Reporting on Texas schools, universities, and education policy -- funding fights, school choice, and university governance.
Gary VanDeaver, the former rural superintendent who fought private school vouchers in 2023 who was one of only two House Republicans to vote no when they passed in 2025, will take over the Texas Association of School Boards on Oct. 1.
Heights Elementary School in Texas City Independent School District has been designated a 2026 Texas Lone Star Ribbon School, one of just 25 public schools in the state to receive the honor this year, according to a Sept. 22 news release from the office of state Rep. Terri Leo Wilson.
A pair of West-Texas entrepreneurs are circulating findings from their research initiative focused on preventing school shootings and other forms of targeted violence, and are calling for a nationwide partnership among school districts, researchers, law enforcement agencies, and policymakers to build a more evidence-based approach to protecting students.
The House Public Education committee, led by Chairman Brad Buckley (R-Salado) will take invited and public testimony on the implementation of the 89th Legislature's signature school-finance law and on what is — and isn't — working to keep classrooms staffed.
Texas public schools face declining enrollment, lingering learning loss from the pandemic closures, and now artificial intelligence in classrooms.
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) has launched its fiscal year 2026 Nursing Shortage Reduction Program (NSRP) grant cycle, including an estimated $23.4 million for 85 higher education institutions across the state.
Non-resident undergraduates at Texas public universities now pay roughly four times what Texas residents pay, a gap the state has widened by holding resident rates flat.
In a recent episode of the Texas Talks podcast, House Public Education Committee Chairman Brad Buckley (R-Killeen) reports that the state’s traditional public schools saw an enrollment decline of approximately 76,000 students for the 2025–2026 school year.
This week, a series of high-level state reports sparked by testimony at the House Public Education Committee have highlighted a historic shift in the landscape of Texas education.
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) added 21 non-certified school employees and outside contractors to its "Do Not Hire" registry on May 8, 2026, marking what agency records indicate is the first major public implementation of a 2025 law that allows for blacklisting based on an arrest. According to TEA news releases, the action serves as an initial test of Senate Bill 571, which expanded the state’s misconduct registry beyond classroom teachers to include roles such as custodians, bus drivers, and security personnel.
Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath suspended the elected board of trustees of Connally Independent School District (ISD) on May 6.
Governor Greg Abbott released the "2026 Report to the People of Texas" on May 6, 2026, a biennial publication that summarizes the state's major accomplishments and outlines legislative and executive priorities for the year ahead.
In the center of the world's eighth-largest economy, a quiet but massive transformation is underway.
Governor Greg Abbott and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) announced on April 30, 2026, the opening of applications for nearly $17 million in state grants designed to support short-term workforce education and training programs.