The latest public education news from The Texas Tribune.
In this week's edition of the Trib+Edu newsletter: Schools in the oil patch face fiscal hard times, teachers have a new online resource with Amazon and an interview with Keffrelyn Brown of the University of Texas at Austin. Full Story
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The state will divvy up $116 million among 578 school districts and charters to bolster high-quality pre-kindergarten programs, Education Commissioner Mike Morath announced Tuesday. Full Story
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The oil bust is threatening to deal a serious financial blow to schools in oil-producing regions across the state — particularly if it lingers. Full Story
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On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the University of Texas at Austin could continue to consider race as part of its application evaluation process. Here’s a graphical look at that process. Full Story
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In this week's edition of the Trib+Edu newsletter: Problems with administering the state-required tests cause the tossing of scores for fifth and eighth graders, a new report sheds light on wage gaps among teachers and an interview with Joshua Childs of the University of Texas at Austin. Full Story
Spurred by frustration at a proposed Mexican American Studies textbook that has been called racist and inaccurate, over 200 educators, scholars and activists gathered for a statewide meeting on Mexican American Studies in public schools. Full Story
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Three days after the state had to scrap scores from this year's standardized testing of school kids, a special panel studying testing says it won't recommend getting rid of STAAR tests. Full Story
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Education Commissioner Mike Morath expanded Monday on his decision to waive requirements for 5th and 8th graders who failed this year's STAAR exams, saying that a delay in the return of test scores forced the need to take action. Full Story
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As displeasure with Texas’ standardized testing regime mounts, all eyes are on a special panel the Legislature created to figure out whether to scrap the widely reviled STAAR exam. Full Story
Fifth and eighth graders who failed STAAR exams won’t be held back a grade or required to retest later this month, Education Commissioner Mike Morath announced. Full Story
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In Austin and North Texas, two high school valedictorians are drawing national attention and some ire for publicly identifying themselves as undocumented. Full Story
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A high-performing West Austin school district says it was told the state’s new testing vendor misplaced some or all of the STAAR exams its 3rd through 8th graders took this spring. But New Jersey-based Educational Testing Service says that’s not true. Full Story
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In this week's edition of the Trib+Edu newsletter: High school GPA might predict college success better than the SAT, a school meets the challenge of serving homeless students and an interview with Stephanie Cawthon of the University of Texas at Austin. Full Story
Citing a recent Texas Supreme Court decision that upheld the state’s public school funding system while deeming it “undeniably imperfect," state House Speaker Joe Straus on Thursday ordered representatives to study the school finance system. Full Story
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The Texas Supreme Court's school finance ruling means lawmakers now have a moral obligation to appropriately invest in the next generation of Texans, writes Kendall Pace, president of the Austin ISD board of trustees. Full Story
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton approached at least one other North Texas school district about adopting the transgender student bathroom policy that is now the center of his lawsuit against the Obama administration. Full Story
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In this week's edition of the Trib+Edu newsletter: Mississippi does an about face on transgender bathroom policy, a controversial SBOE candidate falls short in a runoff election and an interview with Katie Anderson of the Fort Worth ISD. Full Story
Keven Ellis could barely believe it when he learned he had won the GOP primary runoff against Mary Lou Bruner, who made national headlines for suggesting in Facebook posts that President Obama was once a gay prostitute. Full Story
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In a stunning comeback, State Board of Education candidate Keven Ellis won a Republican primary runoff over Mary Lou Bruner, who drew national attention for objectionable social media posts. Full Story
A law firm working for the Republic of Turkey is accusing Harmony Public Schools of funneling money to an organization the Turkish president has accused of trying to overthrow the government. Harmony says that's preposterous. Full Story
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