their target during a physics lesson on projectile motion that used Hot Wheels cars.]()
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Study: Virtual Schools Show Poor Performance, Provide Little Savings
The Texas Virtual Schools Network may not lead to improved student performance or cost savings for the state, according to a study released today by Raise Your Hand Texas. Full Story
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TribuneFest: A Conversation About Standardized Testing
At the 2012 Texas Tribune Festival, I talked about standardized testing and accountability in public education with Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams, Carolyn Heinrich of the LBJ School of Public Affairs, former Texas Workforce Commission Chairman Tom Pauken and Bill Hammond of the Texas Association of Business. Full Story
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Select Texas Districts Aim to Pilot Testing Reforms
Thanks to a new law, a consortium of school districts could offer a new way forward as policymakers address the increasingly heated opposition to the state's high-stakes standardized test-based accountability system. Full Story
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Schools Turn to Parents' Dollars for Support
Parents are opening their pocketbooks to fund everything from outdoor classrooms to extra teaching positions in public schools when state and district money falls short. But the influx of private dollars concerns civil rights advocates who say it only exacerbates existing inequities in the public school system. Full Story
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![Students at Austin ISD's Casis Elementary explore the pond in their newly built outdoor classroom.]()
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Abbott Weighs In on School's Bible Verse Controversy
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has stepped into what has become a national headline-grabbing controversy over cheerleaders at an East Texas school displaying Bible verses at football games. Full Story
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TribuneFest: A Conversation with Four Superintendents
At the unofficial kickoff of the 2012 Texas Tribune Festival, I talked with the superintendents of the Corpus Christi, Harlingen, Houston and Northwest school districts about the state of public education. Full Story
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Report Examines How Budget Cuts Affected Texas Schools
A coalition of nonprofit foundations and the Houston-based advocacy organization Children at Risk have released the initial findings of their comprehensive report on how the 2011 budget cuts have affected public schools. Full Story
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Guest Column: Schools and the Talent Shortage
The manufacturing sector is short of skilled workers, and many of those jobs will go to students who don't have four-year college degrees — and who don't need them. Full Story
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