The latest public education news from The Texas Tribune.
The top public education policymaker in the Texas House unveiled a $1.6 billion plan on Monday that he described as a first step to overhauling the state’s beleaguered school funding system. Full Story
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Issues discussed included public education and the Legislature; school choice in the 85th session; assessment and accountability; and special education. Full Story
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House Public Education Chairman Dan Huberty's comments about school choice legislation being a "dead" issue this legislative session have angered Texas supporters of the voucher-like programs. Full Story
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In this week's edition of the Trib+Edu newsletter: Teachers report greater student fears of deportation, a new initiative to mentor students of color in math and an interview with Michael Roemer, 2017 International Educator of the Year. Full Story
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Lawmakers rarely get blamed for votes that never take place, and that's the basis for one of the oldest protection rackets in the legislative toolkit: Killing a controversial bill before it comes to the full House or Senate. Full Story
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Full video of Evan Smith's 2/28 conversation with state Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Houston, the chairman of the House Public Education Committee. Full Story
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Mack Beggs ended a highly controversial and dramatic weekend by becoming the first transgender participant to win a Class 6A girls’ state championship in Texas high school wrestling. Full Story
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Rural conservatives and homeschoolers are joining forces with public education advocates against Senate Bill 3, which pushes private school choice. Their state senators are not all on the same page. Full Story
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Texans don't like the standardized tests required of public education students, and they support a number of changes from higher spending to more pre-K classes, according to the new University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Full Story
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We're pushing out our updated Texas Public Schools Explorer, which lets you easily find graduation rates, test scores and more for all of the 1,207 school districts and 8,673 public school campuses in Texas for the 2015-16 school year. Full Story
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As more students enroll in bilingual education programs in schools across Texas, districts have budgeted for a smaller workforce of bilingual certified educators, according to data in the Tribune's Public Schools Explorer. Full Story
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In this week's edition of the Trib+Edu newsletter: Newly elected legislators rush to make mark on education policy, the Trump administration reverses feds' stance on bathrooms and transgender students and an interview with Augustina Reyes of the University of Houston. Full Story
The House has proposed cutting all funding for a pre-K grant program that Gov. Greg Abbott has discussed as a priority this legislative session — setting the stage for a battle in the Legislature. Full Story
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Nearly 60 percent of Texas public school districts used an abstinence-only sexual education curriculum, and a quarter taught no sex education at all, according to a study released Tuesday from the Texas Freedom Network. Full Story
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It’s a confusing time in school finance — a maelstrom of local and state governments trying to master a byzantine system that is faltering in every way but the most important one: The courts say it's broken, but constitutionally sound. Full Story
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As we examine school choice proposals before the Legislature, The Texas Tribune wants to hear directly from families who would be affected by changing state and national policies. Full Story
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Last week, state Sen. Larry Taylor filed the leading school choice bill of the legislative session. But what would Senate Bill 3 actually do? We've annotated the text to explain in plain English how the bill would impact Texas families. Full Story
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A reinterpretation of the state's school finance law will leave $100 million in the accounts of some of the state's property wealthy districts — and will leave a hole of that size in an already tight state budget. Full Story
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In this week's edition of the Trib+Edu newsletter: The NEA rallies more than 1 million against Besty DeVos' confirmation as education secretary, efficacy of police officers in public schools is questioned in new study and an interview with Cathy Horn of the Education Research Center at the University of Houston. Full Story
A day after hearing from scientists begging them to remove controversial language from science standards that some say opens the door to creationism, State Board of Education members took a preliminary vote Wednesday to do the opposite. Full Story
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