The latest public education news from The Texas Tribune.
In a stunning comeback, State Board of Education candidate Keven Ellis won a Republican primary runoff over Mary Lou Bruner, who drew national attention for objectionable social media posts. Full Story
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A law firm working for the Republic of Turkey is accusing Harmony Public Schools of funneling money to an organization the Turkish president has accused of trying to overthrow the government. Harmony says that's preposterous. Full Story
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A backlash against this year’s STAAR exams escalated Monday when a group of parents sued the state in an attempt to keep schools from using 2016 test scores to rate students. Full Story
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Gov. Greg Abbott has called for a tweaking the state's controversial Top 10 Percent Rule for college admissions, another sign that the highly controversial law could be at risk when the Texas Legislature convenes in 2017. Full Story
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Lawyers working for the Turkish government plan to file a complaint with the Texas Education Agency next week against Houston-based Harmony Public Schools, alleging financial malfeasance and other misconduct, school officials said. Full Story
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Three state attorneys general are asking the federal government for clarification of its recent directive to accommodate transgender students or risk losing federal funding. Full Story
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Check out the full video of our May 17 conversation with Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath. Full Story
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Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath on Tuesday praised the state Supreme Court's recent opinion upholding the state’s public school funding system and demurred on questions about bathroom use by transgender students. Full Story
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An underdog GOP primary candidate is headed for a runoff against SBOE hopeful Mary Lou Bruner, a former teacher whose conspiracy theory-laden Facebook posts suggested President Obama worked as a gay prostitute in his youth to pay for a drug habit. Full Story
A Texas Supreme Court decision saying the state’s school funding system is a big, stinking mess — but not an unconstitutional one — might be just the medicine to keep things just the way they are. Full Story
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The Texas Supreme Court on Friday issued a ruling upholding the state’s public school funding system as constitutional, while asserting it could be better. Full Story
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The Obama administration plans to issue a type of executive order on Friday directing every public school in the nation to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms that align with their gender identity, according to a report in the New York Times. Full Story
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Citing problems with the administration of this spring's STAAR exams, the head of the Texas Association of School Administrators says that 2016 STAAR scores shouldn't be used to rate schools or determine whether a student should graduate or advance to the next grade. Full Story
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In this week's edition of the Trib+Edu newsletter: New numbers show public school safety is at an all-time high, an education funding crisis hits Oklahoma and an interview with Huriya Jabbar of the University of Texas at Austin. Full Story
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Transgender advocates derided Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Tuesday for what they described as his “fake outrage” over the Fort Worth school district’s new transgender bathroom guidelines, calling the Republican a shameless bully. Full Story
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Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Monday called for the resignation of Fort Worth ISD Superintendent Kent Scribner over new guidelines dealing with transgender students. Full Story
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Passing rates on the statewide standardized exam known as STAAR have barely changed among fifth- and eighth-graders, newly released testing results show. Full Story
In this week's edition of the Trib+Edu newsletter: Teacher groups move to stop implementation of a new educator evaluation system, a new online tool makes it easier to track school climate and few states meet guidelines for in-school physical activity. Full Story
A teacher group filed a lawsuit Wednesday in an attempt to block the state from implementing a controversial system that for the first time ties assessments of educators to student performance on standardized tests. Full Story
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Three of the five key hires announced Thursday by Education Commissioner Mike Morath have extensive charter school experience, and only two appear to have solid Texas ties — something teacher groups and traditional public schools were quick to point out. Full Story
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