Texas education chief visits Fort Worth schools as state takeover looms
Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath is considering the state’s second-largest district takeover due to failing accountability ratings. Full Story
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![Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath watches a group of seventh graders read a poem in Fort Worth ISD’s William James Middle School on Aug. 28, 2025.]()
Credit: Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report/CatchLight Local/Report for America -
ACLU, other groups sue to block Texas' DEI ban on K-12 public schools
The suit alleges the new state law unconstitutionally silences the viewpoints of students and teachers. The law’s supporters say DEI programs use public funds to promote political agendas. Full Story
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![Temple, Texas - 4/17/25: JoMeka Gray teaches a class of kindergarteners at Kennedy-Powell Elementary in Temple, Texas. Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune -
A rigorous accreditation program inspired Texas’ camp reforms. Here’s what that process looks like.
More than 75 Texas camps have met dozens of safety standards to become accredited by the American Camp Association, which can be a lengthy and costly process. Full Story
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![Camp Mystic in Hunt on July 9, 2025.]()
Credit: Ronaldo Bolaños/The Texas Tribune -
More than 800 new laws will go into effect in Texas on Sept. 1. Here are some of the significant ones.
New laws range from school vouchers and water infrastructure funding to a ban on city and county-funded abortion travel funds. Full Story
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![The Texas Capitol in Austin June 30, 2025.]()
Credit: Ronaldo Bolaños/The Texas Tribune -
1 in 4 Texas school districts sign up for new Bible-infused curriculum
The numbers may grow as the state collects more data. Some districts adopted the plan not for its religious emphasis but for more funding and to better align with teaching requirements. Full Story
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![A desk is distanced six feet apart from other desks at Premont Ernest H. Singleton Early College Academy on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020 in Premont. When the school reopened in June, students held hula hoops around themselves in line to maintain a socially safe distance from each other.]()
Credit: Allie Goulding/The Texas Tribune -
House Democrats’ frustration with STAAR bill highlights divide over how new test should look
Democrats say recent changes to the bill give too much power to the TEA and fall short of meaningfully easing the pressures of standardized testing. Full Story
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![Austin Voices for Education and Youth hosts a summer camp at the Dobie Middle School in Austin on July 23, 2025.]()
Credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune -
“Bathroom bill” advances in Texas House days after tensions flared at hearing
Senate Bill 8, which now heads to the House floor, would restrict which bathrooms in government buildings transgender people would be allowed to use. Full Story
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![House Sergeant-At-Arms, l, and Texas DPS argue with a witness who was later removed from the hearing for rowdyness against HB 8 in THe House State Affairs Committee meeting on August 22, 2025.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
“My daughter was stolen from me": Grieving parents point to Texas camp failures at Capitol hearing
Senate Bill 1, which would require more oversight of emergency plans and evacuation procedures at summer camps, was advanced after the emotional hearing Wednesday. Full Story
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![Cici Williams Steward, mother of Cile Steward, who died in the Camp Mystic flood, gets up after testifying during a panel of Camp Mystic parents testifying before the Senate Select Committee on Disaster Preparedness and Flooding on August 20, 2025. Cile is the only child whose body has still not been recovered.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Learn more about Texas schools: Search our updated K-12 explorer
The Texas Tribune’s database now includes the state education agency’s 2024-25 ratings of public and charter schools. Full Story
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![Temple, Texas - 4/17/25: JoMeka Gray teaches a class of kindergarteners at Kennedy-Powell Elementary in Temple, Texas. Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune -
From a cell phone ban to Ten Commandments posters, new state laws bring big changes to Texas schools
Lawmakers also approved new teacher raises, banned DEI initiatives and gave schools more flexibility to discipline students. Full Story
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![A sign depicting the Corpus Christi Independent School District's new cell phone policies is shown outside Calk-Wilson Elementary School in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Aug. 11, 2025.]()
Credit: John Oliva/Corpus Christi Caller-Times/USA TODAY Network via REUTERS -
Vaccine exemption requests in Texas spike in July, as some experts fear more families will opt out
Federal funding cuts to immunization efforts and a new law that allows exemption forms to be downloaded, instead of mailed, could drive up exemptions in the future. Full Story
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![A nurse administers a dose of the Pfizer vaccine at a clinic organized by the Travis County Mobile Vaccine Collaborative at Rodriguez Elementary School on July 28, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
Texas students’ STAAR scores for this year are out. Here’s how your school or district did.
Test scores rose slightly after math scores previously fell last year. Full Story
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![AUSTIN, TEXAS - July 23, 2025: Austin Voices for Education and Youth, hosts a summer camp at the Dobie Middle School for students that attend the three Austin ISD schools at risk of closure. Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune -
Five Texas school districts at risk of a state takeover after ratings’ release
The state can take control of a school district if at least one of its campuses receives a failing grade five years in a row. Full Story
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![Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath speaks at Harmony Hills Elementary School in San Antonio on Friday, August 15, following the release of state-wide school accountability rankings were released and showing Harmony Hills jumped from a C to an A score in just one year.]()
Credit: Scott Stephen Ball for The Texas Tribune -
Four-day school weeks are on the rise as Texas districts look for teacher perks on a tight budget
More than 500 schools are using four-day school weeks, a dramatic increase from two years ago driven by fierce competition for educators amid a statewide teacher shortage. Full Story
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![WOODSON, TEXAS — JULY 29, 2025: Casey Adams, superintendent of Woodson Independent School District (ISD), poses for a portrait at the Woodson ISD library in Woodson, Texas, on Tuesday, July 28, 2025. The district adopted a four-day school week model during the 2019–20 school year. CREDIT: Desiree Rios for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Desiree Rios for The Texas Tribune -
Texas released two years of A-F ratings for schools and districts. See how yours did.
In the 2024-25 school year, 14% of Texas school districts got an A, 71% got a B or a C, and 15% got a D or an F, new state data shows. Full Story
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![Temple, Texas - 4/17/25: JoMeka Gray teaches a class of kindergarteners at Kennedy-Powell Elementary in Temple, Texas. Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune -
Texas school ratings improve, but more campuses inch closer to state sanctions
Fewer schools received a D or an F in the 2024-25 school year than the year prior. But for campuses that are underperforming, two or more years of low grades in a row means more pressure to improve — or risk more state oversight. Full Story
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![Students head to their classrooms at Calk-Wilson Elementary School in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Aug. 11, 2025.]()
Credit: John Oliva/Corpus Christi Caller-Times via REUTERS -
Trump vowed to end “wasteful” federal spending. Beloved Texas school programs got caught in the middle.
Sweeping and sudden funding changes this year put two revered after-school programs for low-income Texans and a rural teacher training initiative at risk of closure. Full Story
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![Boys & Girls Club members H’Sanii Blankenship, 17, and Ray, 16, (left to right) play Dominoes with other club members at Navarro Early College High School in Austin, Texas on July 22, 2025. Photo by Montinique Monroe for the Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Montinique Monroe for The Texas Tribune -
Some Texas private schools hire relatives and enrich insiders. Soon they can do it with taxpayer money.
An investigation by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune found more than 60 instances of nepotism, self-dealing and conflicts of interest among 27 private schools that likely would have violated state laws had the schools been public. Full Story
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![An illustration showing children as money outlines, wearing backpacks and walking toward a school building.]()
Credit: Marta Monteiro for The Texas Tribune and ProPublica -
Midland school board votes to restore school name honoring Confederate general
Five years ago, during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, the board voted to change the high school to Legacy High. On Tuesday, it reversed course. Full Story
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![A Midland ISD employee walks past the front of Legacy High School on Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025, in Midland.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
After local agencies release Uvalde shooting records, calls continue for Texas DPS to follow suit
Local records released this week — after a yearslong lawsuit —affirm previous reporting about law enforcement’s flawed response to Texas’ deadliest school shooting. Full Story
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![Hundreds of flowers, toys, and candles surround the crosses in memorial of the 21 victims of the school shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, on June 9, 2022.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy for The Texas Tribune