The lawsuits are back for the sixth time in the last 40 years, carrying the issue that dominated Rick Perry’s first years as governor: Is the state spending enough money, and distributing it fairly enough, to ensure that every kid in the state has a shot at an adequate public school education?
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
Texas Launches No Kid Hungry Campaign
A sea of 150 elementary and middle school students from Austin and Waco met on the steps of the Capitol today to sing, cheer and kick off the Texas No Kid Hungry Campaign.
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Public Education
The Weekly TribCast: Episode 101
On this week’s TribCast, Evan, Ross, Reeve and Jim review the most recent debate, discuss the looming lawsuits on school finance and consider proposals for Confederate flag license plates.
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Public Education
John Folks: The TT Interview
The outspoken head of the state’s fourth-largest school district— newly crowned as Superintendent of the Year — on school finance lawsuits, the impact of cuts to public education funding and the upcoming transition to end-of-course exams.
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Criminal Justice
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Murphy, Ramshaw and Root on Rick Perry and race, Philpott on Perry’s vague economic plans, Tan and Wiseman on Barack Obama’s foray into Texas to defend his jobs plan, Aguilar on Perry’s proposal to send U.S. troops to Mexico, Ramshaw on efforts to leash rising health care costs, M. Smith on upcoming legal challenges to the state’s school finance system, Aaronson interactively explores Medicare spending proposals, Galbraith on efforts to pass — and to oppose — a $6 billion water program, Grissom on the release of a man wrongly convicted of murder and Hamilton on efforts to let the public write some legislation: The best of our best content from October 3 to 7, 2011.
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Higher Education
2011 Texas Tribune Festival Keynote: Margaret Spellings
Full video of the keynote speech by former U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings in the Public and Higher Education track at the 2011 Texas Tribune Festival.
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Public Education
Once Again, Texas Faces Lawsuits Over How It Funds Its Schools
The lawsuits over public education funding that are currently taking shape will be the latest in a long history of court intervention in Texas’ school finance system. But how much can the judiciary do to fix it?
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Public Education
School Finance Suit Takes Shape
Within the education community, there have been rumors about a possible school finance lawsuit since well before the legislative session got under way. Now, with $4 billion less in public funding and a daunting new student assessment program on the horizon, those rumors have become a reality.
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Demographics
TribLive: Sharp on In-State Tuition for Immigrants
At this morning’s TribLive conversation, Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp defended the state law allowing college-bound children of undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition.
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Public Education
Schools, Textbook Publishers Adjust to Power Shift
A new state law decentralizing the selection and purchase of instructional materials for Texas students has sparked debate about how it will affect the politically charged State Board of Education’s power to control what’s taught in Texas classrooms.