https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/jaden-edison/The latest news by Jaden Edison.enMon, 06 Oct 2025 19:14:49 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/06/texas-school-vouchers-odyssey/Finance and technology company Odyssey will help design the application process, manage payments and review complaints for the state’s education savings accounts.By Jaden EdisonMon, 06 Oct 2025 19:14:49 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/06/texas-school-vouchers-odyssey/Kelly Hancock, the former Texas lawmaker who is serving as acting state comptroller, announced Monday that finance and technology company Odyssey will help build Texas' school voucher program.Sen. KELLY HANCOCK, R-North Richland Hills, on the Senate floor on May 12, 2023.Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/30/texas-comptroller-school-voucher-program-rules-public-testimony/For the first time since Texas authorized the program, the state heard public testimony from people concerned about pre-K funding, special education provisions and data reporting.By Jaden Edison, The Texas Tribune, and Lexi Churchill, The Texas Tribune and ProPublicaTue, 30 Sep 2025 17:25:41 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/30/texas-comptroller-school-voucher-program-rules-public-testimony/Members of the public give comments during a hearing regarding SB2, the school voucher program, on Sept. 30, 2025 in Austin.Members of the public give comments during a hearing regarding SB2, the school voucher program, on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025 in Austin.Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/30/texas-investigation-teachers-charlie-kirk-free-speech/Free speech experts say that when teachers speak in their personal capacity, even on school grounds but outside their official duties, they retain their right to comment on matters of public concern.By Jaden EdisonTue, 30 Sep 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/30/texas-investigation-teachers-charlie-kirk-free-speech/The Texas Education Agency is investigating hundreds of teachers' social media posts about conservative activist Charlie Kirk's killing. Commissioner Mike Morath has called the comments “reprehensible and inappropriate." Legal experts say the investigations are an attack on teachers' free speech rights.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.Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/24/texas-sboe-social-studies-standards-david-barton/Barton’s appointment comes ahead of what is expected to be a politically charged debate over how and what children should learn about history.By Jaden EdisonWed, 24 Sep 2025 18:39:21 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/24/texas-sboe-social-studies-standards-david-barton/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/12/texas-history-social-studies-curriculum-standards-sboe/Educators worry the plan will deemphasize topics like world geography, history and cultures. The board aims to vote on what specific content social studies lessons will include by next summer.By Jaden EdisonFri, 12 Sep 2025 19:32:45 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/12/texas-history-social-studies-curriculum-standards-sboe/The State Board of Education voted Friday to approve a social studies plan that would teach more Texas history across school grades and deemphasize other subjects like world history, cultures and geography.A school bus drives past the Texas Capitol Complex as State Board of Education members hold a meeting in the William B. Travis building on Nov. 17, 2023, in Austin.Julius Shieh/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/11/texas-tea-sb-12-school-nurses-guidance/The guidance comes in response to confusion over a new state law requiring schools to notify parents whenever students need health care services.By Jaden EdisonThu, 11 Sep 2025 18:03:46 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/11/texas-tea-sb-12-school-nurses-guidance/The Texas Education Agency issued new guidance Thursday regarding when schools must seek parental consent before providing certain health services to students.Students and teachers walk between classes at Blanco Vista Elementary School in San Marcos on Monday August, 23, 2021.Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/10/texas-cell-phone-ban-schools/The new state ban took effect on Sept. 1, and Texas’ more than 1,200 public school districts have adopted policies ranging from secure phone pouches to increased monitoring.By Nicholas Gutteridge and Jaden EdisonWed, 10 Sep 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/10/texas-cell-phone-ban-schools/Students eat lunch without their smartphones at Lago Vista High School on Sept. 9, 2025. The school requires students to stow devices, primarily cell phones, in magnetically locked pouches that also block cell phone service. The pouches can be unlocked in an emergency and when the students exit the building, using a wall-mounted key near the building entrance.Students eat lunch without devices at Lago Vista High School on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025 in Lago Vista, TX. HB 1481 passed during the special legislative session which requires schools to implement a policy prohibiting personal communication devices. Lago Vista has implemented a policy where students stow devices, primarily cell phones, in magnetically locked pouches that also block cell phone service, the devices can be unlocked in the event of an emergency as well as when the students exit the building using a wall mounted key near the building entrance. (Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune)Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/05/texas-school-nurses-students-parental-consent/The law’s authors urged districts to use “common sense.” But some nurses worry they could violate the law and face discipline for providing basic care without a parent’s approval.By Jaden EdisonFri, 05 Sep 2025 17:21:10 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/05/texas-school-nurses-students-parental-consent/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/02/texas-ag-ken-paxton-lords-prayer-religion-schools/The endorsement comes as Texas elected officials push for more Christianity in public life and as Paxton’s office fights a legal challenge to religion in education.By Jaden EdisonTue, 02 Sep 2025 14:54:46 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/02/texas-ag-ken-paxton-lords-prayer-religion-schools/Ken Paxton, center, stands with attorneys Tony Buzbee and Mitch Little during prayer on the ninth day of his impeachment trial at the Texas Capitol on Sept. 15, 2023. The attorney general on Tuesday encouraged Texas students to recite the Lord's Prayer as a new state law allowing pray periods in schools went into effect on Sept. 1.Ken Paxton stands with attorneys Tony Buzbee and Mitch Little during prayer on the ninth day of then-suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial at the state Capitol in Austin on Sept. 15, 2023.Julius Shieh/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/28/texas-schools-bluebonnet-bible-curriculum/The numbers may grow as the state collects more data. Some districts adopted the plan not for its religious emphasis but for more funding and to better align with teaching requirements.By Jaden EdisonThu, 28 Aug 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/28/texas-schools-bluebonnet-bible-curriculum/More than 300 school districts have indicated they will adopt Texas' Bluebonnet curriculum, according to data obtained by The Texas Tribune. The reading and social studies lessons in the state-designed curriculum have faced criticism for their heavy emphasis on Christianity.A desk is distanced six feet apart from other desks at Premont Ernest H. Singleton Early College Academy on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020 in Premont. When the school reopened in June, students held hula hoops around themselves in line to maintain a socially safe distance from each other.Allie Goulding/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/14/texas-after-school-programs-trump-funding-cuts/Sweeping and sudden funding changes this year put two revered after-school programs for low-income Texans and a rural teacher training initiative at risk of closure.By Jaden EdisonThu, 14 Aug 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/14/texas-after-school-programs-trump-funding-cuts/Boys & Girls Club of the Austin Area members H’Sanii Blankenship, left, and Ray play dominoes with other club members at Navarro Early College High School in Austin on July 22, 2025.Boys & Girls Club members H’Sanii Blankenship, 17, and Ray, 16, (left to right) play Dominoes with other club members at Navarro Early College High School in Austin, Texas on July 22, 2025. Photo by Montinique Monroe for the Texas TribuneMontinique Monroe for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/01/texas-legislature-special-session-staar-test/Before House Bill 8 can go to the governor, the House must formally agree with changes from the Senate, which approved the proposal Wednesday night.By Sneha Dey and Jaden EdisonFri, 01 Aug 2025 17:07:10 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/01/texas-legislature-special-session-staar-test/Students attend a math and reading workshop at a STAAR summer camp held at Dobie Middle School on July 23, 2025. Texas lawmakers are again trying to revamp the state's standardized test during this year's second special session.Students attend a math and reading workshop at a summer camp held at Dobie Middle School at July 23, 2025. The camp, hosted by Austin Voices for Education and Youth, hosts workshops to help students prepare for standarized testing.Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/11/texas-tech-chancellor-tedd-mitchell-retires/Texas Tech Chancellor Tedd Mitchell has led the 64,000-student university system since 2018. His departure will mark the latest shake-up in the state’s higher ed leadership.By Jaden EdisonFri, 11 Jul 2025 13:04:48 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/11/texas-tech-chancellor-tedd-mitchell-retires/Tedd L. Mitchell, chancellor of the Texas Tech University System, announced Friday he will step down from the position later this year.Tedd L. Mitchell, chancellor of the Texas Tech University system, speaks at The Texas Tribune Festival on Sept. 23, 2022 in Austin, TX. Mitchell announced he is stepping down from the position.Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/08/texas-weather-service-warning-kerr-county/Federal forecasters issued their first flood warning at 1:14 a.m. on July 4. Local officials haven’t shed light on when they saw the warnings or whether they saw them in time to take action.By Emily Foxhall, Terri Langford, Ayden Runnels, Jaden Edison, Alejandra Martinez and Carlos Nogueras RamosTue, 08 Jul 2025 18:01:56 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/08/texas-weather-service-warning-kerr-county/The National Weather Service's West Gulf River Forecast Center in Forth Worth helps other offices like the Austin/San Antonio office predict floods.Weather monitors at the National Weather Service West Gulf River Forecast Center in Fort Worth, Texas, on Wednesday, June 18, 2025.Desiree Rios for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/03/texas-public-education-funding-house-bill-2/A law providing $8.5 billion in new funding for Texas public schools lacks the spending flexibility that previously let districts address their campuses’ needs as they saw fit.By Jaden EdisonThu, 03 Jul 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/03/texas-public-education-funding-house-bill-2/Some Texas school leaders say they are grateful for the $8.5 billion public education funding boost state lawmakers approved this year. But they believe new spending restrictions speak to state officials' growing mistrust on school districts' ability to govern themselves efficiently.Hank Warner teaches a pre-advanced placement algebra course for ninth graders at Bowie High School in Austin.Tamir Kalifa for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/27/texas-education-board-native-studies-course/The long-awaited vote survived objections from the panel’s most right-leaning Republicans, who criticized the lessons as “un-American woke indoctrination.”By Jaden EdisonFri, 27 Jun 2025 15:34:09 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/27/texas-education-board-native-studies-course/The Texas State Board of Education on Friday voted to reapprove an elective American/Indian Native Studies course.Board of Education members sit during a State BOE meeting in Austin on Nov. 17, 2023.Julius Shieh/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/26/texas-schools-commandments-requirement-lawsuit/A federal judge in August found the new state law unconstitutional and barred some districts from implementing it. Texas is appealing the ruling.By Jaden Edison, Eleanor Klibanoff and Alejandro SerranoThu, 26 Jun 2025 18:11:39 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/26/texas-schools-commandments-requirement-lawsuit/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/04/texas-public-education-schools-funding-bill-explained/The spending package will give schools more money for staff pay raises, operational expenses, special education and more.By Jaden EdisonWed, 04 Jun 2025 12:59:23 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/04/texas-public-education-schools-funding-bill-explained/Gov. Greg Abbott signed an $8.5 billion public education spending package into law on Wednesday. It includes money for staff pay, teacher prep, special education, early childhood learning and more.A kindergartener's classroom at Kennedy-Powell Elementary in Temple, Texas.Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/03/texas-legislature-recap-public-education/An agenda driven by conservative priorities, schools’ financial duress and teacher needs led to an $8.5 billion boost, new discipline rules, more Christianity in classrooms and a DEI ban.By Jaden Edison, Sneha Dey and Sofia SorochinskaiaTue, 03 Jun 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/03/texas-legislature-recap-public-education/During this year's legislative session, Texas lawmakers approved proposals that will create a private school voucher program, inject $8.5 billion into public education, give schools more flexibility to discipline students, expand religion's presence in the classroom, ban DEI initiatives and prohibit students from using their cellphones during the school day.JoMeka Gray teaches a class of kindergarteners at Kennedy-Powell Elementary in Temple on April 17, 2025.Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/02/texas-houston-isd-takeover/Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath applauded the district for its improvements while citing the need for more time to “achieve lasting success for students.”By Jaden EdisonMon, 02 Jun 2025 10:15:25 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/02/texas-houston-isd-takeover/Texas Education Agency Mike Morath speaks at a State Board of Education meeting on June 26, 2024. The TEA has announced that it will extend its takeover of the Houston school district through 2027.TEA Commissioner Mike Morath addresses the State Board of Education at the start of their meeting on Wednesday, June 26, 2024, at the William B. Travis Building in Austin. Morath recommended the SBOE approve five new charter school systems in the state.Olivia Anderson/The Texas Tribune