The latest public education news from The Texas Tribune.
In a rare move in a state where the football field is hallowed turf, Premont ISD has suspended all athletics — including football — to improve its struggling finances. But the decision has brought little backlash from the community in South Texas, perhaps a measure of how dire the school's circumstances have become. Full Story
In a daring and rare move in a state where the football field is hallowed turf, a superindent has suspended all athletics to help his South Texas district improve its struggling finances. Full Story
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Texas lawmakers on Monday reviewed how schools are planning to implement a new standardized testing system, and as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, they came armed with plenty of questions. Full Story
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Tan and Root on the Texas presidential candidates returning to the state where Rick Perry started his campaign, Philpott on Perry's swipes at Mitt Romney, Ramshaw on Griffin Perry's tweets, M. Smith on the next round of fights over student testing, E. Smith's TribLive interview with Michael Quinn Sullivan, yours truly on the sliding primary election calendar, Hamilton on higher-education efforts to bolster the Texas work force, Grissom's interview with John Raley, Galbraith on the greenhouse gas wars and Aguilar on making it easier for immigrants to return to the U.S.: The best of our best content from January 9 to 13, 2012. Full Story
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Full video of our 1/12 TribLive conversation with the conservative activist, who heads the watchdog groups Empower Texans and Texans for Fiscal Responsibility. Full Story
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This year, for the first time, students' scores on standardized tests will count 15 percent toward their final grades. It sounds straightforward, but how some districts are applying the so-called 15 percent rule threatens to spark the next political battle over a test that has seen plenty of them. Full Story
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Cultural institutions that once counted on revenue from student field trips are feeling the hit of the state's multibillion-dollar education cuts. Full Story
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At our Hot Seat conversation at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston on 12/14, state Reps. Craig Eiland, D-Galveston, and Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, discussed cuts to public and higher education and other byproducts of the 82nd Session. Full Story
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Texans will close out 2011 with more questions than answers, from the outcomes of redistricting and Gov. Rick Perry's presidential bid to the effects of lawmakers' multibillion-dollar budget cuts. Here’s hoping 2012 brings some resolution. Full Story
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In the spirit of TribWeek and TribMonth, we present TribYear. Ten of our best stories of 2011. Full Story
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As it has since the Trib's launch in 2009, data continued to reign supreme on the site in 2011. Today, we take a look at the 10 most-visited data apps since Jan. 1. Full Story
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Aaronson on Rick Perry's Texas Enterprise Fund, Aguliar on the DOJ's Joe Arpaio problem, Galbraith on the uncertainty about Texas' electric grid, Grissom and Schwartz of The New York Times on the latest in the Michael Morton case, Hamilton on the first leg of Perry's Iowa bus tour, Murphy and McLain unveil our new campaign finance database, Ramsey et al. go live with the first round of our 2012 election brackets, Root on a GOP rival's queries about Perry's pension play, M. Smith contrasts the various school finance lawsuits and Tan, Dehn and Murphy on a shortage of mental health professionals: The best of our best content from December 19-23, 2011. Full Story
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By the end of the year, there will likely be four school finance lawsuits filed against the state. Here's a primer. Full Story
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After 20 years, Scott Hochberg is bailing out of the Texas Legislature. He’ll get back his nights and weekends. But he also won't be at the Capitol to help sort out education policy and financing. Full Story
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One question has dominated education conversations in Texas since even before the 2011 legislative session and budget slashing began: How will public schools be affected? The answers are many and varied. Full Story
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After months of bubbling discontent among professors over the law school’s faculty compensation practices, University of Texas School of Law Dean Larry Sager was forced to resign his position Thursday. Full Story
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Aaronson maps the growth of poverty in Texas, Aguilar on the suicide of an illegal immigrant, Galbraith on the prospect of more rolling blackouts, Grissom on a prosecutor's memory lapse, Hamilton on the prospect of public universities undergoing a sunset review, Murphy's latest awesome redistricting interactive, Ramsey on a stumbling start to the 2012 election season, Root on Rick Perry's latest populist tirade, M. Smith on the boom in for-profit teacher certification programs and Tan on the fight against cervical cancer in ... Africa: The best of our best content from November 28 to December 2, 2011. Full Story
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The Legislature's foremost expert on school finance and one of its top public education advocates, state Rep. Scott Hochberg, D-Houston, confirmed this afternoon that he won't seek re-election next year. Full Story
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Texas has a long history of school finance lawsuits, many of them fought over the same themes. But in the latest round, one phrase has been conspicuously absent from the discussion: Robin Hood. Full Story
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For-profit, alternative certification teaching programs are booming in Texas. Every year since 2007, the two largest programs have produced far more teachers than any other traditional or alternative program. Full Story
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