Education Agency Recommends Class Size Limits for Pre-K
To improve pre-kindergarten education, Texas schools should keep class sizes small and student-teacher ratios low, according to a newly released state report. Full Story
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Morgan Smith
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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.
Past Contributions
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![Pre-kindergarten students at the Dallas Independent School District's Cesar Chavez Learning Center.]()
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Which Texas Schools Have the Highest Rates of Vaccine Exemptions?
The number of Texas students with non-medical exemptions to school immunization laws has soared statewide in the last decade. How does your school district fare? Check out our handy search tool to find out. Full Story
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![The number of parents of school-aged children choosing to avoid vaccine requirements for their kids has soared statewide.]()
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New Child Welfare Chief Asks Lawmakers for Cooperation
The new chief of the state's beleaguered child welfare system had a clear message for Texas lawmakers Tuesday: Time has run out for business as usual. Full Story
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![Department of Family and Protective Services Commissioner Hank Whitman testifies July 12, 2016, to the House Committee on Human Services about his plans to reform the agency.]()
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Dallas Attack Tests City's Progress in Police Relations
A fragile peace settled over Dallas one day after a sniper caused the worst loss of police officer lives since September 11, but beneath calls for unity tension simmered. Full Story
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![Flowers sit on the dash of a Dallas Area Rapid Transit police motorcycle as it is used to block off the scene where, the night before, snipers targeted police officers, killing five, after a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest in downtown.]()
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Texas AG Shopped Transgender Policy to Second School District
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton approached at least one other North Texas school district about adopting the transgender student bathroom policy that is now the center of his lawsuit against the Obama administration. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, enters room where he will announce information on a lawsuit filed in U.S District Court against several federal agencies regarding bathroom and locker room rules in Texas public schools on May 25, 2016]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Texas, 10 Other States, Sue Over Obama Transgender Policy
Texas, joined by 10 other states, filed a lawsuit Wednesday to stop a federal directive instructing school districts to let transgender students use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity, state officials announced. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton during a May 25, 2016, press conference.]()
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Texas House Runoff Turns Ugly in Final Days
An already bitter Republican primary runoff for a Texas house seat has turned uglier in the final days before early voting begins as court filings from one candidate’s divorce and child custody battle take center stage. Full Story
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![State Rep Doug Miller, R-New Braunfels, and opponent, Kyle Biedermann.]()
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Senators Talk Interstate Border Security Compact
Also, former Houston Mayor Annise Parker comes back home to teach at her alma mater, Rice University. Full Story
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![Sen. Bob Hall, R-Rockwall, hosts the Texas Grid Security Summit 2016 at the Texas Capitol in Austin on April 27, 2016. The session deals with how to make the power grid safer from electromagnetic radiation attacks nationwide.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Paxton Uses State Protection for Frequent North Texas Trips
For the past year, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has used taxpayer-funded security teams and drivers to travel at least twice and as many as four times a month to North Texas where he has a home and businesses, according to records obtained by The Texas Tribune. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton at a press conference in Austin on Jan. 13, 2016 to announce a new unit within the Texas Attorney General’s Office dedicated to combating human trafficking.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles/ Texas Tribune -
Former Paxton Aide: I Didn’t Ask For Departure Deal
Allison Castle, a former aide to Attorney General Ken Paxton, said Friday that he asked her to resign her post and that she did not ask for nor negotiate a now-controversial departure package. Full Story
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![Allison Castle, left, resigned in March 2016 from her position as senior communications director for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, right.]()
Credit: Tamir Kalifa / Callie Richmond