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Morgan Smith was a reporter at the Tribune from 2009 to 2018, covering politics, public education and inequality. In 2013, she received a National Education Writers Association award for “Death of a District,” a series on school closures. After earning a bachelor’s degree in English from Wellesley College, she moved to Austin in 2008 to enter law school at the University of Texas. A San Antonio native, her work has also appeared in Slate, where she spent a year as an editorial intern in Washington D.C.
A months-long effort to reform the problem-plagued school finance system came to an end Thursday as House Public Education Chairman Jimmie Don Aycock withdrew a bill proposing fixes less than an hour into a scheduled debate. Full Story
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A school finance plan that would result in an extra $800 million for public education faces dim prospects in the dwindling weeks of the legislative session, a top House lawmaker said Tuesday. Full Story
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A measure to keep the names of execution drug providers from the public won initial approval in the Texas Senate on Monday. Full Story
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The so-called Pastor Protection Act — a bill that clarifies clergy members' right to refuse to marry same-sex couples — tentatively passed the Texas Senate on Monday. Full Story
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A key early education bill backed by Gov. Greg Abbott setting up grants to encourage higher quality pre-kindergarten programs has now cleared both chambers of the Legislature. Full Story
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After surviving Tea Party-backed opposition in the House, the early education bill that Gov. Greg Abbott has called his top priority this session could face its final test in the Texas Senate as early as Thursday. Full Story
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A languishing measure requiring public universities and colleges to allow concealed handguns on campus may gain a fast track to passage under a plan to attach it as an amendment to another gun bill. Full Story
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Responding to claims that he improperly registered witnesses at a committee hearing, state Rep. Jonathan Stickland released a statement Monday standing by his actions. Full Story
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Sophomore state Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, has poured a seemingly inexhaustible supply of populist indignation into exposing what he sees as ideological hypocrisy within his own party. Full Story
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The bill that helped spark last week's blowup between the state's top officials is suddenly moving in the Senate, despite fierce opposition from Tea Party conservatives. Full Story
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