The latest public education news from The Texas Tribune.
More than 100 witnesses signed up to testify before the House Public Education Committee Tuesday on a massive bill restructuring student testing, graduation requirements and the public school accountability system in the state. Full Story
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State senators took turns publicly condemning Texas' student assessment system — the implementation of which one lawmaker called a "colossal failure" — at a Tuesday Education Committee meeting. Full Story
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Legislation creating a new state board to oversee charter school applications and removing limits on the number of state charter contracts was filed Monday by Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston. Full Story
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Democrats in the Texas House last week launched an effort to restore public education cuts, setting up a potential battle over an emergency supplemental appropriations bill. Full Story
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A scholarship to help students trapped in failing public schools attend another of their choice is near the top of the legislative agenda for top Republican leaders. But Texas has a similar existing program, and it is dramatically underused. Full Story
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The speaker of the House dampens expectations for vouchers, tax breaks and transportation without ruling any of those things out. And the lieutenant governor unpeels another layer of problems he says arose from a campaign manager's embezzling. Full Story
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Members of the Texas House are in talks to add some money to public education in the current two-year budget. The Texas Legislature cut $5.4 billion from education last session. Full Story
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Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams implored higher education leaders Thursday to engage in discussions about the state’s high school requirements. Full Story
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Last spring, Texas ninth graders took the STAAR end-of-course exams for the first time. Use our interactive to see how each of the state's school districts performed on the new tests. Full Story
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As they do every two years, state lawmakers are preparing to pay billions in lingering bills. What is usually an easy process could become challenging as House Democrats plan to push to restore public education cuts made in 2011. Full Story
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Former House Public Education Chairman Rob Eissler, now a lobbyist, has taken on publishing and testing giant Pearson as a client, according to recent Ethics Commission reports. The company holds a $468 million contract with the state. Full Story
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When the Texas Supreme Court last considered school finance system in 2005, it upheld one of the trial court's findings and overturned another in a 7-to-1 decision. There has been high turnover on the court since that ruling. Full Story
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On Monday, a panel of senators questioned Barbara Cargill on her appointment to lead the State Board of Education. If she wins their approval, she will be the first SBOE leader to earn confirmation from the Legislature since 2005. Full Story
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In this edition of the Texas Weekly Newsreel: The state's school finance system is ruled unconstitutional, committee hearings kick off at the Capitol and California Gov. Jerry Brown dukes it out with Rick Perry. Full Story
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M. Smith on the decision that Texas school funding is unconstitutional, E. Smith’s TribLive conversation with House Speaker Joe Straus, Rocha and Dehn’s look at how Texas got its current ethics laws, Ramshaw peeks into the lobby’s bag of gifts for lawmakers, Batheja finds state lawmakers who lobby other government entities, KUT’s Philpott on federal health care in Texas, Murphy reveals the geography of House committee assignments, Hamilton on a Caribbean medical school that wants to operate in Texas, Grissom at a court of inquiry on a murder prosecutor’s conduct, Aguilar on a decision that allows an open-pit coal mine to operate on the state’s Mexican border and Aaronson’s report on legislative inquiries about the state’s cancer prevention agency: The best of our best for the week of Feb. 4, 2012. Full Story
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CSCOPE, the controversial statewide curriculum delivery system, will undergo a review process and ensure better transparency, the chairman of the Senate Education Committee announced Friday. Full Story
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While members of the Texas Legislature can no longer act as lobbyists before state agencies, plenty of lawmakers still manage to lobby local governments. Others find work that critics would classify as lobbying by another name. Full Story
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At Wednesday's TribLive conversation, House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, reacted to this week's ruling on the school finance lawsuit and talked about what happens now. Full Story
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Newly appointed House Public Education Chairman Jimmie Don Aycock filed legislation Wednesday that would restructure the state's high school graduation and student testing requirements. Full Story
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State Rep. Jason Villalba, R-Dallas, has filed a bill that would allow Texas schools to appoint "school marshals" — employees who could carry guns in an effort to protect students from violence. Full Story
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