“Bathroom bill” advances in Texas House days after tensions flared at hearing
Senate Bill 8, which now heads to the House floor, would restrict which bathrooms in government buildings transgender people would be allowed to use. Full Story
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![House Sergeant-At-Arms, l, and Texas DPS argue with a witness who was later removed from the hearing for rowdyness against HB 8 in THe House State Affairs Committee meeting on August 22, 2025.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
“My daughter was stolen from me": Grieving parents point to Texas camp failures at Capitol hearing
Senate Bill 1, which would require more oversight of emergency plans and evacuation procedures at summer camps, was advanced after the emotional hearing Wednesday. Full Story
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![Cici Williams Steward, mother of Cile Steward, who died in the Camp Mystic flood, gets up after testifying during a panel of Camp Mystic parents testifying before the Senate Select Committee on Disaster Preparedness and Flooding on August 20, 2025. Cile is the only child whose body has still not been recovered.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Learn more about Texas schools: Search our updated K-12 explorer
The Texas Tribune’s database now includes the state education agency’s 2024-25 ratings of public and charter schools. Full Story
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![Temple, Texas - 4/17/25: JoMeka Gray teaches a class of kindergarteners at Kennedy-Powell Elementary in Temple, Texas. Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune -
From a cell phone ban to Ten Commandments posters, new state laws bring big changes to Texas schools
Lawmakers also approved new teacher raises, banned DEI initiatives and gave schools more flexibility to discipline students. Full Story
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![A sign depicting the Corpus Christi Independent School District's new cell phone policies is shown outside Calk-Wilson Elementary School in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Aug. 11, 2025.]()
Credit: John Oliva/Corpus Christi Caller-Times/USA TODAY Network via REUTERS -
Vaccine exemption requests in Texas spike in July, as some experts fear more families will opt out
Federal funding cuts to immunization efforts and a new law that allows exemption forms to be downloaded, instead of mailed, could drive up exemptions in the future. Full Story
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![A nurse administers a dose of the Pfizer vaccine at a clinic organized by the Travis County Mobile Vaccine Collaborative at Rodriguez Elementary School on July 28, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
Texas students’ STAAR scores for this year are out. Here’s how your school or district did.
Test scores rose slightly after math scores previously fell last year. Full Story
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![AUSTIN, TEXAS - July 23, 2025: Austin Voices for Education and Youth, hosts a summer camp at the Dobie Middle School for students that attend the three Austin ISD schools at risk of closure. Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune -
Five Texas school districts at risk of a state takeover after ratings’ release
The state can take control of a school district if at least one of its campuses receives a failing grade five years in a row. Full Story
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![Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath speaks at Harmony Hills Elementary School in San Antonio on Friday, August 15, following the release of state-wide school accountability rankings were released and showing Harmony Hills jumped from a C to an A score in just one year.]()
Credit: Scott Stephen Ball for The Texas Tribune -
Four-day school weeks are on the rise as Texas districts look for teacher perks on a tight budget
More than 500 schools are using four-day school weeks, a dramatic increase from two years ago driven by fierce competition for educators amid a statewide teacher shortage. Full Story
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![WOODSON, TEXAS — JULY 29, 2025: Casey Adams, superintendent of Woodson Independent School District (ISD), poses for a portrait at the Woodson ISD library in Woodson, Texas, on Tuesday, July 28, 2025. The district adopted a four-day school week model during the 2019–20 school year. CREDIT: Desiree Rios for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Desiree Rios for The Texas Tribune -
Texas released two years of A-F ratings for schools and districts. See how yours did.
In the 2024-25 school year, 14% of Texas school districts got an A, 71% got a B or a C, and 15% got a D or an F, new state data shows. Full Story
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![Temple, Texas - 4/17/25: JoMeka Gray teaches a class of kindergarteners at Kennedy-Powell Elementary in Temple, Texas. Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune -
Texas school ratings improve, but more campuses inch closer to state sanctions
Fewer schools received a D or an F in the 2024-25 school year than the year prior. But for campuses that are underperforming, two or more years of low grades in a row means more pressure to improve — or risk more state oversight. Full Story
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![Students head to their classrooms at Calk-Wilson Elementary School in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Aug. 11, 2025.]()
Credit: John Oliva/Corpus Christi Caller-Times via REUTERS -
Trump vowed to end “wasteful” federal spending. Beloved Texas school programs got caught in the middle.
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. Full Story
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![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 Tribune]()
Credit: Montinique Monroe for The Texas Tribune -
Some Texas private schools hire relatives and enrich insiders. Soon they can do it with taxpayer money.
An investigation by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune found more than 60 instances of nepotism, self-dealing and conflicts of interest among 27 private schools that likely would have violated state laws had the schools been public. Full Story
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![An illustration showing children as money outlines, wearing backpacks and walking toward a school building.]()
Credit: Marta Monteiro for The Texas Tribune and ProPublica -
Midland school board votes to restore school name honoring Confederate general
Five years ago, during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, the board voted to change the high school to Legacy High. On Tuesday, it reversed course. Full Story
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![A Midland ISD employee walks past the front of Legacy High School on Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025, in Midland.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
After local agencies release Uvalde shooting records, calls continue for Texas DPS to follow suit
Local records released this week — after a yearslong lawsuit —affirm previous reporting about law enforcement’s flawed response to Texas’ deadliest school shooting. Full Story
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![Hundreds of flowers, toys, and candles surround the crosses in memorial of the 21 victims of the school shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, on June 9, 2022.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy for The Texas Tribune -
Five years after shedding Confederate moniker, a West Texas high school may be Lee High again
The Midland school district rebranded Robert E. Lee High as Legacy High in 2020, part of a nationwide trend to distance public places from the Confederacy. Full Story
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![From left, sisters Aniyah, 18, and Erinn, 16, pose for a photo with their mother, Latoya Mayberry on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025, in Midland.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
Harris County leader wants voters to extend child care efforts as pandemic funding runs out
The debate over whether to ask voters to cover the program comes as the nation’s third-largest county faces a projected $270M budget shortfall. Full Story
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![Shelbi Adams spends her morning watching over children at Katherine Sage Temple Early Learning Center, on Tuesday February 25, 2025, in Diboll.]()
Credit: Michael Cavazos for The Texas Tribune -
Texas House’s latest STAAR bill fails to meaningfully change the test, some Democrats say
Some Democrats lamented that the House’s latest proposal to scrap the test largely resembles a Senate bill the lower chamber declined to sign on earlier this year. Full Story
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![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.]()
Credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune -
A fight to save an Austin middle school puts families at odds with Texas over how to rate schools
Legislators have a chance this summer to replace the STAAR test. What they come up with will decide the fate of schools like Dobie Middle School, where low test scores have pushed the Austin district to intervene. Full Story
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![AUSTIN, TEXAS - July 24, 2025: Carmen Mendoza hands out gift bags to campers as they head home. Austin Voices for Education and Youth hosts a summer camp at the Dobie Middle School for students that attend the three Austin ISD schools at risk of closure. Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune -
Mental health programs could bear the brunt of $600M federal cuts to Texas schools
Federal cuts and a lack of dedicated mental health funding from the state could erode programs to address chronic absenteeism, crises and more. Full Story
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![Louise ISD social/emotional counselor April Cubriel teaches students about different ways to be courageous as she visits a 2nd grade classroom at Louise Elementary School Monday, March 10, 2025.]()
Credit: Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman/ USA TODAY NETWORK via REUTERS -
Texas’ public ed funding boost brings some relief but erodes districts’ independence, school leaders say
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. Full Story
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![Hank Warner teaches a pre-advanced placement algebra course for ninth graders at Bowie High School in Austin.]()
Credit: Tamir Kalifa for The Texas Tribune