PUBLIC EDUCATION

State Rep. John Bryant said Democrats will need to work together to block the “school choice” bill in October.

Miles said he should be held accountable and be fired if the district doesn’t improve academically in the next two years.

Lawmakers at a Texas Tribune Fest panel found common ground on school funding and teacher pay but took starkly different stances on “school choice.”

School officials in San Antonio announced earlier this week that they are looking at closing about 20% of their campuses while Plano school officials are starting those discussions.

The governor promised political consequences if lawmakers cannot pass legislation allowing for publicly subsidized school vouchers before March primaries.

The Texas House and Senate were already far apart on “school choice.” Anger over the impeachment trial might make it even harder to find common ground.

Texas is one of 17 states that still permits hitting, spanking and paddling in schools. Republican lawmakers stood by the practice earlier this year in part because they say it was permitted in the Bible.

TEA said it needs to make adjustments to account for changes in students’ academic performance after the pandemic. The delay comes after several school districts sued to stop the agency from releasing school rankings produced under a new rating system.

Lawmakers failed to pass legislation on school vouchers or teacher raises this year, but they approved other education-related laws like an $800 million investment in high-quality instructional materials and new rules for students found vaping or using marijuana.

House Bill 900 requires book vendors to rate all their materials based on their depictions or references to sex before selling them to schools. Vendors say the law aims to regulate protected speech with “vague and over broad” terms.

Texas is one of the few states that don’t already require eighth graders to be taught about climate change. That’ll change next fall.

For decades, the Texas comptroller’s office has double-checked property valuations across the state, which help determine how much school districts can levy in property taxes. But when state and county appraisers disagree, districts can end up with big holes in their budgets.

Historically, anti-drug messaging in schools has failed to acknowledge the mental health reasons that youth self-medicate. Without that key lesson, advocates worry House Bill 3908 will be another D.A.R.E. campaign.

Test results have gone up since the pandemic in both subjects, but math scores are still below 2019 levels and about half of Texas students read below the level appropriate for most children in their grade.

The House blocked school vouchers during this year’s regular lawmaking session, but a report released Friday shows some members might be willing to approve such a scaled-back version of the program that doesn’t compete with public schools for funds.

Two Texas bookstores and three national bookseller associations file suit over House Bill 900, which requires private booksellers to rate books on appropriateness, and bans “sexually explicit” material from libraries.

After the tragic Uvalde school shooting in 2022, Abel Ortiz, an art professor at Southwest Texas Junior College, asked artists from across the state to come together to use the power of art to heal. See the results of their efforts in this video.

At a time when the state has some of the nation’s highest property taxes, the initiative was a cornerstone of his 2022 reelection campaign.

The small district’s apprenticeship program lets aspiring teachers earn a bachelor’s degree and teacher certification at no cost. In return, participants must work at the district for at least three years. Observers hope state lawmakers will use the program as a model for legislation.

Experts say many of the changes will bolster school safety but some requirements may be challenging for public schools to implement by the upcoming school year with limited funding and staffing constraints.

Lawmakers this year didn’t approve extra money to help schools pay for raises despite having an unprecedented $32 billion surplus — even after Gov. Greg Abbott commissioned a task force last year to improve teacher pay and retention.

The state police agency had been withholding nearly all of its records on law enforcement’s botched response to Texas’ deadliest school shooting. DPS will have an opportunity to redact the files before they are released.

Many Texas residents can opt for a variety of different educational programs that are shorter, more appropriate to their needs and often cost less than a bachelor’s degree.

Mike Miles has wasted no time in restructuring schools and proposing administrative layoffs. The changes are designed to pay teachers at struggling schools more if their students show improvement.

The state recently took over the Houston school district. The new officials restricted the number of people allowed in the board room, requiring many people to watch from an overflow space.

Phelan announced the formation of a House committee that could set the tone in favor of vouchers ahead of an expected special session on education. The move comes weeks after Abbott sided with Phelan on a plan to lower property taxes.

Threat assessment teams were created to prevent the next school shooting. However, confusion surrounds how these teams operate and what they even do with a child exhibiting threatening behavior.

A 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel in New Orleans heard oral arguments Wednesday for an appeal to overturn a judge’s order that Llano County officials return to shelves books they had removed. It was not clear how or when the appellate panel would rule.

On this week’s episode, we speak to the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s James Quintero, who has been at the center of the debate over property taxes this week.

Lawmakers sacrificed school funding to block school vouchers, but the issue could be debated again in a special session. Districts will get new funds for school safety, though Uvalde families were ultimately left disappointed with inaction on gun restrictions.

The former Dallas ISD superintendent and state-appointed board of managers will replace Houston’s elected school board in response to years of poor academic outcomes at a single campus in the district.

Abbott noted many bills that were passed during the regular session, which ended around 6 p.m. Monday, but he added that “many critical items remain” and will require multiple special sessions.

Gov. Greg Abbott over the weekend signed into law a bill prohibiting race-based hair discrimination in Texas workplaces, schools and housing policies. It goes into effect in September.

The bill comes in response to the Uvalde school shooting last year that left 19 children and two adults dead.

A failure to compromise on school choice, border security and, for now, property taxes all but assures the governor will call lawmakers back for a special legislative session.

The end of House Bill 100 is a bittersweet victory for public education advocates who vehemently oppose school voucher programs but lament that schools won’t get additional funds to pay for teacher raises or balance their budgets.

Numerous vigils and memorials were planned in Uvalde to mark one year since the Robb Elementary School shooting. In what became the deadliest school shooting in Texas, a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers and injured 17 others.

Opponents fear the bill is a “Trojan horse” for evangelizing kids and will worsen the state’s mental health crisis through disproven counseling approaches.

Senate Bill 1515 was one of several legislative attempts by conservative Christians to center public life around their religious views.

Wednesday marks exactly a year since a mass shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde. The community continues to grapple with the trauma and pain, and for those who lost someone that day, they’re determined to keep the memories of their loved ones alive.

The two chambers have been at odds over property tax relief and school choice, but on Tuesday night, those divisions spilled over into priorities the bodies had previously agreed upon.

If the bill becomes law, book vendors would have to assign ratings to books based on depictions or references to sex.

For the third time, the Senate is pushing a proposal critics say will ignore the existence of LGBTQ people in every grade level. Two other bills that contained similar language missed key legislative deadlines.

Texas senators have latched education savings accounts to a school funding bill in a last-ditch effort to avoid a special session. But some House members are furious at the revamped version and have vowed not to let it become law.

The film, “After Uvalde: Guns, Grief and Texas Politics,” will be broadcast nationally on PBS and also available for streaming.

Evadulia Orta’s son, Rojélio Torres, died in the school shooting in Uvalde last year. Her other children still collect Pokémon cards to add to his collection, and his cousins play with his football.

The three Treviño children have suffered from panic attacks and nightmares since a mass shooting a year ago this week left 19 of their schoolmates and two teachers dead. Their parents are striving to help their kids feel normal again.

The Senate education committee has drastically changed House Bill 100 after Gov. Greg Abbott signaled he would call a special session if a voucher-like program didn’t pass.

Both chambers have said school safety is a priority this session after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at a Uvalde elementary school last year.

Lawmakers are trying hard to come up with an agreement on how to replace an embattled 20-year tax abatement program for big companies that expired in December.

Priority bills that died include a 10-year minimum sentencing for gun-related crimes, a ban on “critical race theory” at public universities and LGBTQ-related legislation. While the bills may be dead, lawmakers have a limited time to attach their ideas to legislation that are still alive.

In this week’s episode, we discuss the long odds facing the school choice bill and the possibility of Gov. Greg Abbott calling lawmakers back for a special session.

Rocky Malloy, a self-described former drug-smuggling pirate saved by divine intervention, has led a group that promotes chaplains as a tool to proselytize to schoolchildren.

The House public education committee chair said Wednesday he currently has no plans to bring the bill for a vote. Gov. Greg Abbott has vowed to call a special session if the House doesn’t “expand the scope of school choice.”

Abbott says if a school voucher bill isn’t expanded to include more students, a special legislative session will be the result.

The most ambitious proposals are all but dead, leaving teachers wondering why they’re looking at small raises when the state has a historic budget surplus at its disposal.

The House plans to discuss its version of Senate Bill 8 on Wednesday, which was heavily modified to sway votes in the lower chamber.

There are more than 60 open federal civil rights investigations into Texas schools.

The list of potential hurdles includes property tax cuts, school choice, the power grid, the state budget, plus diversity and tenure in higher education.

Opponents of church-state separation have been emboldened by recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions and the growing acceptance of Christian nationalism on the right.

The proposed raise would be the first time in nearly 20 years that some retirees would get a cost-of-living adjustment.

Texas public schools can allow corporal punishment, which includes hitting, spanking, paddling or deliberately inflicting physical pain to discipline students.

Lawmakers have already proposed directing billions of dollars to schools so they can lower property taxes and pay for safety upgrades. But House Bill 100 would be the first to increase the amount of money districts receive to raise teacher pay and cover the actual costs of educating students.

A bill passed by the Texas House on Wednesday would also help schools rehire retired teachers and offer other incentives in an effort to fight the state’s teacher shortage.

Other legislation this session has targeted school library books, which are optional reading materials, but House Bill 1804 might be the first to go after textbooks that teachers use for their lessons.

Lawmakers have said school safety is a priority this session, but it is still unclear whether they’ll listen to Uvalde families who want to raise the minimum age to purchase semi-automatic guns from 18 to 21.

Local leaders told members of the Federal Reserve last week that families are facing financial stresses that make working hard. Educators say they need families more involved at school.

Voters in nearly 100 counties — mostly rural — can vote at any polling site in their county. The sponsor, without offering evidence, said the practice was not secure despite years of successful elections in Texas with the system.

The Senate also passed a bill that would set prayer and Bible reading times during the school day.

Proposition A on the May 6 ballot will test the city’s political climate and progressives’ ability to advance a controversial agenda.

Senate Bill 11, which aims to get hundreds of districts without adequate safety protocols to adopt one, would also beef up truancy laws.

Legal experts, librarians and some parents say House Bill 900’s language is so vague and broad that it could ensnare books that are not inappropriate.

The families of Uvalde shooting victims waited hours to testify at a House committee hearing in support of House Bill 2744, which would raise the minimum age to purchase semi-automatic guns from 18 to 21.

There are $5 billion and several political wedges standing between the House and Senate plans, which now move into conference committee with less than five weeks before session ends.

Proponents of the bill say it will keep inappropriate material away from kids. Some librarians are concerned about the logistical challenges it could bring.

The bill seeks to ban discrimination based on certain hairstyles — like braids, dreadlocks and twists — in schools, workplaces and housing.

The House voted 86-52 on Thursday to amend the budget to ban state funding for “school vouchers or other similar programs.” Abbott has spent the past two months touring the state to build support for the proposal, spending tremendous political capital on trying to break through the rural Republican opposition to it.

In this week’s episode, we discuss whether the House’s recent vote to ban school vouchers means a top Gov. Greg Abbott priority is doomed.

Gov. Greg Abbott and other conservatives say families need options to escape “woke” education in public schools. East Texas parents and school leaders say the national talking points are off base.

At one elementary school, protesters chanted as the school day was about to begin. Parents sought petition signatures at a high school. The demonstrations are planned throughout the day.

A Texas House vote earlier in the day suggests Senate Bill 8 might be short of the votes needed to pass in the lower chamber. Senators also passed a bill on Thursday that would give teachers a one-time bonus.

Passage of a school choice measure is anything but a sure bet, as there is little evidence that the governor has been able to convince rural Republicans in the Texas House — who have for years been a reliable firewall — to drop their opposition.

The TEA recommended the move, citing the district’s failures serving special education students. The announcement comes two weeks after the agency appointed a board of managers to oversee Houston ISD.

The ACLU of Texas, the Houston NAACP and other groups say the takeover is a violation of the Voting Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution.

The authors of bills in both legislative chambers say their bills’ aim is simple: keeping sexually explicit content off school bookshelves. But opponents say the legislation is vague and broad enough to wreak havoc.

Education savings accounts, which are similar to vouchers, are a priority of Gov. Greg Abbott this session. Texas senators also advanced a bill that would give raises and other benefits to teachers.

The Senate Finance Committee’s proposals won’t be voted on and sent to the full chamber until April.

Senate Bill 8 supporters say the legislation protects the rights of parents who don’t want their kids to learn about gender identity and sexual orientation. Critics say it could force schools to ignore the existence of LGBTQ people.

Texas is attempting to address the fentanyl crisis gripping schools by having staff learn how to administer lifesaving medication.

More than 380 supporters and opponents signed up Wednesday to testify on the proposal, which would allow parents to use state funds to send their children to private schools.

The Texas Education Agency announced on March 15 that it would replace the current superintendent and its democratically elected school board with a new board of managers as soon as June 1.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has embraced Senate Bill 8, which will get its first committee hearing Wednesday. But House Speaker Dade Phelan hasn’t made school choice legislation a priority.

Texas lawmakers could prohibit race-based hair discrimination at schools and workplaces. At least 20 states have already passed similar legislation, according to a group that champions the laws.

When do state takeovers of Texas public schools or districts happen? How long can they last? We provide answers to some of the questions surrounding the takeover of Houston ISD.

Parents and students of the Houston Independent School District decried the state’s decision to take control of the school system. Despite the news, many questions remain about how it would affect them.

The announcement comes almost four years after the agency first moved to take over the district.

Texas’ education agency first moved to take over the district in 2019 after years of low student performance at a single Houston ISD high school. Critics said the district has made improvements since then.

The bill, which has the blessing of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, will create new rules on how gender and sexual orientation is taught. It will face a tougher test in the House.

Gun policy reform is the best way to address school safety, according to experts on a panel in Austin. They also cautioned against doubling down on surveillance technology.

More than nine months after the Uvalde school shooting, top GOP lawmakers maintain focus on school safety reforms and investments in mental health resources in hopes it will prevent future tragedies.