For the latest installment of our unscientific survey of political and policy insiders, we asked what state issues will get national play if Gov. Rick Perry runs for president, how his record will be used for and against him and whether all the attention might affect races here.
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
Judgment Day
There’s a day in July that school districts eye with a mixture of anticipation and dread. This year, it’s on the 29th, when the Texas Education Agency will publicly release the accountability ratings for the state’s more than 1,000 districts.
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Criminal Justice
This Will Be on the Test
This week, Secretary of State Hope Andrade conducted a lottery that determined the order of the 10 new proposals on the November ballot. Each amendment already won approval from two-thirds of the House and Senate and now needs a nod from a majority of the voters. Here’s the rundown…
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Public Education
A Battered Texas Education Agency Faces Competing Demands
Even as it is coping with deep reductions to its own budget, the Texas Education Agency faces criticism from school districts and lawmakers, although not necessarily for the same reasons — vivid evidence of the pressure on the TEA.
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Public Education
School Counselors Face More Duties with STAAR
The most drastic change for many students will come in the spring, when approximately 350,000 new ninth graders will be the first to take the end-of-course exams that are part of the new standardized testing system known as STAAR.
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Public Education
And Then There Were Taxes
A week has passed since school districts bracing for the worst at last got what they’ve been waiting for throughout the legislative session: finality.
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Public Education
State Board of Education Has A New Chair
Gov. Rick Perry has named former science teacher and staunch social conservative Barbara Cargill, R-The Woodlands, to chair the board that oversees the state’s public school system.
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Public Education
The Brief: July 1, 2011
Since most Texas counties have fireworks bans in effect this July 4 weekend, what better way to celebrate than recalling the legislative fireworks of recent weeks and imagining those still to come on the campaign trail?
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Public Education
How Will It Play?
Lawmakers have officially made their exit from the Pink Building, leaving two bills that will bring major changes to Texas school districts awaiting the governor’s signature. Lawmakers, meanwhile, are wondering whether and how the two measures will play in next year’s elections.
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Demographics
Sine Die Report: What Survived, What Died
The Trib’s been keeping track of the key issues throughout the special session. From budget measures to school finance, health care and airport groping, here’s our final rundown of bills that passed, and the ones that died.