T-Squared: Save the date! The Texas Tribune Festival is Sept. 22-24 — in person, in Austin, just as you remember it
We cannot wait to see you there. With elections looming and issues aboil, we have our best-ever program planned. Full Story
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In defiance of Attorney General Ken Paxton, Austin ISD’s Pride Week marches on
Paxton equated the week of LGBTQ-inclusive activities with sex education in a letter to the district. Austin ISD says it’s about acceptance. Full Story
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![Joaquin Becerra Tharps, 2, plays with bubbles at the AISD "Pride Out!" Party in the Park event at Eastside Early College High School in Austin on Saturday, Mar. 26, 2022.]()
Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune -
North Texas superintendent orders books removed from schools, targeting titles about transgender people
The Granbury superintendent’s comments, made on a leaked recording, raise constitutional concerns, legal experts said. Full Story
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![Granbury ISD Superintendent Dr. Jeremy K. Glenn discusses agenda items with school board trustees at a GISD school board meeting in Granbury, TX on March 21, 2022.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for ProPublica/The Texas Tribune/NBC News -
Analysis: Texas government’s favorite local tax
State lawmakers will tell you they hate property taxes as much as anyone. But the state itself doesn’t levy the tax — local governments do. And lowering it in a meaningful way would require state officials to raise taxes or cut programs. For them, talking about it is easier than doing something. Full Story
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![An Aerial image of a suburban neighborhood in San Marcos on October 18, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Explore Texas public schools’ college readiness, demographics and teacher salaries
Use our database to learn about Texas public school districts and campuses, including hundreds of charter schools and alternative campuses. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the state waived accountability ratings for the 2020-21 school year. Full Story
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![Students work at their desks at Blanco Vista Elementary School in San Marcos on Aug. 23, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas’ traditionally sleepy school board races are suddenly attracting attention — and money
As conservative parents become more frustrated with how school boards handled the pandemic, once-ignored school board elections are becoming better funded. Full Story
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![Parents demonstrate in front of the Frisco Independent School District building demanding a mask mandate for the district and improved sanitary and air conditions for students in Frisco on Sept. 10, 2021. The demonstration was organized by Unified Parents of Frisco, formed in response to the pandemic and its consequences on their children's lives and education.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Texas officials bully transgender kids for political points
Lucky for them, Texas officials probably can’t be prosecuted for bullying under the state’s education laws. The gist of those laws, however, is crystal clear, and so is the effect of their actions and rhetoric about gender-affirming health care. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton hosted 12 attorneys general from around the U.S. for a border security briefing at Texas DPS regional headquarters in Weslaco on Jan. 27, 2022.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
Watch: North Texas superintendents say uproar over critical race theory in schools is a Republican “manufactured crisis”
Evan Smith, CEO of The Texas Tribune, sat down with superintendents Michael Hinojosa of Dallas, Kent Scribner of Fort Worth and Jeannie Stone of Richardson. Full Story
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Gov. Greg Abbott wants task force to examine state teacher shortage
Teaching demands during the pandemic have exacerbated the nation’s teacher shortage. Abbott wants a task force to investigate. Full Story
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![Kara Huesser, substitute teacher, helps a student at Buda Elementary School in Hays CISD on Jan. 18, 2022.]()
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Texas students push back against book bans for censoring LGBTQ, racial justice issues
Students are forming banned-book clubs and distribution drives to contest restrictions that focus mostly on LGBTQ and racial themes. Full Story
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![Alyssa Hoy listens to another club member during the meeting in Vandegrift High Scool's library on Wednesday, Mar. 2, 2022. They discussed the banned book "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez and what they learned from the book's events and themes.]()
Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: The Fred Rogers test, for Texas public officials
Texas voters can get some guidance for sorting through the political noise of campaigns from an unlikely source — a comforting tale for children. Full Story
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![Fred Rogers, also known as television icon Mr. Rogers, in the 1980s.]()
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Texas big-city schools are dropping their mask mandates in response to new CDC guidelines
As the omicron surge dwindles, school district officials move to lift mask mandates. Full Story
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![A student raises her hand in Norman Gomez's third grade class at Linder Elementary School in Austin on Jan. 14, 2022. Students and staff wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19.]()
Credit: Miranda Lipton for The Texas Tribune -
GOP Texas House members ask schools not to buy books from vendors that supply “pornographic” materials
State Rep. Jared Patterson, R-Frisco, and 26 other House colleagues want school leaders to boycott vendors that have offered what conservatives deem pornography. Full Story
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![Vandegrift High School's library on March 2, 2022.]()
Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune -
Several Texas Republicans against “critical race theory” advance in State Board of Education primary races
All 15 seats of the State Board of Education are up for grabs in November, and there were more than 50 candidates vying for their parties’ nominations. Full Story
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![Students and teachers walk between classes at Blanco Vista Elementary School in San Marcos on Aug. 23, 2021.]()
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ACLU wants North Texas school district to apologize for removing over 100 library books
Most of the titles focus on LGBTQ, race or identity issues. Though Granbury ISD said most of the books have been returned, the ACLU called on the district to affirm its commitment to inclusivity. Full Story
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![The GISD Administration Building in on Nov. 15, 2021.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Texas now requires new charter schools to ensure they won’t teach critical race theory
The new requirement applies to charter schools set to open in August. The agency did not elaborate why this one law needed a separate assurance. Full Story
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![Fifth-grade Hebrew teacher Hagit Lifshitz leads a class in reading a book in Hebrew at Eleanor Kolitz Hebrew Language Academy in San Antonio, on Oct. 14, 2013.]()
Credit: Jennifer Whitney for The Texas Tribune -
Texas voters will decide whether to lower some property tax bills in May election
If two propositions pass, the state will increase school funding to make up for revenues lost from a decrease in property taxes. Full Story
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![A student takes notes in Norman Gomez's third-grade class at Linder Elementary School in Austin on Jan. 14, 2022.]()
Credit: Miranda Lipton for The Texas Tribune -
NAACP Legal Defense Fund files federal civil rights complaint against Carroll Independent School District
There are currently three other open investigations into racial and gender discrimination at Carroll ISD. Full Story
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![Carroll High School in Southlake on Nov. 18, 2021. In 2018, a video came out showing several white high school students laughing as they filmed themselves shouting the N-word at a party.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Texas schools are majority Hispanic. There’s been a shortage of bilingual teachers since 1990, and the pandemic made it worse.
The pandemic is driving educators away from the profession, including key areas such as bilingual education. Full Story
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![Mariela Vasquez Ehlers, a former teacher, sits in her home in Harlingen on Feb. 9, 2022.]()
Credit: Jason Garza for The Texas Tribune -
A push to remove LGBTQ-themed books in a Texas county could signal rising partisanship on school boards
Hood County’s refusal to remove two books from the children’s section of the library sparked a yearslong political battle. Now school board races have taken on a deeply partisan tone, and elections serve as a purity test for far-right politics. Full Story
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Credit: Dominic Bodden for ProPublica and The Texas Tribune