The latest public education news from The Texas Tribune.
During the 2011 legislative session, we compiled a salary database of all the state’s highest-paid school administrators: superintendents. After a year and a $5.4 billion reduction in state funding to public education, we are doing it again. Full Story
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Texas Education Agency Commissioner Robert Scott is leaving the post Gov. Rick Perry appointed him to in 2007. Full Story
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Full video of my April 26 TribLive conversation with state Rep. Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, and state Rep. Scott Hochberg, D-Houston — the chair and vice chair, respectively, of the House Public Education Committee. Full Story
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At this morning's TribLive conversation, House Public Education Committee Chairman Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, and Vice Chairman Scott Hochberg, D-Houston, disagreed over the theoretical correlation between per-student spending and academic performance. Full Story
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At this morning's TribLive conversation, House Public Education Committee Chairman Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, and Vice Chairman Scott Hochberg, D-Houston, talked about the emphasis on testing in Texas schools. Full Story
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As the State Board of Education prepares to approve new K-12 math standards, it is receiving significant pushback from leaders in Texas' business community, who contend that they're are not up to snuff. Full Story
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The Posse Foundation, which has been lauded by the MacArthur Foundation and President Obama, is preparing to make its first foray into Texas public schools this year. Full Story
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Aaronson maps Medicaid patients' access to pharmacies, Aguilar on Mexicans in exile, Batheja on an unlikely threat to a veteran lawmaker's re-election, Galbraith and Murphy interactively track reservoir levels around the state, Grissom on the ringleaders who rule the state's largest youth lockup, Hamilton on how much Texas professors are paid, Ramsey on who's conservative, Ramshaw and Tan on the latest Planned Parenthood kerfuffle, Root on what Santorum's exit means for the Texas primary, and parts 4 (by M. Smith) and 5 (by Tan and Dehn) of our series on school district closures: The best of our best content from April 9-13, 2012. Full Story
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School districts across Texas are working to comply with a broad anti-bullying law passed by state lawmakers in 2011. Nathan Bernier of KUT News reports on how school boards have been changing their policies to prepare for the law, which will allow bullies to be moved to other campuses. Full Story
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Evan, Ross, Reeve and Thanh talk about Rick Santorum's campaign suspension, the plight of failing schools in Texas, and the latest developments in the world of political scorecards. Full Story
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Domingo Garcia's campaign for Congress may boost Hispanic turnout enough to unseat state Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, who is facing his first primary challenge in 16 years. Full Story
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In conjunction with Morgan Smith's "Death of a District" series, the Tribune presents a special video report on the role of accountability and whether the state's current standards are helping or hurting failing districts in Texas. Full Story
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Plagued by financial and academic troubles, Wilmer-Hutchins ISD was closed six years ago. Now, the area appears to be on the verge of academic transformation, with three new Dallas ISD campuses. Full Story
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Premont ISD in South Texas has made drastic moves to improve its finances — including cutting high school sports. But critics fault the state's accountability and school finance systems, which they say punish districts that serve largely low-income populations. Full Story
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The first two parts of M. Smith's series on failing school districts (plus Murphy and Seger's interactive on how districts' characteristics relate to ratings), Root on lagging GOP candidates for president trying to shore things up in Texas, Ramshaw on a "fiscal switcheroo" to get federal money for women's health programs, Galbraith talks to a West Texas farmer about crop insurance and climate change and Aguilar on the money behind a lawsuit on long rifle sales: The best of our best content from April 2 to 6, 2012. Full Story
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At our Hot Seat conversation at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, state Reps. Tom Craddick, R-Midland, and Tryon Lewis, R-Odessa, and state Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, discussed cuts to public and higher education and other by-products of the 82nd Session. Full Story
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North Forest ISD has gotten what amounts to a stay of execution. But the question of whether students would be better off attending different schools still lingers. Full Story
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At last Friday's Hot Seat conversation at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, state Rep. Tryon Lewis, R-Odessa, and state Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, talked about the impact of cuts to public education. Full Story
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Wal-Mart looks to provide a cheaper alternative to workers compensation for their employees, and a Houston school district struggles with the possibility of closure. Full Story
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Public health officials in Austin, an area with one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the state, have launched an effort to educate teens about sexual health using a familiar medium: their cellphones. Nathan Bernier of KUT News reports on how the effort compares to information students receive in school. Full Story
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