Amid STAAR Test Backlash, School Performance is Mixed
More Texas school districts and charter schools are failing in 2016, though the number of individual campuses that received that label decreased. Full Story
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10 Texas School Names Honoring Confederates Have Changed. At Least 24 Haven't.
Tense debates have raged at Texas schools over the proper place of Confederate names in the public landscape. But many other districts have not considered any changes. Full Story
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![Russell Lee Elementary was named Robert E. Lee Elementary when it opened in 1939. This year, the Austin ISD Board of Trustees voted to rename the school, making it one of 10 Texas schools that will bear new names when classes begin later this month. The banner shown above replaced art deco-style letters that spelled out "Robert E. Lee."]()
Credit: Qiling Wang/The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Texas Legislator Wonders if a New School Tax Might Bring Less Pain
State Rep. James Frank, R-Wichita Falls, wrote to his constituents about school finance and used these phrases along the way: statewide commercial property tax, consolidated funding districts, and statewide property tax. Yikes. Full Story
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![State Rep. James Frank, R-Wichita Falls.]()
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New in Trib+Edu: A New Teaching Tool From NASA
In this week's edition of the Trib+Edu newsletter: A new tool for special education classrooms comes via NASA, a new voice emerges in school choice fight and an interview with John Bartholomew of the University of Texas at Austin. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Jacob Villanueva -
School Finance Dividing Lines Emerge at Hearing
The fault lines that will define efforts to improve the state's system of funding education came into sharp focus Wednesday as a Senate panel began studying how to improve the "efficiency" of public schools in Texas. Full Story
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![Sen. Larry Taylor R-Friendswood and Sen. Eddie Lucio D-Brownsville during an Aug 3, 2016 Senate Education Committee hearing]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Lawmakers Look at Tying School Funding to Performance
Should Texas fund public schools based on their academic performance rather than just giving them a certain amount of money per student? State lawmakers are beginning to explore that idea. Full Story
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![Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston.]()
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Panel Backpedals on Swapping Out STAAR Tests
A special panel recommending changes to the state’s public school testing and accountability system has stopped short of proposing that Texas scrap the controversial assessment regime known as STAAR. Full Story
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![Theresa Treviño, president of Texans Advocating for Meaningful Student Assessment, speaks at a special panel charged with suggesting changes to the state’s testing and school accountability system on July 27, 2016.]()
Credit: Qiling Wang/The Texas Tribune -
In School Choice Fight, a Fresh Force Emerges
An ambitious new player has emerged in the controversial effort to use taxpayer dollars to help Texas parents send their kids to private or religious schools. Full Story
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![Texans for Education Opportunity Executive Director Randan Steinhauser, also an adviser for National School Choice Week, speaks during a school choice rally at the Texas Capitol in 2015.]()
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New in Trib+Edu: Teachers Help Heal After Violence
In this week's edition of the Trib+Edu newsletter: Teachers help students heal in communities affected by recent violence, a proposed Mexican American studies textbook is lambasted; and an interview with Araceli Martinez Ortiz of Texas State University’s LBJ Institute for STEM Education and Research. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Jacob Villanueva -
Fort Worth Revises Transgender Student Guidelines
The Fort Worth Independent School District issued new guidelines on Wednesday for accommodating transgender students, pleasing Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick expressed his opposition to new rules for transgender children in the Fort Worth Independent School District at a press conference in Fort Worth on May 10, 2016.]()
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Education Officials Point Fingers over College Readiness
The strained relationship between the state’s higher and public education leaders were on full display Wednesday as Texas Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes told the State Board of Education it isn't doing enough to prepare students for college. Full Story
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![Texas higher education commissioner Raymund Paredes during symposium at Baylor University in Waco, Texas]()
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Proposed Mexican-American Studies Textbook Lambasted
Activist groups and professors gathered Monday at the Texas Education Agency to list their concerns with a proposed Mexican American studies textbook and call on the board to reject it. Full Story
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![Dr. Emilio Zamora, a history professor at UT Austin, discusses factual errors in a proposed Mexican-American studies textbook during a press conference on July 18, 2016.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Some Schools Rejecting Pared Down State Pre-K Grants
More than 20 school districts have turned down state grant money to bolster their pre-kindergarten programs because the amount offered to them isn’t enough to cover required improvements. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott signs HB4, which adds funding for pre-K, into law at the Anita Uphaus Early Childhood Center in Austin Texas May 28, 2015.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Student STAAR Performance Improves, With Caveat
Elementary and middle school students appear to be performing better on required state exams after four years of stagnant scores. But the improvement is compared to old passing standards that no longer apply. Full Story
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Summer School a Tossup After Testing Mishaps
After the state decided standardized test results for 5th and 8th graders were unreliable, it said failing students didn't have to retake the tests to advance a grade. But districts were given wide discretion on what to do next. Full Story
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Which Texas Schools Have the Highest Rates of Vaccine Exemptions?
The number of Texas students with non-medical exemptions to school immunization laws has soared statewide in the last decade. How does your school district fare? Check out our handy search tool to find out. Full Story
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![The number of parents of school-aged children choosing to avoid vaccine requirements for their kids has soared statewide.]()
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State Rep Seeks Investigation of Charter School
Two months after lawyers for the Republic of Turkey filed a complaint against Harmony Public Schools, a high-ranking state representative has asked the Texas Attorney General to investigate allegations against the state’s largest charter school network. Full Story
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Half of Students Who Failed Exams Cleared to Graduate, State Data Shows
Nearly 6,000 Texas high school students were cleared for graduation in 2015 even though they didn't pass all of their end-of-course exams, according to data the Texas Education Agency posted online this spring but did not announce. Full Story
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New in Trib+Edu: Oil Bust Hits Some Schools Hard
In this week's edition of the Trib+Edu newsletter: Schools in the oil patch face fiscal hard times, teachers have a new online resource with Amazon and an interview with Keffrelyn Brown of the University of Texas at Austin. Full Story
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Texas Announces Hundreds of Schools Receiving Pre-K Grants
The state will divvy up $116 million among 578 school districts and charters to bolster high-quality pre-kindergarten programs, Education Commissioner Mike Morath announced Tuesday. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott signs HB4, which adds funding for pre-K, into law at the Anita Uphaus Early Childhood Center in Austin Texas May 28, 2015.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera
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