The latest public education news from The Texas Tribune.
The Public Education track at The 2015 Texas Tribune Festival featured panel discussions on turning around struggling schools, pre-K, public education and the Legislature, and charter schools. There was also a conversation with Education Commissioner Michael Williams. Full Story
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During the keynote sessions of the 2015 Texas Tribune Festival, we featured one-on-one conversations with Dan Patrick, Joe Straus, Nancy Pelosi and Julián Castro. You can watch those interviews and videos of our other keynote sessions here. Full Story
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Teacher groups on Thursday renewed their call for the Legislature to put more money into a health insurance plan that has seen school employees foot an increasing share of the premiums as the state contribution has remained the same. Full Story
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The governing body for Texas high school sports decided Monday to ask superintendents to determine whether to formalize a policy that uses student-athletes' birth certificates to determine their gender. Full Story
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Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams informed Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday morning that he will step down from his position at end of the year, Williams' office confirmed. Full Story
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Far more money is extracted from Texans in the form of state and local sales taxes, but property taxes are the source of more complaints. School taxes lead the list but account for a smaller share of the overall tax bill than 10 years ago. Full Story
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In this week's edition of the Trib+Edu newsletter: It's not just English language learners who benefit from dual-language instruction, Obama makes a polarizing pick for education secretary and an interview with Keisha Bentley-Edwards of the University of Texas at Austin. Full Story
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In the 2015 Texas legislative session, state lawmakers frequently used their religious beliefs to defend their policymaking. Take a look back at "God & Governing," our documentary-style series on the role lawmakers' personal faith played in their legislating. Full Story
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"School choice," including controversial tax credit scholarships, tops a lengthy list of public education issues Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has asked state senators to study ahead of the 2017 legislative session. Full Story
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Tune in to "God & Education" — the final part of our "God & Governing" documentary-style series — to see how lawmakers' personal religious beliefs played into abstinence education and school voucher debates in 2015 Texas legislative session. Full Story
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Some State Board of Education members are dismissing a backlash against a textbook that describes African slaves as immigrant “workers," with one Republican saying the ordeal would "make for a great Jerry Seinfeld episode: something out of nothing.” Full Story
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It will get harder for Texas public school students to pass standardized tests this year, Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams announced Tuesday, but the state will ease into the tougher passing standards more slowly than originally planned. Full Story
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The publisher of one of Texas’ controversial social studies textbooks has agreed to change a caption that describes African slaves as immigrant “workers” after a Houston-area mom’s social media complaints went viral over the weekend. Full Story
In this week's edition of the Trib+Edu newsletter: The challenge of finding a principal who can stay for the long haul, Texas gets a conditional No Child Left Behind waiver and an interview with Fredrick Nafukho of Texas A&M University. Full Story
Texas is a leader in early dyslexia identification in schools and a pioneer in teacher training and public awareness, but the state’s schools still have a long way to go, lawmakers and advocates said Wednesday at a Capitol Hill hearing. Full Story
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Citing past rulings and politics, experts and insiders are predicting the Texas Supreme Court will rule in the latest school finance appeal early next year, with some predicting a summertime special legislative session. Full Story
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In this week's edition of the Trib+Edu newsletter: New questions are raised on zero-tolerance discipline policies, a $50 million contest is launched to revamp high schools and an interview with Kay Wijekumar of Texas A&M University. Full Story
UPDATED: An Irving teenager who was arrested after bringing a homemade clock to school said Wednesday that "it's really sad" that a teacher got the wrong impression about the clock. He added that he would probably transfer schools. Full Story
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The Texas State University System is experimenting with massive open online courses to allow students to arrive on campus with a full year of credit at minimal cost. Full Story
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At our 9/4 conversation, Austin Mayor Steve Adler and San Antonio Mayor Ivy Taylor talked about the importance of early childhood education — and who should fund it. Full Story
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