Texas educators say they’re concerned they won’t be able to have open conversations about what’s happening in the world if the Texas Legislature approves a bill that restricts how teachers can discuss current events in the classroom.
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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Texas Legislature 2021
Some Texas schools would be required to hang “In God We Trust” signs under measure nearing passage by lawmakers
The national motto would have to be hung in a “conspicuous place” in every building on the school’s campus — if someone donates the sign.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas’ divisive bill limiting how students learn about current events and historic racism passed by Senate
The bill aims to ban critical race theory in public and open-enrollment charter schools. Supporters say it merely ensures students aren’t taught that one race or gender is superior to another. Critics say it limits how race in America is taught.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Vengeance or politics? Democrat Harold Dutton explains why he advanced bill targeting transgender athletes, other GOP priorities
As a powerful committee chairman, Dutton could have bottled up legislation that Democrats opposed. Instead, critics say, he’s pushed through Republican bills that Democrats find objectionable.
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Public Education
Pay for some Texas teachers will top $100,000 in bid to aid poorer schools devastated by COVID-19
A new incentive program will increase pay for teachers facing some of the greatest challenges in helping students catch up from the pandemic. It relies on more than standardized test scores to measure performance.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas House adds MLK and Frederick Douglass speeches to bill that would mandate teaching “informed American patriotism”
House Bill 4509 would mandate that students study documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Federalist Papers. The bill’s author added speeches from Black historical figures after criticism at a hearing last month.
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Higher Education
Texas colleges and universities get $2 billion in federal stimulus money. Half must go directly to struggling students.
The federal government also announced that undocumented and international students can now receive those emergency funds, too, rolling back a Trump administration rule that allowed schools to distribute grants only to students who qualified for federal financial aid.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas public schools couldn’t require critical race theory lessons under bill given House approval
House Bill 3979 is part of a national effort by red-state legislatures to ban or limit the teaching of critical race theory. That academic discipline examines how racism has shaped legal and social systems within the United States.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Resuming in-person learning at Texas schools last fall accelerated spread of COVID-19, study says
The researchers said the additional cases they tracked after students began returning to schools represented 12% of the state’s total cases during the eight weeks after reopening and 17% of deaths.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Democrat revives Texas bill restricting transgender students’ sports participation in apparent act of retaliation against his party
The bill previously lacked the votes to advance out of House committee. After House Democrats spiked one of his bills, Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston, revived it.