Public education

The Texas Senate approved a bill that would tweak a plan to grade school districts — well past a midnight deadline for passing legislation.

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After several failed attempts and compromises during the legislative session, Rep. Helen Giddings finally succeeded in getting the House to pass a measure that targets "lunch shaming" in schools.

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Senate Education Chairman Larry Taylor on Wednesday afternoon said that he would not appoint conferees to negotiate with the House on a proposed school finance overhaul. “That deal is dead,” he said.

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Rep. Helen Giddings announced the launch of a donation page that allows the public to contribute money to clear the debt of schools that feed schoolchildren when their lunch accounts are empty.

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Pro-business forces, which had for months warned that a "bathroom bill" could be disastrous for the state's bottom line, held their fire during Sunday's debate over a bill amendment dealing with the controversial issue.

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Gov. Greg Abbott demanded the House and Senate fund his pre-K grant program holding school districts to quality standards. So they came up with a budget proposal that keeps the standards, but cuts the grants.

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The Texas House on Monday passed a bill extending a program that lets students who fail a couple of required exams take an alternative route to graduation.

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The Texas Senate voted to approve a bill that would simplify funding formulas for public schools and let parents use state money to send their kids with disabilities to private schools or pay for homeschooling.

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The Texas Senate will consider a version of the school finance bill, as soon as Sunday, that now includes an assortment of other House and Senate education bills — according to a notice Senate staffers received Saturday.

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After being denied by the House Freedom Caucus multiple times, a measure to let schools give meals to students without money in their accounts was revived as an amendment to another bill.

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Rep. Helen Giddings failed a third time to pass a bill that would prevent school districts from identifying students without money in their school lunch accounts — again when a member of the Freedom Caucus killed it.

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Educators and advocates found it hard to concur on the Senate's version of House Bill 22, either finding it too restrictive and tied to standardized tests or not quite strict enough.

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The Texas House on Thursday tentatively backed legislation that would require three-point seat belts be installed on new school buses across the state.

 

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A House Public Education Committee hearing became heated Tuesday when Chairman Dan Huberty had a harsh exchange with a witness speaking against a bill that would let high school students who fail required state tests graduate, with the approval of a special committee.

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State Rep. Helen Giddings, D-DeSoto, isn't giving up hope on passing a bill that she said would help starving school kids, despite some lawmakers killing its consideration earlier in the week.

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A Senate committee passed the House’s major school finance reform bill, after adding a controversial provision subsidizing private school tuition for special needs students — a move unlikely to go over well in the House.

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In this week's edition of the Trib+Edu newsletter: A company tackles the challenge of interoperability with student data, a new trend emerges with the fidget spinner and an interview with Bradley Carpenter of the University of Houston.

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With a major bill for students with disabilities flying to the governor's desk, special education advocates are looking ahead to smaller bills that might not survive the upcoming deadlines for legislation to pass.

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Last week, House lawmakers advanced a bill requiring high school students to pass the civics test that immigrants take when applying for citizenship. We created a similar quiz, and more than 25,000 of you took it. Here's how you did.

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The House passed Senate Bill 7, which would penalize principals and superintendents who purposely hide incidents of teachers having sexual or romantic relationships with students.

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