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Aliyya Swaby was the public education reporter for The Texas Tribune, where she worked from 2016 to 2021. Previously she worked at the hyperlocal nonprofit New Haven Independent, where she covered education, zoning and transit for two years. After graduating from Yale University in 2013, she spent a year freelance reporting in Panama on social issues affecting black Panamanian communities. She was an Education Writers Association finalist in 2017 for beat reporting and a Livingston Awards finalist in 2019 for a series on school desegregation.
At Coleman High School, the failure of legislation to raise teacher pay and fix the school finance system at the Capitol means another year of finding creative ways to attract new teachers and do more for the students. Full Story
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The Texas House voted Tuesday to swallow a bitter pill and accept a version of a school finance bill that had $1.5 billion less in funding for schools than the lower chamber initially approved. Full Story
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The Texas House and Senate tentatively passed each other’s priority school finance bills Monday, preparing to discuss potential compromises with two days left in the special session. Full Story
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Senate Education Committee Chairman Larry Taylor said he would not accept the House's proposal to put $1.8 billion into public schools, comparing it to driving a broken car into the ground. Full Story
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The Texas House voted to approve a package of bills that would put $1.8 billion into public schools, increase funding for certain student groups and help out struggling small, rural schools. Full Story
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The House and the Senate are figuring out whether they can compromise on exactly how to put $212 million into an underfunded health insurance program for retired teachers. Teachers say they'll take their frustration to the polls. Full Story
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In East Texas, 86-year-old Clara Crawford shuttles kids to a summer meal program at the local community center. In the Panhandle, Kay Calvert and a group of volunteers want to revive a similar program in tiny Quitaque. Full Story
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After a proposal to give a property tax exemption to Purple Heart recipients hit a snag on the House floor Monday, a committee considered a more radical idea: eliminating school district property taxes altogether. Full Story
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After peaking in 2013, the number of students who received free summer meals at Texas schools dropped last summer. No one seems to know exactly why, but one possible reason is lack of transportation. Full Story
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The Texas House voted Tuesday to use $212 million from the Rainy Day Fund, a savings account largely fed by oil and gas production taxes, to decrease premiums and deductibles for retired teachers in the state-run health insurance program. Full Story
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