North Dakotans on Tuesday rejected a controversial measure that would have made their state the first in the nation to abolish property taxes. As Andy Uhler of KUT News reports, while some conservatives in Texas have suggested similar measures, officials have warned the state to proceed with caution.
Public Education
Explore The Texas Tribune’s coverage of public education, from K-12 schools and funding to teachers, students, and policies shaping classrooms across Texas.
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Public Education
Video: Dewhurst’s Speech at the State GOP Convention
Courtesy of WFAA-TV in Dallas, here’s the full video of Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst’s speech Friday at the state Republican Party convention in Fort Worth.
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Public Education
Early STAAR Results Are as Expected, TEA Says
In initial results from the new State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, just more than half of students working on a ninth-grade level met the passing standards for writing, while 87 percent passed biology.
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Inside Intelligence
Inside Intelligence: Health Care, Anyone? Schools?
For this week’s nonscientific survey of government and political insiders, we asked questions from the most recent University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll on federal health care laws, Texas public schools and anti-tax pledges.
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Criminal Justice
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Our primary night scoreboard and liveblog, Aguilar on runoff strategy, Root and Batheja on Round two of Dewhurst vs. Cruz, M. Smith on how public education candidates fared, Ramshaw on what surprised pundits and pollsters, Galbraith on concerns over our electric grid, Aaronson on which government entities have access to your personal info, Grissom with the latest on the Hank Skinner case, Ramsey on Hispanic Republicans and part three of Tan’s family planning series: The best of our best content from May 28 to June 1, 2012.
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Public Education
Primary a Mixed Bag for Public Ed Candidates
Tuesday night was a wash for candidates hoping to capitalize on a backlash against the 2011 Legislature’s deep budget cuts to public schools. Some won and some lost, and there wasn’t a definite guiding narrative as to why.
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Public Education
Despite Upsets, No Major Power Shift for SBOE
Despite losses for moderate Republican candidates in several open seats — and the ousting of three incumbents — the ideological control of the State Board of Education won’t be much different after this election cycle.
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University of Texas/Texas Tribune Polls
UT/TT Poll: Little Love for Legislative Branch
Texans dislike Congress and rank the courts as their favorite branch of government. They’re also hoping the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn all or part of the federal health care law.
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Public Education
Two SBOE Rivals Each Facing Tough Primaries
Two influential incumbents on the State Board of Education — who are often at odds with each other — are both facing primary challenges that could result in a power shift on the fractious board.
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Public Education
Progress Texas Report: Virtual Schools Failing, Unaccountable
A report out Tuesday from Progress Texas blasts virtual schools for having high dropout rates, high student-teacher ratios and low academic performance — and using state money to fund schools run by for-profit businesses.