The yearlong review also recommends increasing the funds schools get per student, a measure already favored by lawmakers looking how to spend a historic state budget surplus.
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
School districts face millions in extra costs as Texas program that backs bond debt hits its limit
Without the state’s safety net, districts with pending bond projects must now decide whether to pay more in interest or halt construction.
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Guns in Texas
Texas superintendent resigns after student finds his gun in school bathroom
The incident comes as lawmakers debate how to make schools safer after the Uvalde massacre and favor measures like arming more educators.
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The Texas Tribune-ProPublica Investigative Unit
Gov. Greg Abbott says most gun crimes involve illegally owned weapons. That’s not true in mass shootings.
Most of the state’s 19 mass shootings over the past six decades were carried out by men who legally possessed firearms, an investigation by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune found.
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Juvenile Justice
In a Central Texas county, high schoolers are jailed on felony charges for vaping what could be legal hemp
Police often can’t tell if a cannabis vape pen is derived from marijuana or legal hemp, like the delta-8 products on display in gas stations across Texas. That doesn’t stop them from making felony arrests in high schools.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Gov. Greg Abbott promises to be “heavily involved” in push for education savings accounts
In an interview with the Tribune, the governor also backed criminalizing some health care treatments for transgender kids and shrugged off the idea that he’s in a conservative policy rivalry with Ron DeSantis.
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Public Education
In audio, high-ranking TEA official admits public school funds could drop with voucher-like programs
“School districts, what they have to do if they lose a student, [is] be smart about how they allocate their resources and maybe that’s one less fourth grade teacher,” Steve Lecholop, a TEA deputy commissioner, said in a call with a parent that was secretly recorded.
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Health care
This Texas town has the highest rate of youth attempted suicides in the state. A grieving father hopes to reverse it.
According to a new analysis by a national health care company, Lubbock has the highest rate of attempted suicides by children between the ages of 6 and 17. A local leader suggests a dearth of resources isn’t helping.
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Economy
As Texas booms, local governments — especially in small towns — struggle to find workers
A cascade of issues including inflation and growing distrust in government aren’t helping local governments hire for critical positions in public safety and utilities.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Gov. Greg Abbott says he favors ban on transgender women competing in collegiate women’s sports
In 2021, Texas passed a law restricting transgender athletes’ participation in K-12 sports. Now there’s talk of extending those limits to colleges and universities.