COVID-19 is surging again in Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott has tested positive. Hospitalizations are increasing faster than at any other time. Local officials and school leaders are rebelling against Abbott’s ban on mask mandates. Here’s the latest.
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.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Texas says schools now must notify families of positive COVID-19 cases in classrooms
This is a reversal of the Texas Education Agency’s previous guidance, which didn’t explicitly require school districts to notify parents of a close contact with the virus.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Texas Supreme Court temporarily allows school mask mandates to remain
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Gov. Greg Abbott wanted the high court to disallow mask mandates in Texas school districts. Justices dismissed their request on a technicality, without issuing a ruling on their legal arguments.
Posted in
Public Education
Rural schools shut down to keep COVID-19 from overwhelming their small communities
The small districts aren’t fighting Gov. Greg Abbott’s mask rules, but fears for staff, students and local medical facilities are driving them to fight COVID-19 with temporary closures.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Analysis: Texas, the bellwether state
A number of the top issues facing the country — mask mandates, voting, immigration — have something in common: Texas.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Joe Biden takes aim at states blocking mask mandates, setting Gov. Greg Abbott up for showdown with feds
Biden said he will use the U.S. Department of Education’s civil rights enforcement authority to deter states from blocking mask mandates in classrooms.
Posted inDemographics
Texas’ controversial new social studies law prompts McKinney school officials to cancel Youth and Government class
One of the Republican authors of the so-called critical race theory bill said the district is misinterpreting the new law’s ban on political activism. A school official called the language “vague.”
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Live COVID-19 updates: Attorney General Ken Paxton takes the state’s mask mandate ban to the Texas Supreme Court
COVID-19 is surging again in Texas. Hospitalizations are increasing faster than at any other time. Local officials and school leaders are rebelling against Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on mask mandates. Here’s the latest.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Several local mask mandates in Texas allowed for now as legal challenges to Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban mount
COVID-19 is surging again in Texas. Hospitalizations are increasing faster than at any other time. Local officials and school leaders are pushing back against Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on mask mandates. Here’s the latest.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Across Texas, frantic parents search for options to keep kids safe in school
For the second straight year, schools must worry about keeping their staff and their children safe and ensure that they’re providing the best possible education during a pandemic that has killed more than 50,000 Texans.