The Brief: Best way to improve education? Texans want to cut standardized tests

_{Editor's note: If you'd like The Brief in your inbox each weekday, subscribe here.}

Tribune today

Education is pretty good, but Texans have some suggestions
Texans don't like standardized tests required of public education students, and they support a number of measures to change the state's education program. 

Texas counties see price tags on both sides of "sanctuary" debate
But they're facing financial pressures on both sides of a highly politicized debate over their role in enforcing federal immigration laws. Just look at Dallas County.

House member marks one-year anniversary of filing zero campaign finance reports
A House member hasn't filed a campaign finance report in a year and gets sued by state — but he says he's started a payment plan.

Analysis: Sex trafficking series shows Texas vexed by long-term challenges
State officials have done a lot of work to stop sex trafficking in Texas, but the results revealed by the Tribune's Sold Out series are demoralizing. The state's own safety net is part of the pipeline for victims of trafficking.

Texas Republicans pitch new voter ID law
Top state Republicans unveiled legislation that would overhaul the state’s voter identification rules, an effort to comply with court rulings that found Texas' current law discriminates against minority groups.

Judge: Texas can't kick Planned Parenthood out of Medicaid
A U.S. Judge ruled that Texas clinics affiliated with Planned Parenthood can continue to care for patients under the state’s Medicaid program.

Texas congressional Democrats fear "dreamers" will lose benefits
Texas Democrats in Congress are bracing for the possibility of the Trump administration ending benefits for people who were brought into the U.S. illegally as children.

Austin senator — a Baylor alum — takes aim at university sexual assault
Sen. Kirk Watson's proposed bills would require universities to provide an anonymous online sexual assault reporting process and would prohibit administrators from punishing victims who reveal they were drinking underage at the time of an attack.

Trump administration directs Border Patrol, ICE to expand deportations
The Trump administration moved one step closer to implementing the president’s plans to aggressively rid the country of undocumented immigrants and expand local police-based enforcement of border security operations.

What you need to know

While 47 percent of Texans think state schools are either excellent or good, 42 percent say they are either not very good or terrible, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll. 

• Texans who were polled rank cutting standardized tests the best way to improve schools. The second-most-common answer was increasing public funding for schools, followed by a tie for third: creating a school voucher system and increasing the pay of public school teachers. 
• But vouchers don't have broad support among Texans polled. Just 35 percent of Texans support “proposals that would redirect state tax revenue to help parents pay for some of the cost of sending their children to private or parochial schools.”
• There's not a majority view on public schools. Only 8 percent of Texans rate the education system excellent while another 8 percent rank it terrible. 

To get more education news in your inbox, subscribe to Trib+Edu: Your guide to state and regional education policy news and events.

News from home

Help us report on sex trafficking in Texas: Over the past five months, The Texas Tribune has investigated the hidden world of sex trafficking. Now, we want to hear about your experiences.

What we're reading

(Links below lead to outside websites; paywall content noted with $) 

Mexican officials riled by Trump's new deportation memos, Politico

Wichita Falls bans cell phone use by drivers, Texoma's Homepage

Garland: Baylor will not be a 'sanctuary campus,' Waco Tribune-Herald

Demonstrations press Cruz to listen to constituents, The Houston Chronicle ($)

Beto O'Rourke is a Mexico-loving liberal in Texas. Can he really beat Ted Cruz?, The Washington Post ($)

Hundreds plan to protest bathroom bill at 'queer dance freakout' outside Texas governor's mansion, The Dallas Morning News ($)

For your calendar 

Join us in person or online Thursday for a conversation with state Rep. John Zerwas, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. 

Quote to note

"From solo entrepreneurs, to mom-and-pop storefronts and small tech start-ups, to the multi-national corporations that call the Lone Star State home, there is a belief you can succeed here. The Texas jobs record proves it, almost singlehandedly pulling the nation out of recession after the financial collapse."

— Bill Hammond of Texans for Free Enterprise about bringing rate competition to title insurance in Texas via TribTalk

The Brief is written and compiled by your morning news baristas, Bobby Blanchard and Cassi Pollock. If you have feedback or questions, please email thebrief@texastribune.org. We're a nonprofit newsroom, and count on readers like you to help power newsletters like this. Did you like what you read today? Show your appreciation by becoming a member or making a donation today.