The latest school finance news from The Texas Tribune.
There's little research that indicates closing districts will improve outcomes for students, but letting chronically low-performing and financially mismanaged schools stay open doesn't work either. Full Story
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Already facing budget cuts, almost half of the school districts in Texas haven't signed on to one of the five school finance lawsuits filed against the sate. Full Story
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Hundreds of educators, lawmakers and parents descended on the Capitol Saturday to protest cuts to public education. Here are some images from the scene. Full Story
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Sen. Florence Shapiro’s departure means the end of a nearly two-decade-long tenure in the state Senate — and an opening in the top position on the Senate Education Committee for the first time since 2003. Full Story
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School districts are taking advantage of the Texas Education Agency's decision to waive the requirement that STAAR exams count for 15 percent of students' grades for the 2011-12 school year. Full Story
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As state spending contracted in the 2011-12 school year, classroom sizes ballooned. And the fastest-growing school districts have been hit the hardest by larger classes. Full Story
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In this episode of the Texas Tribune Weekend Insider, we look at growing elementary class sizes and limits on groundwater use in West Texas. Full Story
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Full video of Thursday's town hall meeting with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on the campus of Austin Community College. Full Story
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The four-year graduation rates at Texas' public universities are staggeringly low. State officials acknowledge the numbers are dismal and are working to improve them. But not all higher ed leaders buy into the notion that such metrics matter. Full Story
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As more than 500 school districts sue the state over how it funds its public schools, Texas lawmakers announced today they would form an interim committee to study school finance. Full Story
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The latest school finance lawsuit following the state's $5.4 billion cut to public schools suggests that schools need more competition. Full Story
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A group of parents in Texas filed the fifth school finance lawsuit in Austin today, focusing not on whether the state adequately pays for schools but rather if the way it distributes money is efficient and equitable. Full Story
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Aaronson interactively charts the legal wrangling between Texas and the feds, Aguilar on what Obama's budget means for the border, Galbraith on congressional ambivalence about a wind tax credit, Grissom on cuts to crime victims services, Hamilton on UT-Austin's plan to boost graduation rates, Ramsey on our woefully low voter turnout, Ramshaw on a new Super PAC targeting incumbents of both parties, Root on conservative opposition to the Keystone pipeline and M. Smith on cash-starved school districts in the advertising game: The best of our best content from February 13-17, 2012. Full Story
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Education Commissioner Robert Scott said today that he will postpone for a year a controversial requirement that new exams count for 15 percent of students' final grades. Full Story
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Texas school districts are getting into the advertising game as they look for ways to make ends meet after major state budget cuts. But some researchers question whether schools fully grasp the consequences of creeping commercialism. Full Story
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House Public Education Chairman Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, is planning to send a letter to the state education czar asking the Texas Education Agency to defer implementation of STAAR's 15 percent rule. Full Story
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State Sen. Florence Shapiro has sent a letter to the Texas Education Agency saying that she believes it has the power to delay a requirement that new exams count toward 15 percent of students' final grades. Full Story
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On this week's TribCast, Ben, Ross, Emily and Morgan discuss redistricting, public school accountability testing and the controversy involving Susan G. Komen for the Cure and Planned Parenthood. Full Story
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With the more-rigorous STAAR testing system set to debut this year, a backlash appears to building against standardized testing in the state. And some legislators are mulling how to postpone some of the tests’ consequences for students. Full Story
A teachers group has urged Gov. Rick Perry to call a special session to address education funding. But as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, there's still plenty of disagreement on what fixing the school funding system would actually mean. Full Story
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