UT-Austin sued for removing Confederate statues from campus grounds
The Sons of Confederate Veterans has sued the University of Texas at Austin for removing several Confederate statues from its campus earlier this week. Full Story
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![A crew takes down Confederate statues on the UT-Austin campus just after midnight on Monday, Aug. 21, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
"Disappointed" House accepts Senate's changes to school finance bill
The Texas House voted Tuesday to swallow a bitter pill and accept a version of a school finance bill that had $1.5 billion less in funding for schools than the lower chamber initially approved. Full Story
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![State Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Houston, stands as fellow members talk about a school finance bill on Aug. 15, 2017.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Special session coming down to school finance, property taxes
House and Senate negotiators will have the next two days remaining in the current special legislative session to hammer out their differences on legislation tackling property taxes, school finance and other items still in play. Full Story
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![After a one-hour evening recess, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick gavels in the Senate to consider the committee substitute to House BIll 21, the school finance bill on Aug. 14, 2017. Patrick and Sen. Larry Taylor had earlier met with Gov. Greg Abbott during the pause in proceedings.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune -
Texas House, Senate move toward school finance compromise
The Texas House and Senate tentatively passed each other’s priority school finance bills Monday, preparing to discuss potential compromises with two days left in the special session. Full Story
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![State Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Houston, closes on Senate Bill 6, the municipal annexation bill in the House on August 11, 2017. The bill passed, 115-24 and is headed to the Senate before the end of the special session on Aug. 16th.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune -
Texas House votes to extend life of maternal mortality task force
Legislation that would extend the life of a state task force studying Texas’ high maternal morbidity rates is headed to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk. Full Story
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Credit: Bas Silderhuis -
With days left in special session, Senate committee makes major changes to House's school finance bill
The Senate Education Committee drastically altered the House's primary piece of school finance legislation Friday but suggested compromise with the House was possible with less than a week left in the special session. Full Story
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![State Sen. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, speaks at a press conference held by members of the Senate Republican Caucus to discuss education and teachers' retirement, on August 8, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
1,500 school officials urge Patrick to accept House school finance bill
In a letter sent to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick Thursday, nearly 1,500 local school superintendents and trustees urged the head of the Senate to support the House's primary piece of school finance legislation, House Bill 21. Full Story
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![State Sen. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, speaks at a press conference held by members of the Senate Republican Caucus to discuss education and teachers' retirement, on August 8, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Even the losers get lucky sometimes
With a little more than a week left for this special session of the Texas Legislature, lawmakers are preparing closing arguments — and obituaries — for their pet issues. Full Story
![State Sen. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, speaks at a press conference held by members of the Senate Republican Caucus to discuss education and teachers' retirement, on August 8, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Senate education chair: House school finance plan "not a long-term solution"
Senate Education Committee Chairman Larry Taylor said he would not accept the House's proposal to put $1.8 billion into public schools, comparing it to driving a broken car into the ground. Full Story
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![State Education Chairman Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, is shown on the Senate floor May 24, 2017, after announcing that he would not name conferees to consider House Bill 21, a school finance bill, effectively killing the measure.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Former Texas Gov. Mark White dead at 77
Mark White, who served as the governor of Texas from 1983 to 1987, has died at 77. Among his notable achievements was the legislation he signed that included the famous "no-pass, no play" law. Full Story
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![Former Governor Mark White speaking to Bears for Leadership Reform in Waco on November 10, 2016. Behind White: John Eddie Williams (left) and Randy Ferguson.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
House approves $1.8 billion package of school finance bills
The Texas House voted to approve a package of bills that would put $1.8 billion into public schools, increase funding for certain student groups and help out struggling small, rural schools. Full Story
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![State Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Houston, chairman of the House Public Education Committee, smiled as House Bill 21, a school finance bill, passes by a vote of 130-12 in the House.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
When school’s out, rural Texas towns struggle to feed their hungry kids
In East Texas, 86-year-old Clara Crawford shuttles kids to a summer meal program at the local community center. In the Panhandle, Kay Calvert and a group of volunteers want to revive a similar program in tiny Quitaque. Full Story
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![Clara Crawford drives a van without air conditioning to pick up and drop off children at a summer meals program sponsored by the East Texas Food Bank. The food bank provides meals for kids at similar programs at more than 70 different sites.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: No, the Texas Legislature isn’t lowering your property taxes
Texas legislators would love to lower your property taxes, but none of the proposals they're considering in the special session would do that. Full Story
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![Construction in downtown Austin on June 20, 2017.]()
Credit: Austin Price / The Texas Tribune -
Texas has more kids eligible for free summer meals. Why is the state feeding fewer?
After peaking in 2013, the number of students who received free summer meals at Texas schools dropped last summer. No one seems to know exactly why, but one possible reason is lack of transportation. Full Story
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![Siblings Stacy Hurd, 11, Angelica Hurd, 5, and Sheniya Hurd, 8, eat a free meal together at Jarvis Christian College in Hawkins, one of more than 70 sites the East Texas Food Bank sponsors in the summer.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune -
House backs bill putting $212 million toward retired teachers' health care program
The Texas House voted Tuesday to use $212 million from the Rainy Day Fund, a savings account largely fed by oil and gas production taxes, to decrease premiums and deductibles for retired teachers in the state-run health insurance program. Full Story
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![Rep. Trent Ashby, R-Lufkin, speaks on House Bill 20 surrounded by colleagues on the House floor August 1, 2017. The bill would put a one-time influx of $212 million into a health plan that serves hundreds of thousands of retired teachers.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune -
Analysis: For lawmakers, like kids, education can be very difficult
The governor put a number of public education proposals on the Legislature's plate for the current special session. Getting more than one or two into law would defy the odds. Full Story
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![A group of educators from Gordon, Texas applaud a speaker at the Texans for Public Education rally on the Capitol steps on Monday, July 17, 2017.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate approves teacher bonuses, benefits — but not pay raises
The Texas Senate passed a bill that would provide funding for teacher bonuses and retirement benefits, slashing a controversial provision that would require school districts to increase teacher salaries without additional state money. Full Story
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![State Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, and Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, are shown during a special session debate on July 25, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune -
Senate approves bills on "private school choice" and school finance study
The Texas Senate backed bills that would subsidize private school tuition and study the state's school finance system. Full Story
![State Education Chairman Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, is shown on the Senate floor May 24, 2017, after announcing that he would not name conferees to consider House Bill 21, a school finance bill, effectively killing the measure.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate panel approves teacher bonuses, retirement benefits
The Texas Senate Finance Committee approved a bill Saturday that would put one-time influxes of money toward the Teacher Retirement System and teacher bonuses, and require districts to fund $1,000 in teacher pay raises. Full Story
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![State Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, explains the benefits of Senate Bill 19 during a Saturday meeting of the Senate Finance Committee on July 22, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune -
Senate committee passes bills on private school choice and school finance study
The Texas Senate Education Committee passed a bill that would create a "private school choice" program to subsidize private school tuition for kids with special needs, and a bill to study the school finance system. Full Story
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![State Sen. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, during a July 21, 2017 Senate Public Education Committee hearing. Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, is seated to his left.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune