Why all eyes are now on the often ignored Texas Board of Education races
All 15 seats of the State Board of Education are up for grabs in November, and one race in District 7 highlights how critical race theory has become a key issue. Full Story
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![The State Board of Education meeting on January 29, 2019.]()
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Texas students’ math scores saw a sharp decline during pandemic
State math scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress dipped significantly between 2019 and 2022, but reading scores for fourth and eighth graders held steady. Full Story
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![Plexiglass and six feet of distance between each desk keep students socially distant in Abigail Boyett's third grade classroom.]()
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T-Squared: New journalism fellowship for HBCU students
Fellowships will be available in spring, summer and fall for Texas graduate and undergraduate students at historically Black colleges and universities. Full Story
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Uvalde schools get $442,000 from John Cornyn’s federal gun safety law
The gun safety law allocates $100 million for a Department of Justice grant program for school districts to invest in safety programs and technology. Twenty-eight Texas school districts were awarded grants through the program, totaling almost $8 million. Full Story
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![A DPS police vehicle sits outside of Dalton Elementary School as students wait outside their classroom on the first day of school in Uvalde on Sept. 6, 2022.]()
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What you need to know about the county and school district seats on your Nov. 8 ballot
Texans will be choosing more than a governor and members of Congress in the midterm elections. Here’s a look at what the officials elected to several local offices oversee. Full Story
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![Voters enter the Audelia Road Branch Library in Dallas on Feb. 25, 2022, the last day of early voting in the Texas primary.]()
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Uvalde school officials approve terms of superintendent’s retirement without publicly disclosing them
The school board also named Gary Patterson as the interim superintendent, but didn’t say when he would start or Harrell would depart. Full Story
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![The Board of Trustees of Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District meets to hear from members of the Uvalde community at Uvalde High School on July 18, 2022.]()
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Dawn Buckingham and Jay Kleberg vie for open land commissioner seat overseeing the Alamo and disaster relief funds
The land commissioner manages the Texas General Land Office, which manages the Alamo, administers natural disaster relief funding and helps fund public education. The seat is open after incumbent George P. Bush lost his primary bid for attorney general. Full Story
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![Republican Dawn Buckingham and Democrat Jay Kleberg are running for the Texas Land Commissioner.]()
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Uvalde superintendent retires, becoming latest local official to leave post after school shooting
Hal Harrell said his decision to leave the district after 31 years in education was “not made lightly and was made after much prayer and discernment.” Full Story
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![Uvalde CISD school board members listen as parents of victims of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary speak during a meeting in Uvalde on August 24, 2022.]()
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Uvalde school district suspends its entire police department, and superintendent announces retirement plans
All of the department’s activities were suspended for an unspecified period of time, and two employees were placed on administrative leave after it was revealed this week that one of the first state troopers to respond to the deadly school shooting in May was later hired as a district police officer. Full Story
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![The Board of Trustees of Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District meets to hear from members of the Uvalde community at Uvalde High School on July 18, 2022.]()
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Beto O’Rourke wants to end the STAAR tests. Here’s why he can’t.
The Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate has said several times he will end the annual standardized tests. State and federal law make it impossible. Full Story
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![Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke speaks at a rally in Austin on Sept. 6, 2022.]()
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Texas Supreme Court weighs whether to allow state’s education agency to oust Houston school board
Among other issues, the court will consider whether a law that updated the education code last year has any bearing on TEA Commissioner Mike Morath’s attempt to replace HISD’s board members over low academic scores. Full Story
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![Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath testifies before the House Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety at the state capitol in Austin on June 23, 2022.]()
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Uvalde schools hire — and then fire — former DPS trooper under investigation for shooting response
Gov. Greg Abbott said the school district knew the ex-trooper “had actions inconsistent with training and department requirements.” Full Story
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![Former Department of Public Safety officer Crimson Elizondo was fired by the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District (UCISD)Police Department on Oct. 6, 2022.]()
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Uvalde protesters hold vigil, demand that school district suspend officers
Brett Cross launched the protest Sept. 27, joined by other Uvalde families who say the school district hasn’t held five of its officers accountable for their part in law enforcement’s delayed action during the May 24 shooting. Full Story
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![Brett Cross leans on a new gate next to the Uvalde CISD Administration building on Oct. 4, 2022. Cross has been staying on the property in protest of UCISD's failure to suspend the school officers who were present at the school shooting at Robb Elementary.]()
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Gov. Greg Abbott appoints first school safety chief four months after Uvalde shooting
John P. Scott, a former U.S. Secret Service agent, is tasked with ensuring Texas schools implement statewide safety policies and safeguard against school shootings. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott speaks during a press conference at Uvalde High School on Wednesday, May 25, 2022.]()
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In West Texas, Fort Stockton’s solution to a teacher shortage is a motel
The rural Fort Stockton school district is paying big money for teachers and sweetening the deal with low-cost housing. Full Story
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Ahead of the 2023 session, Texas lawmakers previewed their objectives. Here are five things you need to know.
Texas lawmakers on both sides of the aisle talked schools, abortion and guns in advance of next year’s session in a range of panels at The Texas Tribune Festival. Full Story
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![From left: Tribune political correspondent Patrick Svitek moderates a discussion about the 88th legislative session withHouse Republicans Four Price, Dustin Burrows, Ellen Troxclair and Craig Goldman at The Texas Tribune Festival in Austin on Sept. 23, 2022.]()
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When Texas students campaigned for a more diverse history course, they got a lesson in politics
Students had been pushing for the State Board of Education to adopt a new, more inclusive social studies curriculum this year. Instead, the board delayed their scheduled update until at least 2025. Full Story
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![Round Rock ISD student Ayaan Moledina, 13, stands outside of Canyon Vista middle school. Moledina testified for more Asian American inclusion and accurate representation of Muslim Americans. Sept. 14, 2022.]()
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Texas has banned more books than any other state, new report shows
Across the country, more books have been challenged and removed as religious and conservative groups target LGBTQ and race issues. Full Story
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![Books at Vandegrift High School's library on March 2, 2022.]()
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Photos: What Texas’ educator shortage looks like for one pre-K teacher
Last school year, Michelle Cardenas was tasked with teaching two pre-K classes at the same time. She’s dreading what is to come this year. Full Story
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![Michelle Cardenas tells the class to quiet down during a literacy lesson on Apr. 27, 2022. Once they quieted down, they could hear the other classroom chant, too. Hillcrest Elementary School split Cardenas' class into two rooms. The class size limit in Texas is 22 students for pre-k through fourth grade, according to Texas Education Code, and Cardenas’ class had reached 30 students. “The more kids you have in there, the harder it is to get stuff accomplished," Cardenas said. “It was literally like babysitting.”]()
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Politics and pandemic are driving Texas teachers to consider quitting, survey finds
An online survey of 1,291 teachers by the Charles Butt Foundation shows more teacher dissatisfaction as Texas school districts scramble to attract talent. Full Story
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![At the Advanced Learning Academy at Euclid in San Antonio, second grade students read while their teacher works individually with students. (Starting bottom, then moving clockwise) Samantha Vandervort , Gabriel Lopez, Saiki Rosas, Kyle Perez (in chair) John Schweers (in chair), Tristan Poujol and Matthew Sanchez. Bexar County's school districts are among the most segregated in the state, with boundary lines historically drawn to consolidate resources. San Antonio ISD is working to create more socioeconomic and racial diversity through public school choice measures.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune