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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.
Texas Education Agency Commissioner Robert Scott received a standing ovation today after he told a gathering of public school educators that the state testing system has become a "perversion of its original intent." Full Story
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In a state where the football field is hallowed turf, Premont ISD has suspended all athletics — including football — to improve its struggling finances. Full Story
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In a daring and rare move in a state where the football field is hallowed turf, a superindent has suspended all athletics to help his South Texas district improve its struggling finances. Full Story
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This year, for the first time, students' scores on standardized tests will count 15 percent toward their final grades. It sounds straightforward, but how some districts are applying the so-called 15 percent rule threatens to spark the next political battle over a test that has seen plenty of them. Full Story
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Cultural institutions that once counted on revenue from student field trips are feeling the hit of the state's multibillion-dollar education cuts. Full Story
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Both came ready to brawl. But neither Gov. Rick Perry nor U.S. Rep. Ron Paul managed to nudge Mitt Romney out of the limelight at this morning’s debate. Full Story
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As his bus tour rolls to a stop and his campaign readies for the critical Iowa caucuses on Tuesday, the Texas governor appears to be hitting his stride after months of bumbles. Full Story
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After the last two scheduled stops of his tour today, Gov. Rick Perry made an impromptu visit to a local precinct leader and knocked on a few doors in a West Des Moines neighborhood. Full Story
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Amid renewed attacks on Rick Santorum today, Gov. Rick Perry answered a question that's been on many minds since July: the whereabouts of his signature cowboy boots. Full Story
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In the last decade, companies have flocked to San Antonio, making it an economic center rivaling Houston and Dallas, and rattling the Alamo City's pre-existing inferiority complex. Full Story
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