Rich Schools Hopeful Houston ISD Could Topple Robin Hood Plan
Texas has deemed an increasing number of schools as property-wealthy, requiring them to give up a share of their local tax dollars to help buoy poorer districts. Full Story
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State Representative Calls for Suspension of Texas' STAAR Exam
A state representative who has passed legislation aimed at reeling in Texas’ standardized testing regime is calling on the state to ditch required STAAR exams while it “tries to iron out STAAR’s many kinks.” Full Story
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![State Rep. Jason Isaac, R-Dripping Springs, on the floor of the House on May 15, 2015.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Embattled STAAR Test Vendor Facing $20 Million Fine
The Texas Education Agency is slapping the New Jersey-based company that develops and administers the state's controversial STAAR tests with a $20.7 million fine over widespread logistical and technical issues. Full Story
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Credit: Texas Education Agency / The Texas Tribune -
East Dallas High School Tries to Plant, Nurture College Dreams
On the first day of a new school year, Bryan Adams High School teacher Krystal Morrow greeted the next crop of students she will try to help overcome the financial and confidence hurdles that keep many of the school's students from attending college. Full Story
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![Coach Krystal Morrow works at her desk at Bryan Adams High School in Dallas, Texas.]()
Credit: Cooper Neill for The Texas Tribune -
Judge Denies State's Request to Toss STAAR Suit
After a group of parents sued the Texas Education Agency over the 2016 administration of STAAR exams, state lawyers argued they had no standing and asked the courts to drop the case. A Travis County district court judge has denied their request. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman -
Fort Worth-Based Federal Judge Blocks Obama Transgender Guidelines
A federal judge in Fort Worth has blocked Obama administration guidelines directing the nation’s public schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms and other facilities that align with their gender identity. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton spoke at a May 25, 2016, news conference announcing a lawsuit filed against the federal government over rules for transgender bathrooms in public schools.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
How a South Texas School District Spurred a Massive Turnaround
After five years of landing on the state’s list of low-performing schools, a tiny South Texas district that drew national headlines for cutting its sports program to ward off closure is now meeting state academic standards. Full Story
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![Premont High School cheerleader Stacy Morales, 17, and student basketball player Ernesto Gonzalez leave the gym after a game in 2012 — the year before the long-struggling school district opted to suspend its sports program to ward off closure.]()
Credit: Eddie Seal for The Texas Tribune -
New in Trib+Edu: Public Schools Enrollment is Up
In this week's edition of the Trib+Edu newsletter: New statistics show public school enrollment is up over last year, a former principal acts after finding a correlation between school attendance and access to clean clothes and failing Texas schools are set to face tougher state intervention. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Jacob Villanueva -
GOP Senators Spar over Value of Pre-K Spending
At an education committee hearing Tuesday, Republican state senators debated whether a $118 million pre-K initiative championed by Gov. Greg Abbott is worth the money. Full Story
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![The Senate Education Committee interim hearing at the Texas Capitol Aug. 16, 2016.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Failing Texas Schools Facing Tougher State Intervention
Education Commissioner Mike Morath on Tuesday outlined plans to crack down harder on chronically low-performing schools, saying he wants to cut in half the number of them that end up on the state’s failing list over the next five years. Full Story
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![State Education Commissioner Mike Morath testifies Tuesday Aug 16, 2016 before the Senate Education Committee at the Texas Capitol.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich/Texas Tribune -
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.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
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.]()
Credit: Laura Buckman