Texas students walk out of classes, continuing momentum of gun violence protests
Thousands of Texas students walked out of their classes Friday morning to protest ongoing gun violence in America. Full Story
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![Students from Stony Point High School in Round Rock participate in a student-driven walkout calling for action against gun violence on April 20, 2018, the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre in 1999.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
Texas teachers' pay is average. But their pensions are among the lowest in the country.
Benefits for Texas teachers have been a point of contention between educators and lawmakers for years — and often a hot topic at the Legislature. But where does Texas fall nationally when it comes to teacher pay, health care and retirement benefits? Full Story
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Texas school administrators warn they need money for likely spike in special education
A Texas Education Agency plan requires school districts to find and serve the large number of students who may have been left out of special education for years. School administrators say they're at a loss for how to pay for that with no requisite increase in state funding. Full Story
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![Jaculyn Zigtema, special education director for Whitehouse ISD, speaks during a Texas Education Agency hearing on special education funding in Richardson on April 16, 2018.]()
Credit: Leslie Boorhem-Stephenson for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Texans hate standardized tests, but govern by the results
Kids and parents and teachers have spent the week struggling through another round of standardized testing in Texas public schools. Voters hate it, so politicians hate it. But the test results are a key ingredient of the state's education policy. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman -
Harvey-affected Texas schools may not have STAAR scores count against their annual ratings
Texas school districts hit hard by Hurricane Harvey may not have to worry as much about how well their students fare in this year's State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath announced Wednesday at a meeting of the State Board of Education. Full Story
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![Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath attends a meeting with local officials in Victoria, Texas, about post-Harvey school issues on Sept. 8, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Texas education officials promise focus on math, reading after “lagging” report card
National exam results show Texas and the nation stagnating in academic achievement for elementary and middle school students. Experts have different takes on what state education officials should do to fix it. Full Story
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Texas education board approves course formerly known as Mexican-American studies
After years of debate, the State Board of Education voted preliminarily to create curriculum standards for a Mexican-American studies class. But thanks to the objections of one member, it'll now be called “Ethnic Studies: An Overview of Americans of Mexican Descent.” Full Story
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![State Board of Education member Marisa Perez-Diaz speaks to a group of people rallying for the inclusion of Mexican-American studies in public school curriculum outside the Texas Education Agency on April 11, 2018.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding -
Texas students are taking the STAAR tests this week. Take our quiz to see how you'd fare.
Students across Texas are taking state standardized tests this week. Take some of the tests' most difficult questions to see if you'd pass. Full Story
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Problems reported with Texas' STAAR exam — again
Two years after software problems rendered results on the statewide STAAR exam unusable, students taking the test Tuesday reported more technical problems. Full Story
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A teacher says a coworker grabbed her “behind.” The Texas Supreme Court tossed her lawsuit.
The court found that the woman who sued didn't prove that the female coworker who harassed her was gay, so it's not clear that the incident constituted "sexually motivated touching." Full Story
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Teachers in other states are striking. Texas teachers can't do that.
Texas state law says that teachers could lose their teaching certificates and pensions if they go on strike. Full Story
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Credit: Tiffany Szerpicki -
This Texas school that inspired "Friday Night Lights" is overcrowded amid oil boom. One class has 63 kids.
Record enrollment is putting a strain on the already low-performing Ector County Independent School District. In Odessa, school administrators and teachers are parents are asking: Where are we going to put all of these kids? Full Story
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![Permian High School in Odessa was built for 2,500 students. Next year, they’re expecting student enrollment to reach 4,100.]()
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Researcher has educators asking: If Kansas schools need $2 billion, how much do Texas' need?
Texas A&M University professor Lori Taylor stunned Kansas lawmakers by recommending they increase their school funding by 44 percent. But what does that mean for Texas? Full Story
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![Professor Lori Taylor, director of the Mosbacher Institute for Trade, Economics and Public Policy, in her office at Texas A&M University in College Station on March 27, 2018.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
Texas schools suspended tens of thousands of students in second grade or younger, report says
The report warned educators and policy leaders of the risks that in-school suspensions continue to have on pre-K to second-grade students in Texas public schools. Full Story
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Feds approve Texas school accountability plan that includes parts of A-F rating system
Federal officials gave final approval to a Texas plan for school improvement, which includes portions of the new system for grading schools on a scale from A to F. Texas education officials say it's not too late for the public to weigh in on the A-F system. Full Story
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![U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos testifies to the House Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee on the FY2019 budget request for the Department of Education on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on March 20, 2018.]()
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Analysis: Electioneering is not a crime unless it’s on the taxpayers’ dime
State officials are warning school officials, in effect, not to turn into political organizers. That means educators shouldn't be telling students how to vote, but it sounds like some state officials don't even want educators helping students to become voters. Full Story
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![Austin ISD school buses at the terminal near John H. Reagan High School on July 26, 2017.]()
Credit: Austin Price / The Texas Tribune -
In Texas, falling behind on your student loan payments can cost you your license to work
Texas is among several states that will bar teachers, dentists, nurses and other professional license holders from renewing their licenses if they are in default on their student loans. Critics say the practice is counterproductive, since it impedes Texans’ ability to work and pay back those loans. Full Story
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![Roderick Scott outside Forest Meadow Junior High in Dallas on March 12, 2018, where he is the AVID and college career instructor, campus parent engagement specialist and after hours site coordinator.]()
Credit: Leslie Boorhem-Stephenson for The Texas Tribune -
In new plan, Texas Education Agency vows special education overhaul with limited dollars
The Texas Education Agency has posted its plan for overhauling the way it educates students with disabilities — while highlighting the agency's limitations on available funds. Full Story
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![Vanessa Tijerina addresses a U.S. Department of Education panel about her 13-year-old special needs child on Dec. 13, 2016, in Edinburg, Texas. Federal education officials toured Texas to hear community members' experiences with special education, as part of an investigation into whether Texas is capping services for students with disabilities.]()
Credit: Eddie Seal for the Texas Tribune -
Texas AG Ken Paxton ramps up fight against schools' "illegal electioneering"
Education advocates and some officials who have received cease-and-desist letters and open records requests from the state's top lawyer say the actions are politically motivated. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Will Texas school finance panel tell schools to do more with less? Some members think it’s predetermined
As Texas' school finance commission is set to hold its next hearing, some members and policy experts are arguing the hearings seem set toward a predetermined outcome — making schools do more with the funding they have. Full Story
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![Former Texas Supreme Court Justice Scott Brister, chairman of the Texas Commission on Public School Finance, listens to a commission member at the panel's second meeting on Feb. 8, 2018.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune