At Year's End, Lots in Flux For Public Education
From the appointment of a new Texas education commissioner to Congress passing a rewrite of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, these are the top public education stories of 2015. Full Story
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Mike Morath on Being the Next Texas Education Commissioner
Mike Morath got the nod Monday to be the state's next education commissioner. Morath made his name as a member of the Dallas school board — he supported the reforms of former superintendent Mike Miles, and he was a leader in last year’s failed effort to use the "home-rule" process to remake the district. Full Story
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Dallas Trustee is Next Education Commissioner
Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday appointed Dallas Independent School District Trustee Mike Morath as the state's next education commissioner, describing the investor as "a proven education reformer." Full Story
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Credit: Facebook, Mike Morath for Dallas School Board -
UIL Gears Up to Hold New Statewide Robotics Competition
High school students creating robotic arms and small electronic vehicles will compete for a new championship title as the University Interscholastic League is launching a pilot robotics program for Texas schools. Full Story
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![The University Interscholastic League announced a new pilot robotics program for high school students to encourage exploration in the science, technology, engineering and math fields, or STEM on Dec. 10, 2015]()
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UT-Austin Task Force: Ban Guns in Dorms, But Not Classrooms
A task force at the University of Texas at Austin has recommended guns be prohibited in residence halls, at sporting events and in certain laboratories. But the suggestions do not call for banning handguns in classrooms. Full Story
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![On Nov. 10, 2015, University of Texas at Austin faculty and students protested the new campus carry law that will allow concealed handgun license holders to carry handguns into campus buildings.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles -
New in Trib+Edu: A New Texas Public Schools Explorer
In this week's edition of the Trib+Edu newsletter: The Tribune launches a revamped public schools explorer, Google accused of student privacy violations and an interview with Norma Olvera of the University of Houston. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Jacob Villanueva -
Texas Public Schools Are Poorer, More Diverse
The makeup of the Texas public school system has become less white and poorer in recent decades, according to the most recent data reflected in The Texas Tribune’s Texas Public Schools Explorer. Full Story
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![Schoolchildren watch the Veterans Day parade on Congress Avenue on Nov. 11, 2015.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Rewrite of No Child Left Behind Poised to Pass
The end of the widely reviled No Child Left Behind Act — and Texas’ standoff with the federal government over that 2002 law — is in sight, to the elation of the state education commissioner, superintendents and teachers. Full Story
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T-Squared: Our Public Schools Explorer Gets an Upgrade
Today we take our public schools explorer — your source for graduation rates, test scores and other Texas education data — to the next level. Our revamped explorer makes it easier for you to navigate information on all Texas school districts and public schools. Full Story
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A Sharper Tool for Mining Public Education Data
We're pushing out our revamped Texas Public Schools Explorer, which lets you easily find graduation rates, test scores and more for all of the 1,219 school districts and 8,646 public school campuses in Texas. Full Story
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Senators Tackle Improper Student-Teacher Relationships
Posed with a troubling, social media-driven trend — a steady rise in improper student-teacher relationships — Texas senators began work Monday to figure out what, if anything, they can do about it. Full Story
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![TEA general counsel, Von Byer during the Senate Education Committee on December 7, 2015]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Agency Urged to Include Variety of Schools in Pre-K Program
Early education advocates on Tuesday urged the Texas Education Agency to ensure that a diverse group of school districts will be able to apply for funding through a new state grant program designed to bolster the quality of pre-kindergarten. Full Story
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![Pre-K teacher Josefina Pineda teaches her students the concept of "push" by having them join hands and push back and forth in her classroom at the Dallas Independent School District elementary school Cesar Chavez Learning Center in 2013.]()
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New in Trib+Edu: Who's the Next Texas Education Chief?
In this week's edition of the Trib+Edu newsletter: Sizing up the contenders to succeed Michael Williams at TEA, tracking the progress of the follow up to No Child Left Behind and an interview with Kevin Cokley of the University of Texas at Austin. Full Story
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Who Will Abbott Choose as the Next Texas Education Chief?
A look at who might be among Gov. Greg Abbott's choices as he ponders the possibilities to fill the post Texas Education Agency Commissioner Michael Williams will leave in January. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to appoint a new commissioner of education.]()
Credit: Illustration by Shelby Knowles -
Study: Many Texas Students Graduated Without Passing Exams
In Texas’ biggest school districts, most students who failed up to two state exit-level tests were allowed to graduate this year because of a new state law, according to a study by one of the law's biggest critics. Full Story
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Education Board Rejects Panel to Review Textbook Errors
Weeks after a Houston-area mom sparked an uproar over a caption in her son’s textbook that described African slaves as “workers,” the State Board of Education tentatively approved several changes to its textbook adoption process. Full Story
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![State Board of Education members work their way through proposed revisions to social studies textbooks at a meeting with publishers in Austin on Monday, October 20, 2014.]()
Credit: Martin do Nascimento -
SBOE: School Boards Can't Hire Just Anyone as Superintendent
The State Board of Education on Wednesday rejected a rule change that would have allowed school boards to hire anyone they wanted as superintendent — even if the candidate had no public education experience. Full Story
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![State Board of Education Vice Chair Thomas Ratliff leafs through binders at the meeting listing proposed changes to Texas textbooks in a SBOE meeting in Austin on Monday, October 20, 2014 .Textbook publishers were invited to meeting where public concerns regarding their textbooks were discussed.]()
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Video: The Future of Public Education Policy
On 11/13, I talked about the future of public education policy in Texas with state. Rep. Mary González, D-Clint; Lizzette González Reynolds of the Texas Education Agency; El Paso ISD Superintendent Juan Cabrera; and Eduardo Rodriguez of the Council on Regional Economic Expansion and Educational Development. Full Story
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New in Trib+Edu: Hard to Retain Special Ed Teachers
In this week's edition of the Trib+Edu newsletter: Unique challenges make special ed teachers hard to attract and retain, using technology to help students learn and an interview with Jeanne Tunks of the University of North Texas. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Jacob Villanueva -
UT System Plans to Open New Campus in Houston
The University of Texas System plans to build a new campus on 300 acres in the southwestern part of Houston, an initiative its leaders say will drastically expand the system's presence in the state's biggest city. Full Story
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![UT System Chancellor William McRaven at a Texas Tribune event on Feb. 5, 2015.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich