At Year's End, Lots in Flux For Public Education
From the appointment of a new Texas education commissioner to Congress passing a rewrite of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, these are the top public education stories of 2015. Full Story
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Kiah Collier
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Kiah Collier was a reporter for the ProPublica-Texas Tribune investigative initiative from 2020 through 2023. She previously worked at the Tribune as a reporter and associate editor, covering energy and the environment through the lens of state government and politics. Kiah has reported for numerous other publications across Texas since 2010, including the Austin American-Statesman and the Houston Chronicle. Her beats also have included government and politics, public education and business. Kiah’s work has been honored with numerous prizes, including a George Foster Peabody Award, a Gerald Loeb Award, the Knight-Risser Prize for Western Environmental Journalism, the National Edward R. Murrow Award for best investigation and the AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Award. A seventh-generation Texan, she grew up in the Austin area and graduated with high honors from the University of Texas at Austin with degrees in journalism and philosophy.
Past Contributions
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Dallas Trustee is Next Education Commissioner
Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday appointed Dallas Independent School District Trustee Mike Morath as the state's next education commissioner, describing the investor as "a proven education reformer." Full Story
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Credit: Facebook, Mike Morath for Dallas School Board -
In Paris, Negotiators Strike Historic Climate Accord
Negotiators from nearly 200 nations, including the United States, struck an unprecedented climate agreement on Saturday that could have big implications for Texas — and also face big pushback from state leaders. Full Story
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Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Public Schools Are Poorer, More Diverse
The makeup of the Texas public school system has become less white and poorer in recent decades, according to the most recent data reflected in The Texas Tribune’s Texas Public Schools Explorer. Full Story
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![Schoolchildren watch the Veterans Day parade on Congress Avenue on Nov. 11, 2015.]()
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Rewrite of No Child Left Behind Poised to Pass
The end of the widely reviled No Child Left Behind Act — and Texas’ standoff with the federal government over that 2002 law — is in sight, to the elation of the state education commissioner, superintendents and teachers. Full Story
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Senators Tackle Improper Student-Teacher Relationships
Posed with a troubling, social media-driven trend — a steady rise in improper student-teacher relationships — Texas senators began work Monday to figure out what, if anything, they can do about it. Full Story
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![TEA general counsel, Von Byer during the Senate Education Committee on December 7, 2015]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
LCRA Fights Release of Data on New Reservoir
The Lower Colorado River Authority has concluded that its new southeast Texas reservoir won't hurt aquatic life downstream in Matagorda Bay, but the organization is refusing to release the data behind that contention. Full Story
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Vista Ridge Pipeline Parent Company Enters Pre-Bankruptcy
The financially troubled Spanish company whose subsidiary is supposed to build a massive water pipeline to serve San Antonio entered into the initial phases of bankruptcy proceedings Wednesday. Full Story
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![A map of the proposed pipeline that will deliver 16 billion gallons of water annually from underneath Burleson County to San Antonio, about 140 miles away.]()
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Environmental Groups Sue Over Lapsed Permits
A coalition of environmental groups sued the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Tuesday, claiming the state is dragging its feet in approving operating permits for several major industrial plants. Full Story
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Credit: Dave Fehling NPR StateImpact / KUHF Houston Public Radio -
San Antonio Hikes Water Rates for Vista Ridge
The San Antonio City Council on Wednesday unanimously — albeit cautiously — approved plans for a sizable water rate increase that will pay, in part, for a controversial, $3.4 billion water pipeline. Full Story
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![League of Independent Voters of Texas Executive Director, Linda Cirtus, looks onto the San Antonio City Council meeting moments after stating her case against the Vista Ridge Water Supply Project to the city council on Wednesday.]()
Credit: Charlie Pearce