The latest public education news from The Texas Tribune.
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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Within the education community, there have been rumors about a possible school finance lawsuit since well before the legislative session got under way. Now, with $4 billion less in public funding and a daunting new student assessment program on the horizon, those rumors have become a reality. Full Story
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At this morning's TribLive conversation, Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp defended the state law allowing college-bound children of undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition. Full Story
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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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Texas' latest effort to address childhood obesity — a new law allowing a deeper study of student fitness data — could be blunted by the exemption lawmakers gave school districts from having to collect and report the data on a significant number of students. Full Story
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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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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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The drought and extreme heat are taking their toll on school districts across Texas. Costly problems include cracks in building foundations, increased maintenance costs and loss of vegetation. Full Story
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Aaronson on the rise in the state's unemployment rate, Aguilar on the push to mandate use of an electronic employment verification program, Galbraith on fears about the drought's impact on lake levels, Grissom on the latest in the Duane Buck case, Hamilton on the possible end of physics (academically speaking), Murphy updates our public employee pay app, Ramsey on David "Mitt" Dewhurst, Ramshaw on Rick Perry's campaign swing through Virginia and Iowa, Root on the deletion of gubernatorial emails and M. Smith on the teaching of safe sex where you'd least expect it: The best of our best content from Sept. 12-16, 2011. Full Story
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Former Dallas Cowboys cornerback Deion Sanders' charter school application was among eight approved by the Texas State Board of Education today. Full Story
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From West Texas to the suburbs of Houston a number of schools are moving toward “abstinence-plus” education at the urging of health advisory committees made up of community members. To get a sense for which parts of the state have the most teen pregnancies, use our map to view the birth rate for girls ages 13 to 17 in 2009 by county. Full Story
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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Dripping Springs ISD avoided laying off teachers as a result of state budget cuts. But it has eliminated custodial positions, and that has left teachers there with new tasks once the school bell rings: sweeping classrooms and taking out the trash. Full Story
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M. Smith on Rick Perry's allergic reaction to federal school money, E. Smith elicits Ted Cruz's take on David Dewhurst, Root and Ramshaw cover Perry's first presidential debate, Ramshaw and Aguilar poke at Perry's immigration record and how it plays among Republicans, Hamilton on the dash for top status among Texas colleges, Galbraith on an environmental ruling from the White House that got conservative applause and one that didn't, Grissom has the latest on the Willingham arson case and the state's plans to look at other fires and Aaronson's widget for comparing the presidential candidates: The best of our best content from Sept. 5 to 9, 2011. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry’s early opposition to the Obama administration’s education policies — whose bipartisan backers include former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush — make him something of an ideological outlier among Republicans. Full Story
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Don’t look for the Legislature to get in the middle of Texas A&M University’s split from the Big 12 Conference. Twice in the last 14 months, House Higher Education Chairman Dan Branch, R-Dallas, has called a hearing about universities leaving the Big 12 Conference — and twice he had to cancel it because the timing was off. In the meantime, the conservative blogosphere let him have it. Full Story
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Tan on coming prison school cuts and online sales taxes, Root on Rick Perry's support for tax increases when he was a lawmaker, Ramshaw and Serafini on what "Perrycare" would entail, yours truly on the differences between Perry and George W. Bush, Philpott on the passions of the Paulites, Murphy and Seger unveil the Trib's Texas Public Schools Database, Hamilton on UT's answer to calls for improvements in higher ed, Galbraith on predictions that the record heat in Texas will be a long-term problem and Aguilar on the legal shootout over gun sales in Texas: The best of our best content from Aug. 22 to 26, 2011. Full Story
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This weekend, the San Antonio physician and prolific donor to conservative candidates and causes hosts a Hill Country gathering for Gov. Rick Perry and some of his evangelical supporters. Who is Leininger? Here's a primer. Full Story
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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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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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