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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.
Schools had previously been told that they would need to limit online-only instruction to the first three weeks of the school year, or they'd lose state funding. Full Story
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Many Texas Education Agency employees are working from home, but the agency is requiring schools to open five days a week for in-person instruction this fall. Teachers say that mandate has grave implications for their health. Full Story
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State health officials are providing little detailed information on the spread of coronavirus in Texas child care facilities, and experts aren't sure to what extent children spread the virus. Full Story
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The mask requirement doesn't apply to students younger than 10. The Texas Education Agency guidelines also require schools to post coronavirus prevention plans and encourage hand-washing. Full Story
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A new statewide report from the TEA shows that more than 600,000 students didn't complete assignments or respond to teacher outreach during the pandemic. Full Story
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More than 200 signed up to speak as the Texas State Board of Education began taking public testimony Monday on its first rewrite of sexual education policies since 1997. Full Story
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A high-tension hearing is expected Monday as the Texas State Board of Education begins considering changes to its statewide policy for health education, including teaching middle schoolers about contraception. Full Story
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Emergency safety measures for day care centers were repealed in mid-June, but are being brought back in the face of "imminent peril." Full Story
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Texas education officials delayed an expected announcement of school reopening guidelines Tuesday, but a draft plan shows the state taking a light-handed role in coronavirus prevention measures. Masks and distancing are recommended but not mandatory. Full Story
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State officials announced yesterday that students will return to public schools come fall, but provided few details. Almost three-fourths of parents surveyed in one district say they won't send their children back if it seems unsafe. Full Story
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