Education News

August 20, 2026

Online courses inflated HISD ratings; without them, some schools would have Fs

Two years into Houston ISD’s state takeover, state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles touted a major achievement: state ratings showed there were no more F-rated schools in the district.

Some of that jump, however, had little to do with Miles’ sweeping reforms or gains in student test scores. One key factor was HISD’s use of a new, rapidly expanding option in Texas’ accountability system: college-prep courses.

These are not typical courses that can earn students college credit, such as Advanced Placement or dual credit. These are courses, often taken online, that help students catch up on English and math so they don’t have to take remedial classes in college. In the state’s accountability system, schools that enroll students in college-prep courses can earn credit for producing college-ready graduates, which in turn boosts their A-F ratings.

August 19, 2026

FWISD put cameras in classrooms at struggling schools

Classrooms in Fort Worth ISD’s lowest-performing schools now have web cameras pointed at students — mirroring takeover changes seen in Houston classrooms.

The cameras have alarmed a parent group and teacher association that say families and educators were not notified. District officials said the cameras allow students to watch live lessons when they’re out of the room over behavioral issues.

Dionna Deardorff, spokesperson for Families Organized & Responding to Takeover, a parent group known as FORT, said cameras were placed this week in third- through fifth-grade classrooms in Elevate Network schools, the district’s chronically failing campuses.

The group also raised safety concerns about the district using Zoom, a video conferencing platform FWISD dropped during the pandemic after unauthorized users breached password-protected virtual classrooms.

August 18, 2026

Families ask US Supreme Court to rule on Texas’ Ten Commandments requirement for public schools

Texas families on Monday asked the US Supreme Court to decide whether state lawmakers can require public schools to display the Ten Commandments.

The formal request comes after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled earlier this year that Texas’ and Louisiana’s laws mandating such displays did not violate the Constitution’s ban on states prioritizing one religion over others.

August 17, 2026

Colorado school district rejects controversial reading curriculum because of errors, Texas focus

On Wednesday, elementary schools in a small southwestern Colorado district stopped using a controversial reading curriculum developed by the state of Texas.

It was the third day of school.

The sudden shift came a day after the Montezuma-Cortez school board voted 4-3 to reject the new curriculum, called Bluebonnet, and four days after the district’s superintendent pledged that Biblical material would be removed from lessons.

August 16, 2026

Why 5 major San Antonio school districts lost superintendents in less than a year

In eight months, five of the largest San Antonio school districts lost their leaders. None left for another superintendent job.

One district leader was fired, two retired and two resigned, setting off a scramble to name interim successors and search for permanent replacements in the Northside, North East, San Antonio, Judson and Southwest ISDs. Together, the districts educate nearly 240,000 students and face tremendous challenges as a new school year begins.

San Antonio and Judson ISDs are at a pivotal academic point with chronically struggling schools at risk of tripping a state law that could bring mandatory state intervention — required campus closures or a districtwide takeover.

August 15, 2026

Texas’ school A-F grades relatively flat as Austin ISD inches closer to takeover

Texas’ school performance ratings remained relatively flat this year, while the Austin school district prepared for expected state sanctions over chronic F ratings.

Campuses and districts received their state report cards Friday, providing families a glimpse of how well schools educate students. About one in four schools saw their ratings improve, while a nearly similar number of campuses saw a drop.

Of the more than 9,000 campuses in the 2025-26 school year, 24% scored an A, 34% scored a B, 23% scored a C, 10% scored a D and 4% scored an F. Some schools did not receive grades.

August 14, 2026

Look up your Texas school’s A-F accountability grade, STAAR performance

Texas released a new round of academic accountability ratings Friday, with overall public school performance remaining relatively flat.

State education officials grade districts and campuses each year largely based on how well students perform on STAAR, the state’s standardized test. The A-F ratings are designed to provide families a tool to evaluate how well schools educate their children.

Of more than 9,000 campuses, 24% scored an A, 34% scored a B, 23% scored a C, 10% scored a D and 4% scored an F.

August 13, 2026

UT-Austin overhauling core classes but hasn’t detailed how new center relates to the courses

Future UT-Austin students would have fewer classes to choose from to meet graduation requirements under a proposal university leaders presented Thursday.

The plan to remake the flagship campus’ core curriculum replaces the sprawling menu of classes students can now take to meet core requirements with a more structured core curriculum organized around the humanities, social sciences and science, technology, engineering and math.

But how the overhaul connects to UT-Austin’s new Center for the Humanities remains unclear.

A report from a 22-member faculty task force appointed by UT-Austin President Jim Davis proposes 12 requirements across the core areas, compared with the current 10.

August 12, 2026

Gov. Greg Abbott proposes further limiting screen time in K-12 classrooms

Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday proposed further limiting screen time in K-12 schools, framing the idea as a way to improve student learning across the state and building off the Legislature’s move to ban cell phones in public school classrooms.

Citing studies purportedly showing decreased screen time leading to improved academic outcomes, Abbott said he wants legislators to limit the use of electronic devices like laptops and tablets in classrooms and to “emphasize” physical materials including books, handwriting and “direct teacher instruction.”

“Technology should only be used for specific lessons and specific assessments, not as a substitute for teachers or other proven methods of learning,” Abbott said at a campaign stop at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi. “Screens should support learning, not hinder it.”

Abbott did not outline how the screen limits would vary across grade levels or what the restrictions would entail. The proposal would have to be taken up by the Legislature when it convenes next year.

August 10, 2026

Black-majority schools in Texas receive more Fs than A ratings, leaving parents with tough choices

Black children attend schools labeled as failing by the Texas Education Agency at a far higher rate than any other racial or ethnic group. Majority-Black schools are the least likely to achieve the state’s highest academic rating.

Of the roughly 300 such campuses last year, 20 received an A. By contrast, 105 scored a D or an F.

August 9, 2026

Clear backpacks are common in Texas schools. Do they make students safer?

As Texas school districts prepare to welcome kids back for class, some parents may be scrambling to find a backpack that meets new safety standards.

In a push to make schools safer, San Antonio’s Harlandale Independent School District will now require all students to bring a clear or mesh backpack to school. In Bexar County, Southside and South San Antonio ISDs also require clear bags for all grade levels. San Antonio ISD requires the policy at select campuses, including Jefferson, Lanier and Burbank high schools.

Clear backpack policies have become more common across Texas school districts in the wake of the mass shooting at Uvalde Consolidated ISD’s Robb Elementary. But there’s limited research about whether the increased transparency actually makes kids safer.

August 7, 2026

Which families are using ESAs? Here’s what we know about Texas’ first school vouchers

More than 85,000 families are participating in Texas’ private school voucher program during its first year, a number that could increase as state officials finalize enrollment data, according to a new state report.

White families make up the largest share of participants so far, as do those considered low-income, the comptroller’s office noted in the report released Monday. The report did not say how many students previously attended private school or received home schooling, although earlier data showed that 57% of families invited to the program fell into that category.

While it appears unlikely that the majority of first-year voucher recipients will come from public schools, the largest numbers of participating families live within the boundaries of some of the state’s most populous districts — with Houston, Dallas and Northside in the San Antonio area leading the way.

August 6, 2026

TSTA survey: Pay raises enacted in 2025 show little impact on teacher moonlighting, morale

One year after the Legislature enacted pay raises for most Texas teachers, 63 percent of teacher-members surveyed for the Texas State Teachers Association said they were seriously considering leaving the profession. This was only slightly less than the 65 percent who were seriously thinking about leaving the classroom when a similar survey was conducted in 2024 – before the 2025 pay increases.

The most recent survey, conducted for TSTA this past spring by faculty at Sam Houston State University, also showed that 33 percent of the respondents had to take extra jobs during the school year to meet their families’ needs. This was the same percentage who reported moonlighting two years ago – also before the statewide raises were enacted.

Read the full press release

August 5, 2026

Professors sue Texas A&M System over limits on teaching race, gender

Four professors and a national faculty group asked a federal judge Monday to block the Texas A&M University System’s restrictions on teaching about race, gender and sexuality and to reinstate courses canceled under the policy.

The university system bars professors from “advocating” race or gender ideology or topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity. The policy applies to all 12 universities in the system. It requires presidential approval to address those subjects in certain courses and, according to the lawsuit, prohibits them in core courses.

August 4, 2026

Nearly 1 in 5 Texas students miss 10% or more of school year. Why absences matter

There’s a lot at stake when schools reopen in August in making sure students attend class regularly — or else students run the risk of missing out on class credits and adding to ballooning school district budget deficits.

Texas is one of the few states that funds public schools based on average daily attendance, according to the Texas Association of School Boards. With many districts struggling financially, school officials are monitoring turnout.

Boosting the percentage of students showing up for class each day can have major budget implications. One San Antonio district, Edgewood Independent School District, estimated it could wipe out its $3 million budget deficit just by increasing attendance rates from 89% to 93%.

August 3, 2026

Families brace for change as Third Future takes over more struggling Texas schools

Waco ISD is among the latest Texas districts to choose Third Future Schools to take control of campuses with a record of failing under the state’s accountability system. South Waco Elementary had four years of failing grades under the A-F system and Dean Highland had three. The next round of accountability rates are expected next week, reflecting the 2025-26 academic year.

A fifth consecutive failing grade at any single school could trigger a state takeover of the whole district. But under state law, the third-party agreement protects Waco ISD from intervention for two years.

August 2, 2026

Houston mothers challenge Ten Commandments posters under Texas’ new parental rights amendment

Three Houston mothers are suing to stop displaying the Ten Commandments in Texas public school classrooms, arguing that it violates the state’s religious freedom law and a voter-approved parental rights amendment.

Their lawsuit is the latest challenge to Senate Bill 10 — this time under Texas law. Other attempts to prohibit the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools under federal law — primarily the First Amendment’s guarantee of separation of church and state — have been unsuccessful so far.

The mothers’ suit, filed in Harris County, demands that the displays be taken down and that the court act before mid-August, when the school year begins.

August 1, 2026

Hill Country school district racing to make flood repairs before classes start

When flooding struck the Ingram area in July 2025, the campuses of Ingram Elementary School and Tom Moore High School largely escaped damage, and were even used as staging sites for the flood recovery process.

But when heavy rains and flooding struck again this July, the Ingram ISD campuses didn’t get off so easy.

Twelve buildings across the district suffered flooding or water damage during the most recent natural disaster, Ingram ISD Superintendent Justin Turner said. The damage this time didn’t come from the Guadalupe River, but from an overflowing retention pond and heavy rains seeping through the roofs and windows, Turner said.

July 31, 2026

Wealthier districts tend to do better on STAAR; See which San Antonio districts beat the odds

An Express-News analysis of 2026 STAAR results found that higher passing rates — defined as the share of exams marked as approaching grade level or better — were generally associated with wealthier districts.

For elementary and middle school exams, a $20,000 increase in a district’s median household income was associated with a passing rate nearly 4 percentage points higher.

For students taking high school end-of-course exams, a $20,000 increase was associated with an increase of just over 3 percentage points in the passing rate.
Established in 2012, the STAAR exam measures how well students meet state standards in math, English, science and social studies. For students, teachers and administrators alike, the stakes are high.

July 29, 2026

Community colleges brace for local cuts after Texas funding shortchanges them millions

Texas community college leaders are bracing for cuts because they’re missing out on millions that the schools earned but the state can’t afford to pay.

The administrators spoke publicly for the first time about the stress that the state funding shortfall puts on their budgets during a Texas Senate committee hearing Tuesday. They said it will be hard to sustain the investments that state officials asked the colleges to make to improve students’ success .

“When I put that [shortfall] into our budget, it turns into faculty salaries. … It’ll definitely affect advising,” said Brenda Hellyer, president of San Jacinto College. “For us, it’s going to be a hard budget year.”

Schools surpassed state projections on student outcomes, which is primarily how community colleges are funded. In response, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board officials prorated the dollars each college will get to stay within the budget. That contributes to a more than 15% drop in state funding for nearly a dozen colleges.

July 28, 2026

Censorship or accountability? Impact of law prompting Texas’ scrutiny of universities detailed

Professors and students warned Tuesday that a new Texas law is leading to self-censorship, limiting what students are allowed to learn and prompting some faculty and students to leave their universities.

But after hearing only from invited university administrators, Republican state senators on a seven-member committee praised how schools are carrying out the higher education law that’s shifted power on campuses. The legislators now want to strengthen it.

“There was a drumbeat that somehow the sky is falling,” Senate Higher Education Committee Chair Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, said during the hearing on how Texas public colleges and universities are carrying out several new higher education laws. “Well, the answer is no. And more, importantly, we have record enrollment in higher education.”

The sharply different accounts emerged at separate Capitol events: professors, students and education advocates described Senate Bill 37 as causing widespread harm on campus during a news conference held just before university officials told senators they are carrying out the law with few problems.

July 27, 2026

Universities can use conservative-favored entrance exam as Texas eyes wider use, agency chief says

In a letter to campus leaders last week, Texas’ higher education commissioner signaled that the state may expand the use of the conservative-favorded Classic Learning Test in public university admissions, even though independent reviews show the test doesn’t line up with actual college performance, like the SAT or ACT.
Commissioner Wynn Rosser wrote that universities can consider CLT scores for any applicants who fall outside the top-10% automatic admissions window. The letter didn’t alter any statewide rules that currently only recognize ACT and SAT scores, but it does nod at the state’s plan to formally approve the CLT by fall 2028 as a new test option for home school, private or out-of-state applicants.

July 26, 2026

‘Our obligation under the law’: Why does TEA take over school districts?

The threat of a state takeover is becoming harder for Texas public school districts to ignore as strict performance mandates put pressure on campuses and the leaders who run them.

“We never want to have to intervene in a school system,” said Steve Lecholop, Texas Education Agency deputy commissioner for governance. “But if there is a trigger, then we’re obligated as the state agency to kind of adhere to our obligation under the law.”

So what can cause the state to intervene?
Usually, one of two things: violations of the law by district leaders or school board members or a campus failing the state’s accountability system five years in a row.

July 25, 2026

National teacher certification board told to scrub DEI mentions to comply with Texas law

Educators with national teaching certification could no longer automatically qualify for salary raises under Texas’ pay-for-performance program if officials who oversee the credential do not de-emphasize diversity, equity and inclusion.

The State Board for Educator Certification voted Friday to require that National Board Certification — a rigorous professional development program shown to improve student outcomes — update its resource materials and bring them into compliance with Texas’ anti-DEI law.

If the National Board does not do so by Nov. 2, it risks the state no longer including educators with that certification in the Teacher Incentive Allotment, which currently grants those instructors raises of up to $9,000 per year for helping students grow academically.

State Board for Educator Certification members said Friday that they did not review or discuss the value or worth of the National Board as they examined its materials — only whether the program aligns with Texas lawmakers’ classroom expectations.

July 24, 2026

The legal fight over “Robin Hood” renews Texas’ public school funding debate

A new legal challenge to Texas’ school funding system renews questions about what methods state leaders should use to ensure students in low-income districts and those attending campuses in more affluent communities receive an education on a level playing field.

The Midland school district voted to sue Education Commissioner Mike Morath and state leaders this week, focusing on a piece of Texas’ school finance system known as recapture or “Robin Hood.” Texas courts have repeatedly found recapture in compliance with the state constitution — in 1995, 2005 and 2016, respectively.

But the latest challenge from West Texas represents decades-long frustrations Texas schools hold with state leaders’ approach to paying for public education. Despite new dollars approved last year, many districts have closed schools, shuttered programs and cut staffing in response to a funding crisis they say the Legislature helped cause.

Here’s what to know.

July 23, 2026

Texas’ longstanding “Robin Hood” school finance system will face a new legal challenge

Midland ISD will sue Texas officials over the state’s so-called Robin Hood funding system for public schools, a significant attempt at forcing lawmakers to revisit how they go about ensuring low-income campuses benefit from resources similar to those that wealthier campuses enjoy.

The West Texas school trustees voted unanimously Tuesday to proceed with a lawsuit against Education Commissioner Mike Morath and state leaders, arguing that funding restrictions imposed by the Legislature prohibit them from raising and spending money to meet the needs of their students.

July 22, 2026

Community colleges beat student outcome predictions. Now Texas can’t afford related incentives.

Three years after Texas reinvented how community colleges earn state funding to reward them for getting more students to graduation, the schools are delivering.

But the colleges are short the millions they planned to receive as a result as their successes outpaced what lawmakers budgeted, prompting limits to the state’s performance-based funding.

Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board officials adjusted the funding formula during their Wednesday meeting, trimming the incentives that trigger additional dollars when schools educate high-need students. Colleges will now see smaller bonuses for getting low-income students and adult learners to graduation.

July 21, 2026

Houston-area lawmaker’s anesthesia firm blamed for $11M increase in Texas teachers’ insurance costs

State Representative Tom Oliverson has made lowering health care costs a top goal in the Legislature, even as the anesthesia conglomerate where he’s a partner and investor has been accused of driving them up.

The company, U.S. Anesthesia Partners, has been under the microscope of the Federal Trade Commission since 2023 for swallowing up smaller clinics and ratcheting up prices.

July 20, 2026

Boerne ISD to offer off-campus Bible lessons during school day

LifeWise Academy, a Christian nonprofit that buses kids to off-campus locations for biblical instruction and character development lessons, will launch in two Boerne elementary schools this fall under a new Texas law permitting religious school-day programs. Students at all district campuses will be able to enroll in the program within the next three years, the nonprofit said, and the group is looking to expand to more Texas school districts in the coming years.

July 18, 2026

ICE raids are making emergency contacts essential for schools

It’s standard practice for school districts to collect emergency contact information when families enroll their children in school and update that information every year.

But that emergency information has taken on new meaning for educators after the Trump administration rescinded federal policy in January 2025 shielding schools from immigration enforcement activity.

Now, district leaders are more proactive in emergency planning with families as fears have risen about the possibility of federal agents detaining parents and guardians, leaving students behind.

July 17, 2026

Review finds Google AI search ‘unacceptable’ for students

Google’s artificial intelligence search tools solve homework problems for students, provide inaccurate answers to search questions, and fail to respond properly to potential red flags for unsafe behavior, according to a review by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit focused on youth and technology.

Google’s “AI overview,” which appears at the top of search results unless users opt to filter them out, and “AI mode,” a chatbot-like tool built into Google search, were each rated “Unacceptable” by Common Sense Media, which evaluates technology tools for safety, educational use and other factors.

Common Sense Media advises elementary school educators to bar their students from using Google search at all.

July 16, 2026

School districts approve $1.66 billion in tax breaks for SpaceX chipmaking plant in Grimes County

Two rural school districts have advanced plans for $1.66 billion in tax breaks for SpaceX’s proposed chipmaking facility outside of College Station.
Anderson-Shiro CISD and Iola ISD approved the SpaceX incentives during their separate meetings Tuesday night. The school boards will vote again after the agreements are finalized and approved by SpaceX and the state. Last month, Grimes County also agreed to waive its portion of the company’s property taxes.

July 15, 2026

New top leaders take office for Texas State Teachers Association

A new president, Linda Estrada, and new vice president, David Ring, took office today as the top leaders of the Texas State Teachers Association, vowing to continue TSTA’s advocacy for policies that strengthen public schools and give every student an opportunity to succeed.

The new leaders were elected by delegates to TSTA’s annual House of Delegates meeting in April. Estrada, who served as the union’s vice president for the past six years, succeeds former President Ovidia Molina, who was term limited. Ring, an economics and government teacher in Lubbock-Cooper ISD, has been a longtime teacher and TSTA leader in West Texas.

Read our full press release

July 14, 2026

Mental health programs could bear the brunt of $600M federal cuts to Texas schools

As Texas schools face at least $600 million in federal funding cuts, multiple mental health programs, particularly those implemented in response to the pandemic and mass shootings, are at risk of losing funding.

School programs focused on chronic absenteeism, mental wellness and crisis services that were created in response to the Uvalde school shooting, as well as social workers and counselors, could all be on the chopping block.

Texas schools rely heavily on federal funding to support mental health programs. Data shows that two federal programs that are at risk of being cut or strictly regulated account for 86% of the school mental health funding for more than 2,500 campuses statewide, according to Mental Health America of Greater Houston.

July 7, 2026

Texas community colleges showing small signs of recovery after enrollment decline, report finds

Texas community colleges have struggled with enrollment over the past 15 years as many high school graduates opted to go straight into the workforce, but a new report points to signs of the campuses pivoting to stay relevant.

More students are graduating from Texas high schools, yet the state’s junior college enrollment hasn’t kept pace with that growth. Along with those choosing the workforce, students are increasingly going to colleges out of state, researchers with the Federal Reserve of Dallas found.

Texas community colleges have made small but steady gains in enrollment since the pandemic, signaling some success with recovery, their report found. Now the state has about 700,000 students enrolled in those schools, which is still down from about 750,000 students 15 years ago, according to state data.

July 6, 2026

Former TSTA leader elected vice president of National Education Association, the country’s largest labor union

Noel Candelaria, a former public school teacher from El Paso and former president of the Texas State Teachers Association, has been elected vice president of the National Education Association, the nation’s largest labor union with nearly 3 million members.

Princess R. Moss, an elementary school music teacher from Virginia, was elected NEA’s new president, and Robert Varela Rodriguez, a special education teacher from California, was elected secretary-treasurer by nearly 6,000 delegates during NEA’s annual Representative Assembly. Meeting in Denver over the holiday weekend, delegates represented educators from every state and territory.

The three new officers will take office Sept. 1.

July 3, 2026

Vaccination rates in Texas schools have been dropping; Look up the latest vaccination rates in your district

The rates of students exempt from required immunizations for conscientious or religious reasons increased statewide this past school year. Meanwhile, the percentage of students up to date on vaccinations — also known as coverage rates — varied by vaccine.

Kindergarten vaccination rates across the state and nation have dropped in recent years compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic as exemption rates have risen.

July 2, 2026

Buyouts offered to nearly a quarter of UT Tyler employees amid budget shortfall

The University of Texas at Tyler is offering buyouts to about a quarter of its employees, but officials have not publicly released details about the cost-cutting move.

The incentives are intended to keep UT Tyler “affordable and prepared for the future” while allowing the university to continue its teaching and research mission, said Beverley Golden, the university’s associate vice president for strategic communications and media relations.

Information about who is eligible, how much employees could receive or when they would leave was not immediately available to the public Thursday. Golden said the buyouts aren’t expected to affect course offerings or student services.

June 30, 2026

These Bible verses and books are now required reading for Texas students

The State Board of Education approved a first-of-its-kind reading list, which lays out dozens of books, Bible verses and stories that every public school student in Texas will have to read.

The book list makes Texas the only state in the country to issue its own literature requirements, rather than leaving the choices up to teachers or districts. The board crafted the list to comply with a 2023 state law calling for “at least one” book per grade level, though the proposal passed last week was far more expansive, requiring as many as 25 texts in some grades.

June 29, 2026

Vouchers for disabled students

A cornerstone of Texas’ new private school voucher program was up to $30,000 in state funds offered for students with disabilities. Thousands of families applied for the funding, but fewer than 30 students— less than 1% of applicants who indicated a disability — actually received the maximum amount.

June 28, 2026

‘A legacy’: Houston ISD alumni, families scramble to preserve the histories of their closing schools

Hundreds of Black families moved to Independence Heights, the first incorporated African American municipality in Texas, in the early 1900s, and by 1911 a two-room school opened on East 39th to educate their children.
That eventually became Burrus Elementary, which received a state historical marker in 2023 during a major community celebration. This June, however, the historic campus closed for good alongside 11 other schools in the largest mass closure of HISD campuses in the last 20 years.

June 26, 2026

Texas must pay millions to fix errors in Bluebonnet school materials, contract shows

The Texas Education Agency must spend up to $8.4 million in taxpayer money to correct thousands of errors in learning materials that drew national scrutiny for their inclusion of Bible stories.

That funding will pay for printing and shipping new materials as well as disposing of the current batch, according to a contract provided to The Texas Tribune by Pam Little, a Republican State Board of Education member. Texans must cover the cost of roughly 4,200 corrections to Bluebonnet Learning because agency officials developed it using state funding.

The corrections include hundreds of copyright violations, formatting errors and typos. The Tribune previously reported additional complaints from educators about missing pages, incorrect answer keys and books falling apart.

June 25, 2026

As supporters praise Texas’ proposed “Judeo-Christian” curriculum, rabbis say it dismisses Judaism

Praising a proposal to require Texas public school students to read Bible stories and passages in class, supporters say the perspective is an important acknowledgment that the nation was founded on Judeo-Christian values.

Rabbis and Jewish leaders, however, criticized the biblical passages chosen by the State Board of Education as heavy on Christianity and dismissive of Judaism, reducing the term Judeo-Christian to “a fig leaf at inclusion.”

The State Board of Education kicked off a week of meetings Monday by hearing from more than 400 experts, teachers and concerned citizens on two proposals — one that would overhaul the state’s social studies curriculum, and another that would create a required reading list for K-12 public schoolchildren. Both proposals include biblical references, passages and stories. A final vote is expected by Friday.

June 22, 2026

Which Bible passages are in Texas’ proposed student reading list? Here’s what the selections reveal.

The State Board of Education is preparing to vote next week on requiring Texas schoolchildren to read about a dozen Bible passages and religious stories, stepping into the long-running debate over religion’s — and specifically Christianity’s — place in the public school classroom.

A detailed look at the religious excerpts, part of about 200 passages that could become required reading in kindergarten through high school, shows a reliance on Christian perspectives without clear guidance on how to place the stories in historical or devotional context.

June 18, 2026

Texas college watchdog received nearly 70 complaints, opened one investigation, records show

A new state office received 69 complaints about Texas universities, including allegations of banned DEI initiatives, restrictions on conservative speech and interference in academic affairs. All but one complaint was closed without investigation, records obtained by The Texas Tribune show.

The Office of the Ombudsman’s only investigation opened during its first five months examined whether an academic assistance program violated the state’s ban on diversity, equity and inclusion by censoring conservative speech while encouraging liberal political speech and antisemitic speech, according to the records. The student who filed the complaint alleged he was terminated from his position as a student instructor after raising those concerns with supervisors. The investigation remained ongoing as of June 11.

June 16, 2026

Texas students saw slight gains in math, stalled progress in reading, STAAR results show

Texas elementary and middle school students mostly stagnated in reading this school year while their performance on math and social studies exams improved, according to STAAR results released Tuesday.

The Texas Education Agency published results from the annual State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, for grades 3–8, which aim to measure whether students learn material in core subjects at levels appropriate for their grade. High school results released last week showed gains in all areas.

This year’s results show children making some progress but that more work remains, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath said in a statement.

June 10, 2026

Texas high schoolers show gains across all subjects on STAAR tests

Texas high school students made gains in every subject from algebra to U.S. history, according to results from state tests released Wednesday, a sign of recovery amid years-long efforts to make up for pandemic-related learning disruptions.

The STAAR end-of-course exams tested students in algebra I, biology, English I, English II and U.S. history this spring – and measured whether they are ready for college, a career or the military.

June 9, 2026

Texas’ charter school boom may soon bust

Texas charter schools recently saw their smallest enrollment bump in state history, signaling that similar forces crushing traditional public districts may soon hit them as well.

Students have enrolled in charters at significant rates since they launched in the state three decades ago — even as traditional public school enrollment started to fall. But with birth rates going down, new schooling options popping up and fears regarding immigration enforcement spreading, experts say that growth may soon reverse.

June 8, 2026

When Black communities lose their vote, schools pay the price

For generations, Black families have understood that the right to vote and the right to a quality public education are not distinct but inseparable. Education, according to Frederick Douglass, “means emancipation. It means light and liberty.”

That is why the recent Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, is not only a threat to democracy but a direct attack on educational equity.

‘Education changed my life’: Cassidy introduces reading reform bill

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., is introducing a proposal on Monday that aims to improve reading outcomes for America’s youth and combat illiteracy nationwide.

The Reading Excellence and Achievement for Development — or “READ” — Act focuses on evidence-based reading instruction, implementation and intervention through a growing practice called the “science of reading.”

Cassidy, who lost the Republican primary in Louisiana to an opponent backed by President Donald Trump two weeks ago, has spent nearly two decades on Capitol Hill championing health and education legislation. He told ABC News in an exclusive interview that education helped shape his legacy in office.

June 5, 2026

Teachers concerned about the impact of AI on students’ critical thinking

A majority of teachers show concern about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on students’ critical thinking skills, according to a new NPR/Ipsos poll conducted among current K-12 teachers. About three in four view AI as having bigger implications on K-12 education than past technological changes, and also that teaching responsible use of AI should be part of their school’s curriculum. Yet, only about a third say their school has formal guidelines for student use of AI.

The poll also finds that most teachers are using artificial intelligence, and those who are using it largely believe that it has made them more productive. However, AI is being used more for administrative purposes rather than actual lessons, and teachers are mixed on the overall impact of AI on education.

June 4, 2026

Advocates ask court for chance to defend Texas Dream Act, in-state tuition for undocumented students

Students, immigrant-rights advocates and Austin Community College asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday to let them defend the Texas Dream Act that has helped thousands of undocumented students afford college.

The law allowed students who attended and graduated from high school in Texas to pay in-state tuition, even if they did not have legal immigration status. A federal judge blocked the law a year ago after the Trump administration sued the state, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton agreed not to defend it.

Now, Students for Affordable Tuition, La Unión del Pueblo Entero, Austin Community College and student Oscar Silva want a chance to defend the law themselves. Paxton’s office and Justice Department lawyers say the case shouldn’t be reopened because the Texas law conflicts with federal immigration law.

June 1, 2026

Texas schools say they still face budget difficulties despite $8.5 billion boost

The influx of nearly $8.5 billion to Texas schools last year was not enough to stop schools from making tough cuts, district officials told state lawmakers during a Capitol hearing Monday.

School leaders across Texas have already had to eliminate jobs and close campuses because of financial pressure. The El Paso district, for example, faces a nearly $53 million budget shortfall and may soon declare a financial emergency, while the Crystal City district in South Texas recently told families that it has less than $500 in its bank account.

At a House Public Education Committee hearing on Monday, school officials said they were still plagued by financial pressure even after the Legislature provided schools with new money for teacher pay, educator training and special education in the largest one-time public education investment in recent memory.

May 30, 2026

Texas school police pepper-sprayed, tackled and tasered students

Since the massacre at Robb Elementary in Uvalde in 2022, school districts across Texas have spent billions of dollars to station police officers on every campus in the state. The effort, the most ambitious in the nation, was intended to protect students from similar tragedies.

But the constant presence of officers has transformed the way many public schools manage discipline, subjecting students to heavy-handed police tactics for behavior that once would have landed them only in the principal’s office, The New York Times and The San Antonio Express-News found.

Officers in Texas displayed startling belligerence at times, grabbing or tackling students a fraction of their size over misconduct that often appeared to be minor. Children in elementary school, including one as young as 6, were handcuffed. Teenagers were arrested, charged with crimes and even jailed. In the most extreme cases, they wound up in hospitals, bruised or concussed, after being body-slammed or shocked by Tasers, which are prohibited in the state’s juvenile detention facilities but allowed in its public schools.

May 25, 2026

How Cherokee farming traditions are transforming a South Austin school

Just beyond the playground of South Austin’s Cunningham Elementary School, ancient crops are uniting a new generation through the power of storytelling and teamwork.

The Central Texas Cherokee Township and nonprofit Partners for Education, Agriculture and Sustainability, or PEAS, grow Native crops including corn and beans on a small farm at Cunningham to teach students and families about sustainable agriculture, culture and history.

May 20, 2026

When ICE detained an Alamo Heights fifth grader, classmates wrote him letters

For the past two weeks, Cambridge Elementary fifth grader Victor Labrador’s school supplies box sat unmoved from where he last left it in his classroom. His art hung on the walls at the Cambridge Family Art Night on April 30, but no one in his family was there to see it.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained 11-year-old Victor, his 8-year-old sister Victoria “Monseratt” Labrador and their stepmother Maria Betania Uzcategui Castillo while they walked to their Alamo Heights Independent School District bus stop together on April 27. Other students watched as federal agents arrested the family.

May 19, 2026

FWISD among worst in nation for student learning growth, new data shows

Fort Worth ISD’s learning-rate trend was among the weakest in the nation from 2022 to 2025, according to a new analysis.

The findings come from the Education Scorecard, a collaboration between Harvard University’s Center for Education Policy Research, Stanford University’s Educational Opportunity Project and faculty at Dartmouth College. The report uses state test results for roughly 35 million students in third through eighth grades nationwide to compare district-level, post-pandemic academic recovery.

The district’s learning rate — how much students improve year to year in math and reading — was 0.54 grade levels per year, putting FWISD in the bottom 2% nationally for learning rate.

May 18, 2026

Over 100,000 family separations in deportation push, report estimates

A new analysis suggests that more than 100,000 children have been separated from their parents during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. And roughly three-quarters of those children, like Alonzo, are likely U.S. citizens, according to estimates from the Brookings Institution that were shared with The New York Times.

The Brookings estimate of the number of children who are U.S. citizens is more than double the amount that would be expected over the same time period based on official Department of Homeland Security data. The researchers, whose report is based on a statistical analysis of the detainee population, argue the official statistics are an undercount because of how the government collects that information.

Early voting has started for the May 26 primary runoff elections

Candidates in more than 30 state and federal races are expected to face off again in the May 26 runoff after failing to secure more than half of the votes cast in the March Republican and Democratic primaries. This includes Attorney General Ken Paxton’s challenge to U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, as well as several candidates for statewide or district-based elected offices in Texas.

In these undecided races, registered voters can choose their preferred candidate on May 26 or during the May 18-22 early voting period.

But remember, Texas doesn’t allow double dipping. Voters who already voted in the Republican or Democratic primary this year can only vote in that same party’s runoff elections. Voters who didn’t vote in March can choose to vote in either party’s runoff. (Texans don’t have to formally register with a party.)

May 15, 2026

Comments are open for the proposed Social Studies TEKS revision

The State Board of Education is made up of 15 elected members from across the state. One of their most high-profile responsibilities is deciding what is — and isn’t — taught in our public schools. They review curriculum standards, and textbooks are published based on those standards. The SBOE is meant to create curricula that teach the truth and serve the needs of all Texas students, but instead, its far-right members tend to use their extreme influence to push a political agenda.

The SBOE is reviewing the Social Studies Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, or TEKS. After approving a preliminary draft in early April, the Board will vote on final approval during its June 22-26 meeting. If adopted, the new standards would take effect in the 2030-31 school year.

Until June 15, Texans can submit online public comments on the proposed new social studies Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). It’s critical that we make our voices heard by submitting comments before the SBOE votes on final approval in June.

SUBMIT PUBLIC COMMENTS ON THE SOCIAL STUDIES TEKS
Deadline: June 15 at 5 p.m. CT

In the section where you’re asked to “Select one proposed SBOE rule action,” choose “Proposed New 19 TAC Chapter 113, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Social Studies, Subchapter A, Elementary, Subchapter B, Middle School, Subchapter C, High School, and Subchapter D, Other Social Studies Courses.”

See a list of talking points here.

May 14, 2026

Texas students are still behind after COVID — and one group of school districts is hit hardest

Texas school districts are still struggling to recover from pandemic learning losses as reading scores continue to fall across the state, a new report shows.

The Lone Star State ranked 28 out of 38 states for academic growth in math and 25 out of 35 in reading between 2022 and 2025, according to the Education Scorecard, a report by education researchers at Harvard and Stanford universities.

May 12, 2026

Teachers with national certification earn more, but Texas is questioning its worth

Texas’ new, nearly $8.5 billion school funding law requires the State Board for Educator Certification to evaluate whether National Board Certification aligns with state law. The state board will determine if the national certificates will continue to qualify educators for raises under the Teacher Incentive Allotment.

During legislative debates last year, a prominent Republican state senator said the national certificate did not align with Texas’ goal of rewarding teachers based on merit. Other elected officials have since argued that the National Board’s emphasis on equity conflicts with state mandates prohibiting such practices.

May 11, 2026

Texas public schools see first non-pandemic enrollment drop in decades

Roughly 76,000 fewer students enrolled in Texas public schools this academic year — the first non-pandemic decline in nearly four decades — with Hispanic students accounting for the overwhelming majority of the loss, according to a report released Monday.

The policy research group Texas 2036 analyzed the state’s enrollment data and projected that about 100,000 fewer students would attend public schools by the end of the current decade.

Hispanic students accounted for 81% of this school year’s enrollment drop. Over the past year, federal and state leaders increased anti-immigration rhetoric, in some cases detaining Texas students and prompting fear across communities.

May 9, 2026

Texas AG investigating Fort Worth ISD over Ten Commandments, prayer in schools

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Thursday that he has launched an investigation into school districts across Texas, including Fort Worth, over religious based laws. Senate Bill 10 requires public school districts to display donated copies of the Ten Commandments in elementary and secondary classrooms. Senate Bill 11 requires school boards to vote on whether to establish a period of prayer and designated time to read the Bible or other religious texts. Both were passed during the 2025 legislative session.

Read even more

May 8, 2026

Feds investigate Houston ISD for plans to separate students with disabilities

Federal officials opened a civil rights investigation into the state-controlled Houston ISD over its plans to relocate students with disabilities, separating them from classmates.

Some students with disabilities will be required to move campuses next school year where they will learn in a “contained” setting, Houston ISD Deputy Superintendent Kristen Hole announced earlier this week. It is part of an effort to centralize special education services, so programs spread across several campuses could be consolidated into one site. The majority of special education students will not be affected.

Hole said the changes will mean better instruction for children with disabilities with more small-group settings for individualized attention.

May 7, 2026

Connally schools superintendent appointed during Texas’ takeover of district

In a takeover of Connally ISD, the state brought in an educator from a neighboring Waco district to accelerate academic gains.

Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath picked Josie Gutierrez to lead the 2,000-student district, citing her success in improving outcomes and strengthening teacher retention as deputy superintendent and an assistant superintendent of human resources for Waco ISD.

Gutierrez is the latest superintendent Morath has appointed in recent weeks to helm districts after the commissioner took control from locally elected school trustees over poor academic performance.

Other state interventions include those in Fort Worth, Lake Worth and Beaumont.

May 6, 2026

Texas Tech cautions broadcasting research restrictions to prospective students

Texas Tech leaders told faculty not to widely share the chancellor’s memo restricting graduate work related to sexual orientation or gender identity, a move some experts say could cost prospective graduate students time and money.

Instead, an April 17 email from Mark Sheridan, Texas Tech’s vice provost for graduate and postdoctoral affairs and dean of the Graduate School, directed them to notify certain prospective and newly admitted graduate students if their stated interests might conflict with the restrictions.

Graduate students and higher education experts say that approach could leave students learning too late that Texas Tech will not allow the work they want to pursue.

May 5, 2026

Voting Rights Act ruling could change representation on city councils, school boards across Texas

Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act — which prohibits voting practices or electoral maps that discriminate on the basis of race, color or language minority status — helped Latino and Black voters gain representation in local governing bodies, like city and school boards, across Texas.

But a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision last week weakened that key provision, and experts say it could make it harder and more uncertain for candidates of color to take legal action under the 1965 federal law.

The effects of the decision, which struck down Louisiana’s congressional map, are reverberating around the country and setting off a new cycle of redistricting for partisan advantage. Experts say there is still a lot of uncertainty about how the decision will play out, especially at the local level and when it comes to nonpartisan local governmental bodies such as Texas school boards and city councils.

Prior to the decision, plaintiffs could prove a claim under Section 2 by showing evidence of a disparate impact on minority voters, regardless of whether the mapmakers intended it.

Now, they must be able to show a “strong inference that intentional discrimination occurred,” the high court’s conservative majority declared.

With the court having previously authorized maps to be drawn for partisan aims, dissenting Justice Elena Kagan wrote that the new standard under Louisiana v. Callais gives plaintiffs virtually no recourse under Section 2, as long as a mapmaker declares a partisan motive and leaves “no smoking-gun evidence of a race-based motive.”

April 30, 2026

Staff, parents, students plead for hours, but here are the changes coming to Fort Worth ISD

The Fort Worth ISD board of managers unanimously voted early Wednesday to close a campus for immigrant and refugee students. They approved sweeping staff cuts, including roles in bilingual services and speech therapy, despite hours of emotional pleas from students, staff, parents and community members.

The meeting began Tuesday night and public comment stretched across roughly five hours. The proposals drew heated criticism from district employees, some of whom saw their positions on the chopping block. Families and local leaders fought against the closure of International Newcomer Academy, saying the school provided specialized — and life-changing — support for a vulnerable population.

TEA takeover of BISD now official: new board of managers, superintendent named

The Texas Education Agency takeover of BISD has now become official with today’s naming of a Board of Managers and new superintendent to replace Dr. Shannon Allen.

TEA Commissioner Mike Morath named Sandi Massey as the new superintendent to replace Dr. Shannon Allen. She served as the Chief of Schools in the Houston ISD and worked in other districts in Texas.

Despite last year’s raises, the average teacher pay in Texas trails the national average by more than $8,500; per student funding is almost $5,000 behind

The raises that the Legislature provided most Texas teachers last year have helped increase the average teacher pay in Texas by more than $4,000 a year. But Texas teachers were so far behind their peers in most other states that they still trail the national average in teacher pay by more than $8,500, according to the National Education Association’s (NEA) annual survey of state financial contributions to public education.

The same survey shows that, even with last year’s school funding increase, Texas falls almost $5,000 below the national average in per-student spending for public education, based on average daily attendance (ADA). This ranks Texas 40th among the states and the District of Columbia in this critical education funding category, an improvement over last year, when only three states spent less per student, but still deficient.

Read our full press release

April 26, 2026

Faculty defect from Texas public universities, citing censorship concerns

Texas A&M philosophy professor Martin Peterson is leaving the university after administrators told him in January that he couldn’t teach Plato’s Symposium in his philosophy class; they said the ancient Greek philosopher’s work violated the system’s restrictions on gender and sexuality content. Peterson’s colleague Linda Radzik, a philosophy professor and associate department head, is jumping ship with similar concerns about academic freedom. Lucy Schiller, a nonfiction writing professor at Texas Tech University, also has plans to leave her job.

April 25, 2026

College students are changing course in search of ‘AI-proof’ majors. But no one knows what they are

Today’s college students say that picking a major that’s “AI-proof” feels like shooting at a moving target as they prepare for a job market that could be fundamentally different by the time they graduate.

April 22, 2026

Texas can force schools to post Ten Commandments, federal appeals court rules

Texas can enforce a state law requiring public schools to display posters of the Ten Commandments in classrooms, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.

A 9-8 majority of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Texas officials’ favor, concluding that the law does not establish an official state religion.

“It does not tell churches or synagogues or mosques what to believe or how to worship or whom to employ as priests, rabbis, or imams,” according to the ruling. “It punishes no one who rejects the Ten Commandments, no matter the reason.”

April 21, 2026

Speaker Dustin Burrows asks Texas House to investigate Roblox in response to game simulating Uvalde shooting

Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows on Monday targeted Roblox for alleged child endangerment, after learning the platform offered a simulation of the 2022 Uvalde mass shooting.

Burrows instructed lawmakers to study ways to strengthen child safety and accountability for virtual gaming, singling out Roblox, an online platform and community where people can play and design their own games. In a news release, he call Roblox a place where “exploitative content and nominal safeguards are exposing Texas children to ongoing endangerment.” The charge adds to a list of policy priorities Burrows has focused the House around ahead of next year’s legislative session.

April 20, 2026

Classroom management framework: foundations for proactive and respectful practice in elementary classrooms

Effective classroom management determines how much time is available for teaching — and how engaged students are in learning. Yet too many teachers enter the classroom underprepared to manage student behavior, not because the knowledge doesn’t exist, but because their preparation programs didn’t give it to them.

When teacher prep programs equip aspiring teachers with the knowledge and skills to create engaging and supportive classrooms, teachers are far more likely to foster a community where all students can learn and thrive. NCTQ’s new Classroom Management Framework details the three areas of classroom management — grounded in research and aligned to the field — that give new teachers a solid foundation for understanding and responding to student behavior, and establishing clear expectations in the classroom. Within each focus area, we break down the actions teacher prep programs should take to ensure their candidates are well-prepared in classroom management.

See the framework

April 19, 2026

Make schools, churches, and hospitals protected spaces from ICE

This administration has launched a cowardly assault on the sacred spaces where we gather to worship, learn and heal by attacking key places of care and connection and abducting our loved ones from the most sacred spaces including churches, hospitals and schools.

ICE is abducting our community members from our schools, churches and hospitals, attacking our teachers and students, pastors and rabbis, doctors and nurses, and the patients they care for.

Urge your senators and representative to cosponsor the Protecting Sensitive Locations Act (S. 455/H.R. 1061) to speak out and protect our sacred spaces of care and connection from this regime by the bullies, for the billionaires.

April 18, 2026

Keep public funds in public schools

H.R. 1, the budget reconciliation bill passed last summer, created the first national tax-credit voucher program to weaken public education and divert billions of dollars to private and religious schools.

Individuals receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit—far more valuable than the usual deduction for charitable contributions—in exchange for giving money to an intermediary organization, which then funnels the money to private schools as tuition.

If this program is allowed to take effect, entire communities will suffer—especially in rural areas where 20 percent of our students live and public schools are economic centers. Special needs students who attend private schools lose important legal rights and protections.

Tell Congress to repeal the national tax-credit voucher program set to launch on January 1, 2027.

April 17, 2026

Reject President Trump’s budget

The best way to appreciate educators’ hard work is to pay them what they’re worth and ensure they have the time and resources they need to serve their students.

Instead, the Trump administration’s FY2027 budget proposes:

Changing K-12 and Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) programs to unaccountable block grants, which means states could redirect funding to other programs;
Eliminating funding for full-service community schools;
Eliminating programs that help students learn English;
Eliminating programs that address the teacher shortage;
Eliminating nearly $3 billion for higher education, especially for minority-serving institutions.

Tell Congress that we need a budget that prioritizes educators, students, and communities.

April 14, 2026

School vouchers are what we thought they were

What would’ve been school-choice proponents’ triumphant publicity tour after the application period closed on Texas’ shiny new voucher program, in mid-March, was instead consumed by catty finger-pointing between two top state officials over who’s to blame for the state seemingly botching its attempt to religiously discriminate against some program participants.

It’s the sort of comedic tragedy that has become all too common in the red empire of Texas: Pass a harmful new policy while prevaricating as to its actual intent, create a pretext to carry out the policy in a clearly discriminatory fashion, invite a costly lawsuit that will ultimately end with the state being forced to comply, muddy the waters over who’s to blame.

April 13, 2026

Ken Paxton says he’s investigating UNT for allegations of skirting Texas DEI ban

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has opened an investigation into the University of North Texas and whether it is continuing to teach diversity, equity and inclusion topics that go against state law.

The investigation comes after a video circulated on social media that showed a faculty member in the Social Work Department explaining how DEI concepts are still taught in classes at the university. The video was recorded discreetly by what Paxton described as an “undercover investigator.”

April 12, 2026

Feds subpoena Texas counties for voters’ records

At least three Texas counties this week either received or were told they would soon receive administrative subpoenas from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The department is seeking detailed records about some individual voters, including their registration applications and voter history, though counties don’t yet know which ones.

The subpoenas appear to be linked to a series of efforts by the Trump administration to verify the citizenship of registered voters. In December, Texas turned over the state’s voter roll to the Justice Department. The transfer included voters’ identifiable information such as dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, and partial Social Security numbers. It did not include, however, voters’ registration applications or signatures — the state does not have access to that information, which is kept by county voter registrars.

April 11, 2026

Portrayals of Islam and people of color dominate discussion in Texas’ social studies rewrite

The Texas State Board of Education voted Friday to approve an early draft of the state’s new social studies plan, but not without clashes over the portrayal of Islam and the history of Black and Hispanic Americans.

A Republican majority voted to approve the changes to social studies standards — known as the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, or TEKS — proposed during a marathon meeting that stretched all of Thursday and into early Friday. All five Democrats voted against the preliminary changes. Earlier in the week, they called for an investigation into a potential conflict of interest.

April 10, 2026

Texas school districts could spend millions to comply with new bus seat belt law

A new Texas law requires all school buses be equipped with three-point seat belts by September 2029.

But much sooner than that — the end of next month — school boards must compile and report costs, bus fleet size and additional information to the Texas Education Agency, toward compliance with Senate Bill 546.

Lawmakers provided no funding for school districts to meet the new requirement.

“This would be considered an unfunded mandate,” Plano ISD Deputy Superintendent Johnny Hill told trustees at a March 24 board meeting. Hill concluded the TEA may already expect districts will find compliance to be “cost prohibitive.”

April 9, 2026

Texas students urge education board to focus on inclusion over politics in social studies overhaul

State officials, activists and educators have largely shaped public dialogue about Texas’ social studies overhaul, but young people added their voices to the conversation Tuesday, calling for instruction that includes diverse perspectives and challenges them to think critically.

The majority-Republican education board began last year to redesign Texas’ social studies standards, which outline what students need to learn by the time they graduate. The board plans to finalize the standards this summer, with classroom implementation expected in 2030.

Up to this point, a majority of the board has approved plans to center Texas and U.S. history in social studies while deemphasizing world cultures, world history and geography. A panel of nine advisers has helped guide the process, almost all of whom have no K-12 classroom experience in Texas and several of whom have ties to conservative activism. Critics say the panel has assumed full control of Texas’ social studies rewrite, undermining teacher expertise. Draft proposals of the social studies changes, critics argue, prioritize memorization over critical thinking and simplification over accuracy.

Democrats seek to pause Texas’ social studies revamp over $70K grant from conservative think tank

Democrats on the State Board of Education want to pause Texas’ overhaul of its social studies curriculum after finding out that the university department of a historian advising the group received a financial contribution from an influential conservative think tank.

In a letter provided to The Texas Tribune, Democrats raised concerns about a 2024 tax filing showing that the Texas Public Policy Foundation awarded $70,000 to the Texas Center at Schreiner University in Kerrville for the purposes of developing state learning standards, which outline what students should know before they graduate.

Donald Frazier, a Texas historian, is director of the Texas Center. Last year, State Board of Education members appointed him as one of nine expert advisers responsible for helping guide the state as it rewrites how public schools will teach social studies for years to come.

April 8, 2026

Texas high school students are applying for college financial aid at a record pace

Texas is on track to see a record number of students complete the federal form to request financial aid for college, a critical step in applying to and affording college.

But for students who have at least one undocumented family member, applying for federal financial aid at a time of heightened immigration enforcement means weighing the risk of sharing family information with federal officials. Financial aid applications are protected by student privacy laws, but college access advocates say such reassurances are often not enough, prompting some students to reconsider college altogether.

April 7, 2026

Texas is changing its social studies curriculum; critics say it’s too state-centric

The Texas State Board of Education is in the process of rewriting the K-12 social studies curriculum. The new standards would shape teachers’ lesson plans and textbooks for more than 5.5 million students in Texas.

Last year, the board adopted a new framework to teach social studies. Some of the major changes include teaching events in chronological order, emphasizing Texas and U.S. history and de-emphasizing world history. But the process of rewriting the curriculum has been contentious. Some people involved have been critical of how historical events are presented, the amount of content teachers are expected to cover in each grade and the Texas-centric approach.

April 6, 2026

Spending in Arizona’s ESA program: a multi-stage transaction-level analysis

After Arizona opened its Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program to all families in 2022, a program that took a decade to enroll 10,000 students ballooned to ten times that number in just three years. The 100,000 families spending ESA funds in 2025-26 have over 2 million transactions worth over $1 billion for education goods and services. Stakeholders are catching up to the scope of this program and beginning to ask important questions about whether those dollars are in fact going to educational expenses. Our new report digs into the transaction-level data to find out. Our results demand more nuance than many recent headlines want you to have.

April 3, 2026

This state agency was created to investigate Texas universities. How that works is a mystery.

A new state office with the power to investigate whether public universities in Texas are violating laws on diversity, curriculum and campus decision-making has no written policies explaining how those investigations work, even after accepting complaints for nearly three months.

The Office of the Ombudsman, housed within the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and led by a gubernatorial appointee, was created last year to address GOP concerns that universities had become too focused on promoting liberal viewpoints instead of preparing students for the workforce.

April 2, 2026

Texas is cutting undocumented immigrants off from school, work and driving

Over the last year, Texas Republicans have enacted sweeping regulatory and legal changes that have upended all facets of life for noncitizens. The state has limited who can get an occupational license; register or buy a car; obtain commercial driver’s licenses; and get in-state tuition at colleges and universities.

The changes are wreaking havoc on the 1.7 million people without documentation in Texas, as well as tens of thousands of refugees and people with protected legal status, like Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Already, more than 6,400 refugees and DACA recipients have lost their commercial driver’s licenses. Many more noncitizens are expected to lose the ability to work in licensed industries from construction and medicine to air conditioning and cosmetology.

April 1, 2026

Texas Tribune relaunching its Texas Public Schools Explorer to better serve parents and teachers

The Texas Tribune redesigned its Public Schools Explorer to add more timely data and features to help families and teachers navigate the state’s sprawling public school system.

In all, Texas has 1,202 school districts and 9,113 public schools, including hundreds of charter schools and alternative campuses. About 5.5 million students attend public schools in Texas, and our explorer includes information on all of them.

It’s an overwhelming amount of data, which is why our journalists focused on organizing the site in a more intuitive way. We included more context to explain what the numbers mean and why they matter. In addition, each school’s performance is compared against statewide and regional trends, which will help families better understand how their child’s school is performing.

March 31, 2026

Thousands of Texas students lose college credits when transferring. Here are pitfalls to avoid.

Thousands of students take classes every year that won’t count toward their degree, losing transfer credits, setting back college careers and raising education costs.

In the 2023-24 school year, more than 19,000 Texas community college students didn’t get credit for at least one of their courses when they transferred to a university.

Recent data from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board offers a window into why students are losing out on college credit and which courses are most frequently getting denied. The report also gives insight into pitfalls for dual-credit high school students trying to get a head start on college.

March 30, 2026

Strict schedules, long days, high pay: What Waco schools can expect from new charter operator

School bells and announcements are absent from the school day at campuses operated by Third Future Schools.

Teachers hired by the nonprofit charter firm tend to earn premium salaries, but they must stick to a tight script and work a longer school day and school calendar than their peers. The school doors are open from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., offering free before- and after-school care.

Third Future and the districts that have hired it to turn around schools say the firm has a track record of success, but for a price.

March 26, 2026

‘I can’t physically do it anymore’: Data shows nearly 8,000 student-caused injuries reported by Bexar County educators

The Texas Education Agency confirmed to KSAT it does not keep track of the number of student-caused injuries reported by educators.

KSAT Investigates has spent the last few years getting the data from districts, which are not kept consistently. We previously reported that several districts do not have data from several years ago.

Through an analysis of records from the last three full school years, KSAT Investigates found more nearly 8,000 reports of student-caused injuries.

March 25, 2026

Stephen Miller asks why Texas pays to teach undocumented children

Stephen Miller raised the idea of ending public education funding for undocumented children in a closed-door meeting with Texas lawmakers in Washington last week, a move that would challenge a decades-old U.S. Supreme Court precedent, according to two people who were in the meeting.

Mr. Miller, President Trump’s hard-line immigration adviser, cited gridlock in Congress as he encouraged the state lawmakers to pass conservative legislation on immigration and other issues that are crucial to Republicans, hoping such action would spur on other red states and federal lawmakers.

March 24, 2026

Texas Education Agency orders public schools to remove mentions of Cesar Chavez from lessons

The Texas Education Agency on Monday directed all public schools in the state to revise lesson plans to remove mentions of Cesar Chavez after sexual abuse allegations surfaced against the labor leader.

In written guidance, the agency also ordered school districts to cancel “or otherwise redirect” events and activities planned for Cesar Chavez Day on March 31, an extension of Gov. Greg Abbott’s state directive to not observe the optional state holiday.

Teachers and labor groups have been reckoning with the late civil rights leader’s legacy after a New York Times investigation revealed allegations that Chavez had sexually assaulted and abused women and girls. The activist had strong ties to Texas, where he supported striking farmworkers and led a rally at the state Capitol following a march from Rio Grande City to Austin in 1966.

March 23, 2026

University of North Texas to cut more than 70 programs and minors to trim $45 million deficit

The University of North Texas is cutting or consolidating more than 70 academic programs, minors and certificates as it works to close a projected $45 million budget shortfall, including phasing out its linguistics degrees and eliminating a women’s and gender studies master’s program.

The cuts are the first indication of how UNT plans to close the deficit, which it says was driven largely by a sharp decline in international enrollment — students who typically pay a significantly higher tuition — and reduced state funding. Last month, university leaders warned that program consolidations, faculty buyouts and higher teaching loads were likely.

In a message to faculty and staff Thursday, UNT President Harrison Keller and Provost Michael McPherson said the most significant change will be to phase out all linguistics degree programs and merge the department with the Department of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures.

March 22, 2026

There’s a record number of No Kings events; find one near you and join us on March 28

No Kings Day is almost here. We have seven days to go, 3000 events on the map, and an ever-growing list of reasons why it’s vital we take to the streets and make our voices heard.

Over the last few months, we’ve seen Trump plunge our country into illegal wars of choice. He’s using a secret police force to terrorize our communities and detain immigrants in squalid conditions. He’s threatening our freedom to vote and weaponizing the Justice Department to try to intimidate pro-democracy groups, including our own. He’s proving every day that he thinks he’s above the law — not a president, a king.

It’s past time to give Trump, and all the craven oligarchs enabling his fascist powergrabs, a reminder: This is the United States of America. And here, we don’t do kings.

March 21, 2026

Here’s how to vote in Texas’ May 26 primary runoff elections

In these undecided races, registered voters can choose their preferred candidate on May 26 or during the May 18-22 early voting period.

March 20, 2026

What Texans need to know about upcoming SNAP restrictions

New food stamp restrictions prohibiting benefits to be used to purchase sweetened beverages and candy will affect millions of Texans starting April 1.

Senate Bill 379, one of three bills under Texas’ “Make America Healthy Again” initiative that Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law last year, prohibits the use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, also informally called food stamps, to purchase those sugary items.

“Texas is leading the way in aligning SNAP benefits with healthier food options,” Abbott said in a news release this month. “By implementing these changes, we encourage better nutrition and ensure this program helps families access nutritional food. I thank the Trump Administration and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission for their work to strengthen this program and better serve Texans.”

While the bill passed with bipartisan support, some Democratic lawmakers raised concerns about its long-term effects. Sen. Borris Miles, D-Houston, supported the bill’s goal, but said there are people in urban and rural areas who don’t have access to nutritious foods and foods that are not as healthy may be the only options to fend off hunger. Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, said if the Legislature is really concerned about Texans getting proper nutrition, it should double the value of food stamps for things like fresh produce so benefits could buy more of the health products and give retailers incentive to stock more of it.

March 19, 2026

The SAVE America Act would block 21 million people from voting

The Senate debate on S. 1383, the NEA-opposed voter suppression bill, has begun. On one hand, there’s no real need for it. Voting by noncitizens is already illegal. It is also exceedingly rare. Utah, for example, recently reviewed its entire voter registration list—2.1 million people—and found not a single instance of a noncitizen voting. Not one.

On the other hand, President Trump considers it so important he has vowed not to sign any legislation until Congress passes the so-called SAVE America Act.

The devil is in the details—starting with the name. The goal is not saving our country. It is suppressing the vote among certain groups, including voters of color, young voters, low-income voters, and voters with disabilities. It would also harm people who changed their name when they got married.

The provisions governing what types of ID are acceptable and where they can be submitted would block voting for more than 21 million people, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. States would be required to share voter records with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Amendments that are already in the works could end nearly all voting by mail, forbid gender-related surgery for minors, and bar the participation of transgender athletes in women’s sports.

Tell Congress what you think!

March 18, 2026

Make schools, churches, and hospitals protected spaces from ICE

ICE is abducting our community members from our schools, churches and hospitals, attacking our teachers and students, pastors and rabbis, doctors and nurses, and the patients they care for.

March 16, 2026

In rural Central Texas, libraries are stepping up to offer mental health support

It’s just a regular Wednesday at the Smithville Public Library, and that means there’s a lot going on. Past the regular patrons in the main reading room, a back room bustles with activity: around a dozen women — some fairly young, some well into their golden years — are gathered on folding chairs, stretching their arms and legs into careful poses.

Smithville resident Cheryl McNeil says it was a game changer when the library started offering these free “chair yoga” classes. Without them, she might have to drive out to Bastrop to take a class like this.

“I just needed to get moving and stretching. I hadn’t been doing all that,” she said.

A second group of women sits behind the yogis, knitting hats for local veterans who are going through chemo. They call themselves “The Knitwits,” and they’ve been meeting for decades — but Library Director Judy Bergeron said she purposely co-scheduled the chair yoga class with the knitting circle earlier this year.

March 12, 2026

Texas students with disabilities struggle to qualify for extra school voucher funds

Henry Herzog struggles with ADHD, anxiety and hypersensitivity to crowds and noise. The 7-year-old has a physician’s note to prove it.

The medical diagnosis will give Henry priority when Texas decides which students may receive private school vouchers for the 2026-27 school year. In the first year of the voucher program, most students will qualify for roughly $10,500 to pay for private school. Henry is among the children with disabilities who could also qualify for nearly $20,000 more.

But Henry — and an unknown number of others — have already missed out on that additional money because voucher applications, which close Tuesday, require public schools to perform disability evaluations of students seeking the extra money. Districts have 15 school days to give parents an opportunity to provide written consent for the evaluation. After receiving consent, districts have 45 school days to complete the evaluations. They then have 30 calendar days for parents and educators to meet and develop a plan.

Many parents did not realize they needed the evaluation until they started the voucher application. And the window to apply for vouchers was only 41 calendar days.

March 11, 2026

76% of Texas voucher applicants are already enrolled in private schools or home-schooled

Texas’ new $1 billion voucher program allots about $10,000 per student to be used on private school tuition. It’s paid for by taxpayer dollars.

When Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s private school voucher program became law last year, proponents claimed it would give families who wouldn’t normally be able to afford private school tuition more options. That’s not who is applying , according to new data.

Around three in four of the over 150,000 applicants to the program are already enrolled in private schools or are home-schooled, according to data from the Texas Center for Voucher Transparency.

As of March 4, only around 36,000 families with students enrolled in Texas public schools submitted applications for the program. Texas has approximately 5.5 million students enrolled in public schools, which means that less than 1% of public school families have applied.

Texas is following in the footsteps of other states that have implemented a voucher program. In Arkansas, 95% of participants in the state’s program did not attend public schools in the previous school year. In Arizona, data shows the use of vouchers is highest in affluent school districts, and lowest in poorer school districts.

March 10, 2026

How Texas’ $1 billion voucher program is fueling a microschool boom

At Mindsprout Montessori outside Houston, children are encouraged to play with dirt in the outdoor mud kitchen, and each classroom cottage features its own pet. Most of its 90 students are homeschooled part-time and show up between one and four days per week.

“A Montessori setup is incredibly costly,” said founder Desiree Corbin. “Our goal was to do the heavy lifting for (parents) and to provide a Montessori experience that is more accessible.”

The school is part of an emerging trend of microschools, an umbrella term for schools that blur the lines between home education and traditional private schooling and that are poised for a huge boom in Texas under the state’s new $1 billion voucher program.

March 9, 2026

GOP-led fight over allegations of student indoctrination raises tensions at University of Houston

After two legislative sessions in which Republican lawmakers hammered universities as bastions of liberal indoctrination, campuses across Texas are restricting how race and gender can be taught and requiring instructors to present controversial subjects in a “balanced” way. At the University of Houston, some deans have taken the unusual step of requiring faculty to certify they “teach, not indoctrinate.”

Tensions on campus escalated when a five-page checklist instructing professors on how to review course materials was unveiled last month during a faculty council meeting.

Some professors say the checklist, coupled with the certification effort, reinforce what they see as a false premise: that indoctrination is widespread in university classrooms. They say the efforts pressure instructors to avoid controversial topics altogether.

March 6, 2026

Wichita Falls ISD avoids state takeover, will keep its elected school board

Texas declined Thursday to take over the Wichita Falls school district, which had been at risk of receiving the state’s most severe form of intervention over years of academic underperformance.

Kirby Middle School triggered the potential of a takeover. Under the state’s school accountability system, five consecutive years of unacceptable ratings at a single school allows the Texas Education Agency to replace a district’s locally elected school board with a state-selected board of managers or order the closure of the struggling campus.

The district near the Texas-Oklahoma border had already informally closed Kirby Middle School in 2024 and moved its students to Hirschi Middle School to provide them with better facilities. Facing continued pressure from the state to improve academic performance, the district adopted state math materials and outsourced operations at Hirschi to Third Future Schools, a charter school network that focuses on turning around struggling schools.

March 4, 2026

Texas primary voters smash recent midterm turnout records

Nearly one in four registered voters in Texas cast a ballot in Tuesday’s primaries, a high-water mark for midterm elections in the state’s recent history. The numbers were driven by electrifying momentum surrounding both parties’ races for U.S. Senate.

In all, some 4.3 million Texans voted across the Democratic and Republican primaries, according to unofficial numbers on the Texas Secretary of State’s Office as of 1 p.m. Wednesday. The turnout was divided between about 2.2 million ballots in the Democratic primary and more than 2 million on the Republican side — the first time Democratic turnout was higher since 2020, when voters flocked to weigh in on the party’s presidential primary.

March 3, 2026

The Cycle of disinvestment in public schools: How public school criticism drives policy and disinvestment

Critiques of public education have intensified in recent years. While public schools do indeed have real areas in need of growth and improvement, many of today’s attacks are generated and amplified by organizations seeking to manufacture crises. These narratives often ignore counterevidence, and they use deceptive language to portray the system as broadly failing, even hopeless.

To examine these destructive critiques, Huriya Jabbar and Daniel Espinoza of the University of Southern California authored a policy brief, The Cycle of Disinvestment in Public Schools: How Public School Criticism Drives Policy and Disinvestment, released today by NEPC. The brief identifies five core narratives used to portray a failing education system: claims of underachievement, inefficiency, inequality, lack of school choice, and indoctrination.

The brief warns that overstated crisis narratives fuel a cycle of disinvestment: Eroding public confidence leads to reduced funding and enrollment, which strains schools and invites further criticism. This cycle weakens the public system while advancing privatization of what has long been considered a public good.

March 2, 2026

School districts can set aside prayer time under a new Texas law; few have done so

Most Texas school districts appear to have declined an offer by the Texas Legislature to set aside time each day for students and staff to pray.

Senate Bill 11 required school boards to decide whether to provide a daily devotional period by March 1. The period would have allowed students to use noninstructional hours to pray and read the Bible or other religious text, most likely before school.

One of the key lawmakers who guided the bill through the Legislature found only 15 school districts that have opted into the prayer period. Many other rural, urban and suburban districts voted against the move.

SB 11 is a part of a slate of bills that was approved last legislative session aimed at promoting a conservative brand of Christianity in public education, testing the legal limits of church-state separation.

SB 11 requires the school districts that implement the prayer period to get signed consent forms from interested families. This waives parents’ right to sue for alleged violations of state or federal law and acknowledges students’ choice to attend the religious gatherings. The law bans schools from reading religious texts over a public address system and school leaders have to make sure the prayer period does not take place in the physical presence or within earshot of students who do not have parental consent.

Over 160 Texas faith leaders pleaded with districts to oppose the policy, pointing out the administrative burden, students’ existing rights to practice their religion and the potential harm to children who decide not to participate. Civil rights advocates also argued the law violates the separation between church and state.

February 26, 2026

Texas is correcting 4,200 errors in its controversial Bluebonnet public school curriculum

Texas will correct more than 4,200 errors in the controversial, state-written Bluebonnet curriculum, which was rolled out in public schools this year, the state board of education ruled on Wednesday.

The fixes, which range from missing commas and improperly licensed images to incorrect answer keys and factual errors, were submitted by the Texas Education Agency, which wrote and published the curriculum as part of Texas’ push for state-issued “high-quality” instructional materials.

Board members approved the changes, but not before expressing frustration about the “unprecedented” number of errors. Several raised concerns that they hadn’t been caught in the initial approval process and that taxpayers would be on the hook for the costs of reprinting the updated material.

February 25, 2026

Early vote turnout in Texas outpacing past elections, fueled by Democratic primary voters

More ballots have been cast in Texas through the first seven days of early voting for the 2026 midterms than any recent midterm or presidential election year, driven by high turnout in the Democratic primary.

The impact: That turnout is fueling optimism among Texas Democrats, who are once again trying to score their first election victory for a statewide office since 1994.

The numbers: Through Monday, 665,664 votes were cast in-person and by mail in the Democratic primary, compared to 593,692 cast in the Republican primary, according to unofficial data from the Texas Secretary of State. The 1,259,356 votes is higher than both the 2024 and 2020 primaries through seven days of early voting, despite turnout typically being higher in presidential election years.

February 23, 2026

Not all paths to college and career readiness pay off equally for Texas students, study finds

As Texas pushes more high schoolers to get ready for college and the workforce, new research suggests that some of the ways schools count students as ready don’t equally set them up for success after graduation.

The state rewards Texas school districts for preparing students for life after graduation, tying college and career readiness to more school funding and a higher school performance rating.

The Texas Education Agency has been increasingly strict on districts about college readiness. In the 2022-23 school year, state education officials raised the benchmark for schools to qualify for an A grade in the category of college and career readiness: Schools needed to get 88% of graduates ready for life after high school, up from 60% in prior years.

February 21, 2026

Three school districts temporarily blocked from complying with key parts of Texas’ DEI ban

A federal court has temporarily blocked the Houston, Katy and Plano school districts from enforcing key parts of a state law that bans diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in K-12 public schools.

U.S. District Judge Charles Eskridge ruled Feb. 20 that the three districts must avoid compliance with four major provisions of Senate Bill 12, including a ban on student clubs that focus on sexual orientation or gender identity and a mandate that schools design policies to discipline employees who engage in diversity-related efforts.

Eskridge’s ruling only applies to the three districts named in the lawsuit.

“To say that SB 12 is a complex law presenting complicated constitutional issues is a vast understatement. It proceeds over thirty-one sections directing detailed edits and additions in numerous respects to the Texas Education Code, which itself is sprawling, detailed, and, at times, arcane,” Eskridge wrote. “Houston, Katy, and Plano ISDs explain none of it. Nor do they address any facts or present any legal rationale opposing entry of the requested preliminary injunction.”

February 20, 2026

AI is supercharging cyberattacks. What schools need to know and do

Artificial intelligence has the potential to significantly improve schools’ ability to defend against cyberattacks by upgrading threat detection, building faster incident response, and automating tasks. However, hackers can also use AI to deliver more sophisticated attacks against schools, such as AI-powered malware, super-powered phishing campaigns, and automated exploitation of schools’ vulnerabilities. At the same time, some school district technology officials are concerned that use of AI tools to defend against cyberattacks could also open the doors for more AI-driven cyberattacks. That puts schools in a very difficult spot in figuring out how to deploy AI cyber defense tools in the safest and most effective ways possible.

February 19, 2026

AISD turns to land sales in response to budget gaps, fueling community pushback

Facing a budget deficit of nearly $20 million, Austin ISD leaders are turning to the sale of former school campuses for fast cash, a strategy that has triggered community backlash and reopened long-standing tensions over who benefits when public land is sold.

After the embattled sale of the former Rosedale Elementary site, Austin ISD board members voted in January to negotiate the sale of Brooke Elementary, which closed in 2019. Board members and Austin ISD leaders said selling both properties is key to preventing the nearly $20 million deficit from growing. Still, multiple trustees cited community concerns about the Brooke site’s future, the intentions of the developers and the fate of current tenants of Brooke, which has become a community hub since students left.

The East Austin campus houses the Native American Cultural Center and Vela, an organization dedicated to supporting families of children with disabilities.

February 18, 2026

TSTA endorses Hinojosa for governor

The Texas State Teachers Association today announced its endorsement of Democrat Gina Hinojosa for governor.

“Gina Hinojosa is the proven pro-public education champion in the governor’s race,” TSTA President Ovidia Molina said. “She has been a champion for our public schools, students and educators, beginning with her years on the Austin ISD school board and continuing in the Texas House.”

Read the full statement

February 13, 2026

Early voting in party primaries starts next Tuesday, February 17

Early voting will run through Friday, February 27, and Election Day will be Tuesday, March 3. This is the beginning of an important election year. The primaries are the first step in selecting state legislators, members of Congress and 18 statewide officials, including the governor, a U.S. senator and eight members of the State Board of Education. See our list of endorsed candidates here.

Vote Public Education First!

February 12, 2026

UT-Austin to consolidate race, ethnic and gender study programs

In a sweeping restructure, the University of Texas at Austin will consolidate four departments, including African and African Diaspora Studies and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, college leaders told department heads Thursday.

The departments, along with American Studies as well as Mexican American and Latino Studies, will be consolidated into a Social and Cultural Analysis department in a process that is expected to be complete by September 2027.

UT will separately consolidate Germanic Studies, Slavic and Eurasian Studies, and French and Italian into a new Department of European and Eurasian Studies.

February 11, 2026

With March 1 deadline approaching, Cy-Fair, Amarillo among districts opting out of school prayer periods

In addition to enacting the new Ten Commandments law, which is being challenged in the federal courts, the legislative majority last year also passed Senate Bill 11, which requires school boards to vote by March 1 on whether to set aside periods for prayer and religious study during the school day.

TSTA and leaders of many different religious groups and faiths oppose this law because it involves schools in making religious decisions, which we believe violates the separation of church and state principle. Students and educators of all faiths already are free to pray privately during the school day. Some pray, and others don’t. Politicians and school districts have no business telling anyone when or where to practice their religions.

With the March 1 deadline approaching, a number of school boards have recently voted against establishing the prayer periods. These include the Cypress-Fairbanks ISD board in Houston, which voted 4-3 against the option this week. The four winning votes were elected in November with the strong support of TSTA’s local, Cy-Fair TSTA/NEA. The local’s hard work flipped a 6-1 right-wing ideological board majority to 4-3 for public education, and the results are showing.

As local President Tanzanyika Reeves noted, “We organized and prayed for their victory.”

Hats off to Cy-Fair TSTA/NEA and to the Amarillo Education Association, whose school board also recently voted against establishing prayer periods.

We may be missing some other locals to congratulate. If we are, please tell us. We will continue monitoring this issue and make further reports as more school boards vote.

February 9, 2026

AASA guides ICE encounter response

The American Association of School Administrators (AASA) recently hosted a webinar titled “Operational Readiness: A Practical Playbook for ICE Encounters in Schools,” aimed at equipping school leaders with strategies to handle potential U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) encounters. The session emphasized that schools should act as “safe zones” and are not obligated to assist immigration enforcement without a valid judicial warrant.

Steve Smith, a former School Resource Officer, stressed the importance of prioritizing student safety and managing anxiety, stating: “Reaffirming someone’s rights under the Bill of Rights… isn’t incompatible with safety.” The playbook advises schools to secure their premises, maintain communication with parents, and prepare emergency contacts for families. It also warns against allowing ICE access without a judicial warrant, as this could lead to liability issues.

February 6, 2026

Religious charter schools push new cases toward Supreme Court

New efforts to establish religious charter schools are accelerating in several states, as advocates hope to return to the U.S. Supreme Court and finally get an answer about whether such schools pass constitutional muster.

Last year, the justices deadlocked 4-4 in a case over the proposed St. Isidore of Seville Catholic virtual charter school in Oklahoma, with Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused. That outcome affirmed, without setting a nationwide precedent, a state supreme court decision that religious charter schools are barred in Oklahoma by the First Amendment’s prohibition against government establishment of religion.

Advocates for religious charter schools have regarded the lack of resolution as an opening to try again.

“The [U.S. Supreme] Court has made clear that once you start funding private entities, you cannot exclude participants because of their religion,” said Eric Baxter, vice president and senior counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a non-partisan legal group that is representing a proposed Jewish charter school that has applied to operate in Oklahoma.

“We would ultimately go to the Supreme Court” if the application for the Jewish charter school is denied and lower courts rule against the effort, he said.

Alex J. Luchenitser, associate vice president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which has been working with the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups in the fight against such schools, said, “We think that the law here is on our side and that the Constitution clearly prohibits religious public charter schools.”

February 3, 2026

No Free Lunch: the real costs of the federal education vouchers

Money doesn’t grow on trees. But some voucher advocates, including a handful of Democrats, are implying it might—at least metaphorically—for states that opt into the federal Scholarship Tax Credit Program that was part of Republicans’ so-called Big Beautiful Bill (the Reconciliation Act) that Congress approved in July 2025.

Under the program, taxpayers earning up to 300% of their area’s median income can receive 100% federal tax credits of up to $1,700 for donating to nonprofit “scholarship granting organizations” (SGOs). The SGOs then distribute scholarships for private school tuition and for other education-related services such as tutoring or transportation.

“The more Democratic governors learn about it, I fully expect that most will come around and participate,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis told Politico. “Because from our perspective, it’s free money.” Polis is the only Democratic governor to opt in, but North Carolina’s overwhelmingly Republican legislature has pressured Gov. Josh Stein to say he intends to opt in “once the federal government issues sound guidance.”

But Polis is not completely alone. A few months before that Politico interview, Jorge Elorza, CEO of the advocacy group Democrats for Education Reform (DfER), told The New York Times: “This is literally free money that is broadly supported by the majority of voters who have steadily drifted away from the party. It just makes sense.” DfER is currently a shadow of its former size and importance, but Elorza has nonetheless been drawing considerable media attention to his views.

Polis and Elorza are, however, not correct. The new voucher policy has very real costs. NEPC Director Kevin Welner offers a concise explanation of these costs in a piece published by the National Coalition for Public Education, an organization that advocates on behalf of public schools.

Greg Abbott wants Austin school district investigated after students protest ICE during class

Republican Governor Greg Abbott is calling on Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath to investigate Austin Independent School District after students walked out of class to protest US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Friday.

The protests were part of a national day of action following the death of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, who were both shot and killed by ICE Agents in Minnesota in January.

Students from 14 campuses participated in the protest, with some staying on campus for demonstrations while others walked to the Texas Capitol.

“I have directed the Education Commissioner to investigate this,” Abbott said in a post on X Friday night. “AISD gets taxpayer dollars to teach the subjects required by the state, not to help students skip school to protest. Our schools are for educating our children, not political indoctrination. This is one of many reasons why AISD is losing so many students.”

In a letter to parents, Austin ISD Superintendent Matias Segura said the demonstrations were not sanctioned by the district, and any student who left campus to participate received an unexcused absence.

He also said that while the district wants to have students in class during school hours, they can’t stop students from participating or leaving campus, and had officers present to assist with safety and security.

“During the school day, our students are our responsibility and we’re committed to the safety of our students in our community, regardless if they are on our campus,” Segura said. “That is why our administrators and Austin ISD Police remain with our students during protest activities during school hours.”

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has also demanded information about the policies, security protocols, and internal communications at AISD, announcing his own investigation on Monday.

February 2, 2026

As families begin applying for private school vouchers, TSTA will continue working to kill this expensive and discriminatory program

Texas State Teachers Association President Ovidia Molina released the following statement:

Texas parents who want to send their children to private schools at every taxpayer’s expense can start applying for vouchers this week. TSTA is marking the occasion with a commitment to continue working to kill this expensive and discriminatory program.

Gov. Greg Abbott’s and his billionaire supporters’ success in forcing the creation of the voucher program last year does not change the fact that spending tax dollars on religious and other private schools is poor public policy, especially for a state like Texas that grossly underfunds public schools, where most Texas students are and will continue to be educated.

According to the National Education Association’s annual survey of state education spending, the average public school teacher salary in Texas trailed the national average by more than $10,000 in the 2024-25 school year. The average per-student expenditure in average daily attendance (ADA) was more than $5,500 less than the national average. Only three states – Utah, Oklahoma and Idaho – spent less per student. The new funding the Legislature set aside last year for public education, including teacher pay raises, wasn’t enough to close these gaps.

Meanwhile, the $1 billion lawmakers spent on the first year of the voucher program will increase to about $4 billion a year by 2030, the Legislative Budget Board has predicted – and who knows how much after that. If Texas follows the example of many other voucher states, spending on private schools will soon increase at a higher rate than per-student spending on public education.

Any family can apply for vouchers that will be $10,000-plus for most students, including pre-K kids, as much as $30,000 for special education children and $2,000 for home-schooled students. But many low-income families, even with vouchers, will be unable to afford private school tuition and related costs for their children. Most private schools don’t accept special education students.

Most of the religious schools that the state has approved for the program are Christian, many of which restrict admission or give preference to children of their own faith. Some of these schools refuse admission to LGBTQ students. These schools will use public tax dollars to discriminate against children whose families pay these tax dollars. Public schools do not discriminate. They accept every student who lives in their district, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identity, religion, family income or whatever, and only public schools should receive our tax revenue. As the annual survey of state education spending shows us, they need more of it.

January 28, 2026

Proposed reading list for Texas students draws concern over religious themes, lack of diversity

The Texas State Board of Education delayed voting on a proposed list of required books for K-12 students Wednesday night after hours discussing the reading materials’ religious focus and hearing public concerns about a lack of racial, ethnic and gender diversity.

Voting 13-1, the board delayed consideration until its April meetings to allow members time to consider the list and solicit feedback. Brandon Hall, a North Texas Republican board member, opposed the decision.

A 2023 state law required the Texas Education Agency to create a list of reading materials for the board to consider, with schools required to teach the materials beginning in the 2030-31 school year. The agency recommended nearly 300 books for consideration, though the law only required at least one literary work in each grade.

January 27, 2026

Low test scores on one campus can trigger a state takeover in Texas, affecting Black, Hispanic and low-income students most

The Texas Education Agency last year launched plans to take over four school districts due to low academic performance, confiscating decision-making power from elected leaders based on state-issued F grades at six campuses.

All six trigger schools share notable similarities.

Between 80% and 97% of their students live in low-income households, far above the state average of 60%.

Black and Hispanic children make up the dominant majority of the student populations, from 88% at Marilyn Miller Language Academy near Lake Worth to almost every child at Fehl-Price Elementary School in Beaumont.

And nearly half of students at each school are on the fringes of dropping out — including 64% to 92% of kids on five of the six campuses.

Texas’ 2015 school accountability law places a momentous decision in the hands of the state’s education commissioner. When at least one school receives an F for five years in a row, the commissioner must order the campus closed or initiate a state takeover of the entire district, replacing elected school board members with leaders of the education chief’s choosing.

Abbott orders Texas universities, agencies to halt H-1B visa petitions

Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday directed all public universities and state agencies to freeze new H-1B visa applications, escalating his administration’s scrutiny of foreign workers employed at taxpayer-funded institutions.

Under the directive, public universities and state agencies may not initiate or file new H-1B visa petitions without written permission from the Texas Workforce Commission through the end of the next legislative session on May 31, 2027.

Abbott also ordered agencies and higher education institutions to submit detailed reports to the commission, including the number of new or renewed H-1B visa petitions filed in 2025, the number of H-1B visa holders currently sponsored, job titles, countries of origin and visa expiration dates. He also directed agencies and universities to provide documentation showing they made an effort to give qualified Texans a reasonable opportunity to apply for positions filled by H-1B visa holders.

January 26, 2026

Join MoveOn’s Know Your Rights training this evening

Thank you to all those who helped lift up our colleagues and allies in Minnesota on Friday and encouraged members to take action to raise their voices to Congress.

What we know is that students have been assaulted by federal agents, detained and separated from parents, causing untold trauma. What we know is that fellow educators have been detained without explanation and without due process. What we know is that Americans should be able to exercise their First Amendment rights to peacefully assemble and express themselves about what they want and don’t want in their communities without being met with lethal force.

MoveOn will lead Know Your Rights trainings and issue a national Call to Action on a call Monday night at 7 PM CT. They’ll cover the latest updates on ICE and CBP’s out-of-control and dangerous operations as well as your rights when documenting and recording law enforcement encounters.

January 23, 2026

TEA recommends that certain Bible passages be required reading in Texas public schools

The Bible passages would be part of statewide lists of required reading materials in English classes from kindergarten through senior year, the first of their kind in the United States, according to a report in the Houston Chronicle. The Texas Education Agency created the lists, which will be presented to the State Board of Education for a preliminary vote next week.

The reading genres vary from fairy tales and nursery rhymes for younger students to historical speeches and novels in high school. Dispersed throughout are excerpts from the Old and New Testament, including the Shepherd’s Psalm, the Beatitudes, the Golden Rule, the Parable of the Prodigal Son and the Road to Damascus.

There are no required readings from religious texts other than the Bible, the Chronicle reported.

Shannon Trejo, TEA’s deputy commissioner of school programs, said some of the religious passages were designed to provide greater historical and literary context for longer, substantial works. Seventh graders, for example, would be required to read Richard Adams’ Watership Down alongside the Shepherd’s Psalm and Ulysses S. Grant’s Civil War address to the U.S. Army.

The statewide literary lists, to which local districts and teachers could add other readings, were required by a state law enacted in 2023. If approved by the State Board of Education, they would be implemented in all Texas public schools beginning in the 2030-31 school year.

The state board can make changes to the lists. And public comments on the lists will be accepted Feb. 27th to March 30th.

Find more information about the lists here.

Texas could become first state to require Bible readings in all public schools

January 22, 2026

How Texans can prepare for this weekend’s winter weather

A major winter storm is expected to hit Texas, bringing freezing temperatures, sleet, rain, and snow, beginning Friday.

The areas most at risk for the wintry weather are north, northwest, and northeast Texas, while freezing rain and sleet are more likely in west, central, south-central, east and southeast Texas. Farther south in the Rio Grande Valley, cold rain is expected.

Gov. Greg Abbott said he has activated the state’s emergency response resources, warning that these weather forecasts could lead to hazardous travel conditions and potential damage to infrastructure. Power lines and water pipes are particularly vulnerable in winter weather.

This guide can help you prepare.

High winds, freezing rain or sleet, heavy snowfall and dangerously cold temperatures are the main hazards associated with winter storms, according to the National Weather Service.

These storms can cause an increased risk of car accidents, hypothermia and frostbite. They can also increase the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by generators or other gas-powered heaters.

January 20, 2026

Texas to defend law requiring schools to post Ten Commandments — here’s what to know

The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments Tuesday over a Texas law requiring public schools to display posters of the Ten Commandments in classrooms.

All 17 active judges on the court will hear the case — Rabbi Nathan v. Alamo Heights Independent School District — alongside a similar challenge in Louisiana, the first state to pass a Ten Commandments requirement.

The case could play a central role in the national debate over whether the laws violate the First Amendment’s establishment clause, which prohibits governments from endorsing or promoting a particular religion.

January 19, 2026

Hunger will increase unless Congress reverses devastating cuts to America’s most successful anti-poverty program

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has enjoyed wide bipartisan support over the years. But the budget reconciliation bill Republicans rammed through Congress this past summer—signed into law by the president—poses the greatest threat to the program in its history. The administration’s refusal to fully fund SNAP during the government shutdown only exacerbated the cruelty.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates the budget bill will cut food assistance by $187 billion over the next 10 years—all to provide tax breaks for the wealthy. This 20% cut will leave millions of children, senior citizens, veterans, workers, and people with disabilities and chronic health conditions without the benefits that help put food on the table.

The Restoring Food Security for American Families and Farmers Act of 2025 (S. 3281/H.R. 6088) would repeal these devastating cuts.

The drastic cuts planned for SNAP would leave many schools unable to continue providing healthy free school meals to all students. Schools in high-poverty areas can provide meals to all students through the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), but eligibility is based on the proportion of students whose families receive SNAP benefits. Also, students’ automatic eligibility for school meals based on their families’ SNAP status may be in limbo if their families lose SNAP. Children who are hungry can’t focus on learning.

Repealing the Republican cuts will keep millions of Americans from suffering and also protect farmers, food retailers, local communities, and all others that participate in the food economy.

Ask your senators and representative to restore SNAP benefits to millions of Americans by cosponsoring and supporting the Restoring Food Security for American Families and Farmers Act of 2025.

January 15, 2026

University of North Texas to offer free tuition for some incoming freshmen

The University of North Texas announced Wednesday that it will cover full tuition and mandatory fees for incoming freshmen from Texas families earning $100,000 or less starting in fall 2026.

The move puts UNT among a growing number of Texas universities that have launched so-called promise programs, which aim to expand access to higher education by helping students limit debt to earn a degree.

UNT’s program will cover tuition and fees for freshmen pursuing their first bachelor’s degree at the Denton-based university. The benefit will apply for up to four years, or eight consecutive semesters. University officials said more than 3,500 incoming freshmen could be eligible for the program in its first year.

January 14, 2026

Texas taxpayers will fund dozens of private schools that openly discriminate

Upon signing school vouchers into law last May, Governor Greg Abbott pronounced that he had delivered “education freedom to every Texas family.” But the billion-dollar program, which opens to parents on February 4, has enrolled dozens of private schools that openly discriminate against Texas families on the basis of religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity, according to a Texas Observer analysis of information gathered from the schools’ websites and handbooks, and survey responses and phone calls with school leaders.

The Observer gathered information about all 291 schools selected by the state that offer education beyond the kindergarten level. More than 90 percent are affiliated with or owned by a religious or faith-based group, the analysis found. More than 100 of those schools require or prioritize for admission students of the same faith, and more than 60 have a written policy that discriminates against LGBTQ+ students, the schools’ own data shows.

The Texas Comptroller’s office announced December 22 that nearly 600 private K-12 and early pre-K schools had already been enrolled in the Texas Education Freedom Account (TEFA) program, as the state vouchers have been dubbed. But only about half that were listed on its website as of January 1 serve students beyond kindergarten. The comptroller’s office, which administers the voucher program, has not provided comment for this story.

About 70 percent of these schools are concentrated in the greater metropolitan areas of Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Austin. Many rural Texas families will have no options; more than 180 of Texas’ 254 counties have no elementary, junior, or senior high schools enrolled so far.

Participating students in approved private schools will receive $10,474 for the 2026-27 school year—though students with special needs may receive up to $30,000 and homeschool students will receive $2,000. If applications for the voucher program exceed available funding, program rules state that the comptroller must prioritize applications of students with disabilities and lower incomes.
But these rules don’t guarantee student access to enrolled private schools.

The Observer’s analysis found that around a third of the schools enrolled in the program have a 2025-26 tuition that exceeds $10,474 and few offer special education services. Private schools generally increase rates every year, and the tuition excludes other fees and costs, such as registration, testing, sports, supplies, field trips, or uniforms.

January 13, 2026

Understanding school finance as a racial and political problem

In this month’s episode of NEPC Talks Education, Christopher Saldaña speaks with Roseann Liu and David Backer about their approaches to K-12 school finance research and why understanding the human dimensions of education funding is essential for achieving equity. Liu, a professor of educational studies and Asian American studies at Swarthmore College, is an anthropologist. Her recent book, Designed to Fail: Why Racial Equity in School Funding Is So Hard to Achieve, uses ethnographic methods to make visible what she calls the story behind the numbers. Backer, a professor of Education Policy at the College of Human Development, Culture and Media at Seton Hall University, draws on philosophy and critical theory in his new book, As Public As Possible, to offer a witty and provocative treatise on the financial policies we’ll need to make our public schools work for all children.

Listen to the podcast

January 12, 2026

The effects of teacher-student demographic matching on social-emotional learning

From Harvard’s Center for Education Policy Research: A growing body of research shows that students benefit when they demographically match their teachers. However, little is known about how matching affects social-emotional development. We use student-fixed effects to exploit changes over time in the proportion of teachers within a school grade who demographically match a student to estimate the effect on social-emotional measures, test scores, and behavioral outcomes. We find improvements in students’ grit and interpersonal self-management when matched to teachers of their race and gender. Black female students drive these effects. We also find that matching reduces absences and suspensions, especially for Black students. Our findings add to the emerging teacher diversity literature by showing its benefits for Black and female students during a critical stage of development.

January 8, 2026

About 200 Texas A&M courses could change due to new restrictions on teaching gender, race

Faculty at Texas A&M University were told this week that roughly 200 courses in the College of Arts and Sciences could be affected by a new system policy restricting classroom discussions of race and gender, the implementation of which has already led administrators to direct a philosophy professor to remove Plato readings from a core course.

The changes are being made days before the semester begins and after some students have registered to attend.

The Texas Tribune obtained emails sent by college administrators showing the policy has already led to courses being cancelled or renumbered to remove them from core curriculum credit, with professors directed to alter course content or teach different classes.

January 7, 2026

Here’s your Texas 2026 March primary ballot

Texas will hold its 2026 primary elections on March 3. Here are all of the candidates who have filed for the Democratic and Republican primary elections, according to the Secretary of State. Voters in each primary will choose which candidates they want to represent their party in the November general election.

On the ballot are many statewide seats, including governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, land commissioner, agriculture commissioner, comptroller and more. Republicans and Democrats will also choose candidates for congressional and legislative offices, the State Board of Education and judicial seats. Read more

January 5, 2026

From school vouchers to flood warning systems, these are the Texas developments to watch in 2026

On top of dozens of laws taking effect on Jan. 1 and the incoming midterm elections, the new year also comes with developments on numerous policy issues affecting the state. They range from criminal justice to education to international trade, setting up a year that could bring about sweeping changes for Texans.

Here are some important issues to watch in 2026.

January 4, 2026

First trial over law enforcement’s delayed response to Uvalde school shooting set to begin

Former Uvalde schools police Officer Adrian Gonzales was among the first officers to arrive at Robb Elementary in 2022 after a gunman opened fire on students and teachers. Gonzales’ criminal trial — the first over the delayed law enforcement response to one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history — is set to begin Monday.

Prosecutors allege that instead of rushing in to confront the shooter, Gonzales failed to take action to protect students. Many families of the 19 fourth-grade students and two teachers who were killed believe that if Gonzales and the nearly 400 officers who responded had confronted the gunman sooner instead of waiting more than an hour, lives might have been saved.

The trial in Corpus Christi is a rare case in which a police officer could be convicted for allegedly failing to act to stop a crime and protect lives.

January 2, 2026

Dallas County sues Trump administration over clawback of public health funds

Dallas County, buoyed by a recent Harris County court win, has filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration over the clawback of $70 million in public health funds.

Dallas County’s lawsuit, filed in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 5, claims the demand last spring that $11.4 billion in unspent pandemic-era funding be returned to federal coffers was an illegal one. The argument mirrors one made in a lawsuit filed by a coalition of 23 states — all led by Democratic governors — and the District of Columbia, that the rescinding of the unspent money awarded under one president cannot be seized under a different one. The states’ court battle is ongoing.

Texas did not join the states’ lawsuit, despite losing an estimated $700 million.

In Dallas County’s case, the public health department lost $70 million in federal funding funneled through the Texas Department of State Health Services and as a result, the county had to lay off nearly two dozen employees. The sudden loss in funding will cause “significant harm” to Dallas County, the lawsuit states.

Online courses inflated HISD ratings; without them, some schools would have Fs

FWISD put cameras in classrooms at struggling schools

Families ask US Supreme Court to rule on Texas’ Ten Commandments requirement for public schools

Colorado school district rejects controversial reading curriculum because of errors, Texas focus

Why 5 major San Antonio school districts lost superintendents in less than a year

Texas’ school A-F grades relatively flat as Austin ISD inches closer to takeover

Look up your Texas school’s A-F accountability grade, STAAR performance

UT-Austin overhauling core classes but hasn’t detailed how new center relates to the courses

Gov. Greg Abbott proposes further limiting screen time in K-12 classrooms

Black-majority schools in Texas receive more Fs than A ratings, leaving parents with tough choices

Clear backpacks are common in Texas schools. Do they make students safer?

Which families are using ESAs? Here’s what we know about Texas’ first school vouchers

TSTA survey: Pay raises enacted in 2025 show little impact on teacher moonlighting, morale

Professors sue Texas A&M System over limits on teaching race, gender

Nearly 1 in 5 Texas students miss 10% or more of school year. Why absences matter

Families brace for change as Third Future takes over more struggling Texas schools

Houston mothers challenge Ten Commandments posters under Texas’ new parental rights amendment

Hill Country school district racing to make flood repairs before classes start

Wealthier districts tend to do better on STAAR; See which San Antonio districts beat the odds

Community colleges brace for local cuts after Texas funding shortchanges them millions

Censorship or accountability? Impact of law prompting Texas’ scrutiny of universities detailed

Universities can use conservative-favored entrance exam as Texas eyes wider use, agency chief says

‘Our obligation under the law’: Why does TEA take over school districts?

National teacher certification board told to scrub DEI mentions to comply with Texas law

The legal fight over “Robin Hood” renews Texas’ public school funding debate

Texas’ longstanding “Robin Hood” school finance system will face a new legal challenge

Community colleges beat student outcome predictions. Now Texas can’t afford related incentives.

Houston-area lawmaker’s anesthesia firm blamed for $11M increase in Texas teachers’ insurance costs

Boerne ISD to offer off-campus Bible lessons during school day

ICE raids are making emergency contacts essential for schools

Review finds Google AI search ‘unacceptable’ for students

School districts approve $1.66 billion in tax breaks for SpaceX chipmaking plant in Grimes County

New top leaders take office for Texas State Teachers Association

Mental health programs could bear the brunt of $600M federal cuts to Texas schools

Texas community colleges showing small signs of recovery after enrollment decline, report finds

Former TSTA leader elected vice president of National Education Association, the country’s largest labor union

Vaccination rates in Texas schools have been dropping; Look up the latest vaccination rates in your district

Buyouts offered to nearly a quarter of UT Tyler employees amid budget shortfall

These Bible verses and books are now required reading for Texas students

Vouchers for disabled students

‘A legacy’: Houston ISD alumni, families scramble to preserve the histories of their closing schools

Texas must pay millions to fix errors in Bluebonnet school materials, contract shows

As supporters praise Texas’ proposed “Judeo-Christian” curriculum, rabbis say it dismisses Judaism

More Bible stories in public schools, changes to history lessons before Texas education board today

Which Bible passages are in Texas’ proposed student reading list? Here’s what the selections reveal.

Texas college watchdog received nearly 70 complaints, opened one investigation, records show

Texas students saw slight gains in math, stalled progress in reading, STAAR results show

Texas high schoolers show gains across all subjects on STAAR tests

Texas’ charter school boom may soon bust

When Black communities lose their vote, schools pay the price

‘Education changed my life’: Cassidy introduces reading reform bill

Teachers concerned about the impact of AI on students’ critical thinking

Advocates ask court for chance to defend Texas Dream Act, in-state tuition for undocumented students

Texas schools say they still face budget difficulties despite $8.5 billion boost

Texas school police pepper-sprayed, tackled and tasered students

How Cherokee farming traditions are transforming a South Austin school

When ICE detained an Alamo Heights fifth grader, classmates wrote him letters

FWISD among worst in nation for student learning growth, new data shows

Over 100,000 family separations in deportation push, report estimates

Early voting has started for the May 26 primary runoff elections

Comments are open for the proposed Social Studies TEKS revision

Texas students are still behind after COVID — and one group of school districts is hit hardest

Teachers with national certification earn more, but Texas is questioning its worth

Texas public schools see first non-pandemic enrollment drop in decades

Texas AG investigating Fort Worth ISD over Ten Commandments, prayer in schools

Feds investigate Houston ISD for plans to separate students with disabilities

Connally schools superintendent appointed during Texas’ takeover of district

Texas Tech cautions broadcasting research restrictions to prospective students

Voting Rights Act ruling could change representation on city councils, school boards across Texas

Staff, parents, students plead for hours, but here are the changes coming to Fort Worth ISD

TEA takeover of BISD now official: new board of managers, superintendent named

Despite last year’s raises, the average teacher pay in Texas trails the national average by more than $8,500; per student funding is almost $5,000 behind

Faculty defect from Texas public universities, citing censorship concerns

College students are changing course in search of ‘AI-proof’ majors. But no one knows what they are

Texas can force schools to post Ten Commandments, federal appeals court rules

Speaker Dustin Burrows asks Texas House to investigate Roblox in response to game simulating Uvalde shooting

Classroom management framework: foundations for proactive and respectful practice in elementary classrooms

Make schools, churches, and hospitals protected spaces from ICE

Keep public funds in public schools

Reject President Trump’s budget