Beto O’Rourke wants to end the STAAR tests. Here’s why he can’t.
The Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate has said several times he will end the annual standardized tests. State and federal law make it impossible. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/b0c8b4c98e70a5b05bef4e6eec0307a0/Beto%20ATX%20Sept%206%20EG%20TT%2034.jpg)
-
![Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke speaks at a rally in Austin on Sept. 6, 2022.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Texas Supreme Court weighs whether to allow state’s education agency to oust Houston school board
Among other issues, the court will consider whether a law that updated the education code last year has any bearing on TEA Commissioner Mike Morath’s attempt to replace HISD’s board members over low academic scores. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/b4d51bf8235e806f858488548d0cc4f3/House%20Homeland%20Cmte%20EL%20TT%2029.jpg)
![Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath testifies before the House Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety at the state capitol in Austin on June 23, 2022.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Uvalde schools hire — and then fire — former DPS trooper under investigation for shooting response
Gov. Greg Abbott said the school district knew the ex-trooper “had actions inconsistent with training and department requirements.” Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/2f121af21de4f5515afb20a078a7e723/Crimson%20Elizondo%20UCISD%20TT%2002.jpg)
![Former Department of Public Safety officer Crimson Elizondo was fired by the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District (UCISD)Police Department on Oct. 6, 2022.]()
Credit: Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District website -
Uvalde protesters hold vigil, demand that school district suspend officers
Brett Cross launched the protest Sept. 27, joined by other Uvalde families who say the school district hasn’t held five of its officers accountable for their part in law enforcement’s delayed action during the May 24 shooting. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/44dff0c57e6f7bb49ac406e0eaad38f8/1004%20UCISD%20Sit%20In%20EL%20TT%2017.jpg)
![Brett Cross leans on a new gate next to the Uvalde CISD Administration building on Oct. 4, 2022. Cross has been staying on the property in protest of UCISD's failure to suspend the school officers who were present at the school shooting at Robb Elementary.]()
Credit: Evan L’Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott appoints first school safety chief four months after Uvalde shooting
John P. Scott, a former U.S. Secret Service agent, is tasked with ensuring Texas schools implement statewide safety policies and safeguard against school shootings. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/f8d47edd046a6d56b1eabcebb659e98f/Uvalde%20Abbott%20Presser%2012.jpg)
![Gov. Greg Abbott speaks during a press conference at Uvalde High School on Wednesday, May 25, 2022.]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune -
In West Texas, Fort Stockton’s solution to a teacher shortage is a motel
The rural Fort Stockton school district is paying big money for teachers and sweetening the deal with low-cost housing. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/d2e9f35c3a758ec09feb8f8f760ed757/motel-teachers-texas%20NEW.gif)
![Article thumbnail]()
Credit: Eamonn Fitzmaurice/The 74 -
Ahead of the 2023 session, Texas lawmakers previewed their objectives. Here are five things you need to know.
Texas lawmakers on both sides of the aisle talked schools, abortion and guns in advance of next year’s session in a range of panels at The Texas Tribune Festival. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/217b90904540bbce35ed97202a8091ed/0923%20House%20GOP%20AS%20TT%2020.jpg)
![From left: Tribune political correspondent Patrick Svitek moderates a discussion about the 88th legislative session withHouse Republicans Four Price, Dustin Burrows, Ellen Troxclair and Craig Goldman at The Texas Tribune Festival in Austin on Sept. 23, 2022.]()
Credit: Azul Sordo/The Texas Tribune -
When Texas students campaigned for a more diverse history course, they got a lesson in politics
Students had been pushing for the State Board of Education to adopt a new, more inclusive social studies curriculum this year. Instead, the board delayed their scheduled update until at least 2025. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/f99a5d29cded5bf71faf38a55c801ba2/AA%20AISD%20AS%20TT%2006.jpg)
![Round Rock ISD student Ayaan Moledina, 13, stands outside of Canyon Vista middle school. Moledina testified for more Asian American inclusion and accurate representation of Muslim Americans. Sept. 14, 2022.]()
Credit: Azul Sordo/The Texas Tribune -
Texas has banned more books than any other state, new report shows
Across the country, more books have been challenged and removed as religious and conservative groups target LGBTQ and race issues. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/b4541be34128505e6501b4b88ea67823/Book%20File%20LW%20TT%2011.jpg)
![Books at Vandegrift High School's library on March 2, 2022.]()
Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune -
Photos: What Texas’ educator shortage looks like for one pre-K teacher
Last school year, Michelle Cardenas was tasked with teaching two pre-K classes at the same time. She’s dreading what is to come this year. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/d2b52463be7ac43d4a7dc8e31951b95f/Cardenas%20Teacher%20Shortage%20LW%20TTx%2012.jpg)
![Michelle Cardenas tells the class to quiet down during a literacy lesson on Apr. 27, 2022. Once they quieted down, they could hear the other classroom chant, too. Hillcrest Elementary School split Cardenas' class into two rooms. The class size limit in Texas is 22 students for pre-k through fourth grade, according to Texas Education Code, and Cardenas’ class had reached 30 students. “The more kids you have in there, the harder it is to get stuff accomplished," Cardenas said. “It was literally like babysitting.”]()
Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune -
Politics and pandemic are driving Texas teachers to consider quitting, survey finds
An online survey of 1,291 teachers by the Charles Butt Foundation shows more teacher dissatisfaction as Texas school districts scramble to attract talent. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/27ed64f11c40e415680f5e15b9a8ad80/School_segregation_ALA_Euclid_04_LS_TT.jpg)
![At the Advanced Learning Academy at Euclid in San Antonio, second grade students read while their teacher works individually with students. (Starting bottom, then moving clockwise) Samantha Vandervort , Gabriel Lopez, Saiki Rosas, Kyle Perez (in chair) John Schweers (in chair), Tristan Poujol and Matthew Sanchez. Bexar County's school districts are among the most segregated in the state, with boundary lines historically drawn to consolidate resources. San Antonio ISD is working to create more socioeconomic and racial diversity through public school choice measures.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune -
“I’m scared that it might happen again”: Uvalde parents send their kids back to school
The Uvalde school district delayed this year’s start so it could continue improving security. But three months after the state’s deadliest school shooting, only one of eight campuses had an unscalable fence fully installed. Other security measures remain unfinished. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/063b32de1e0918c0b440b85e3279e0ca/0906%20First%20Day%20of%20School%20S2%20EL%2012-%20REUPLOAD.jpg)
![Aiko Coronado helps her daughter Adrianna Medina, 10, put on a necklace as she gets ready for the first day of classes in Uvalde on Sept. 6, 2022. Medina is wearing a shirt with a picture of Adrianna with her cousin and friend Maite Rodriguez from the awards ceremony at Robb on May 24.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Photos from Uvalde: How a grief-stricken community prepared to send its children back to school
Today, students in Uvalde return to classrooms for the first day of school, just 15 weeks after the deadliest school shooting in Texas history. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/bee766b5a714e1539a36d7cc1c7039d9/Adam%20Martinez%200812%20EL%2017.JPG)
![Adam Martinez and his son, Zayon, 8, examine some of the donated school supplies in preperation of the upcoming school semester in their home in Uvalde, on Aug. 12, 2022. Zayon was present at Robb at the recent school shooting, and will not be returing to in-person classes for the upcoming school year, instead choosing to use the online schooling option.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
High-poverty schools struggle to earn Texas’ highest rating. Some in the Rio Grande Valley break that trend.
The Texas Education Agency has dismissed the notion that the accountability ratings are a poverty rating. As evidence, they point to districts like those in the Rio Grande Valley, which have achieved high marks while serving a high number of economically disadvantaged students. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/1bac163eb4efd4be5a6ece5f26116956/BISD%20BH-DC%20TT%2003.jpg)
![A student follows along to a lesson about suffixes in English Language Arts Class on Dec. 3, 2020, at Perez Elementary School in Brownsville.]()
Credit: Courtesy of Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald -
Conservative backlash pushes Texas social studies curriculum review to 2025
The board was initially supposed to update the social studies curriculum by the end of this year. Full Story
Credit: REUTERS/Mikala Compton -
A conservative school district and Texas lawmaker try to outmaneuver efforts to subvert “In God We Trust” law
After protesters solicited donations to distribute posters to schools across the state in Arabic, state Sen. Bryan Hughes sent a letter to the Texas Education Agency clarifying his legislation requiring schools to display signs with the national motto. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/a21bb28ee518e52cd6bbee814d8a25de/Dan%20Patrick%20Presser%20SP%20TT%2003.jpg)
![State Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, attends a press conference regarding Democrats breaking quorum and voting legislature at the Texas Capitol on July 21, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
Texas education board moves to delay updates to social studies curriculum after conservative pushback
Opponents of the recommended changes, including Republican legislators, complained that they downplayed Texan and American exceptionalism and didn't present opposing views on the gay rights movement. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/cc34f122e7fd484c4cfb34ef52e971a3/Blanco%20Vista%20Elementary%20JV%20TT%2028.jpg)
![Students and teachers walk between classes at Blanco Vista Elementary School in San Marcos on Aug. 23, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Uvalde residents question the school district’s new safety plans for first school year since mass shooting
Uvalde trustees are unsure if officers who will provide school security this year were part of the delayed response to the shooting at Robb Elementary. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/b9da53b7fccf625cf09084cfb84158e9/Uvalde%20School%20Board%20KGB%2010.jpg)
![Uvalde CISD school board members listen as parents of victims of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary speak during a meeting in Uvalde on August 24, 2022.]()
Credit: Kaylee Greenlee Beal for The Texas Tribune -
Families of the Uvalde shooting victims denounce Gov. Greg Abbott’s inaction on gun reform
The governor has made a vocal enemy in the families of Robb Elementary shooting victims. They are demanding a special legislative session to reach a compromise on the minimum age to purchase semi-automatic rifles. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/3425604052e1fa55935068f47d22cfc6/0827%20Uvalde%20March%20For%20Our%20Lives%20EL%20TT%2006.jpg)
![Families of the victims of the Robb Elementary shooting wait to speak during a March For Our Lives protest at the state Capitol on Aug. 27, 2022.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy for The Texas Tribune -
How a little-known group convinced the Texas State Board of Education to reject lesson plans on consent
A Newsy investigation reveals a push by organized groups to stop schools from teaching skills that advocates say are critical to preventing sexual assault. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/d5582ef9ae59a0b0169817c18859904d/Houston%20High%20School%20Students%20PY%20TT.jpg)
![High school students walk to their next class after the bell rings at Elsik Ninth Grade Center in Houston on March 28, 2018.]()
Credit: Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribune
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/8ebc294ce8ec0759438dbd9c6c4ef4cb/Sanchez%20Elementary%20REUTERS%20TT%2001)