In the Headlines

Latest education news

Below are links to articles produced by newspapers, TV and radio stations in Texas and across the country to provide you with a snapshot of what's happening in education.

Thursday, April 17

• Texas bill increasing public school funding and teacher pay gets initial House approval (Texas Tribune)
• In historic first, Texas House approves private school voucher program (Texas Tribune)
• Fort Bend ISD passes new gender fluidity policy with 5-2 vote; here’s what it entails (Click 2 Houston)
• Carthage ISD proposes $23 million bond to upgrade campuses, technology (CBS 19)

Wednesday, April 16

• The Texas House is set to vote on school vouchers and public school funding. Here’s what you need to know. (Texas Tribune)
• Texas House OKs bill that gives schools more latitude to discipline students (Texas Tribune)
• Texas House Democrats could hold GOP priorities hostage to force statewide school vouchers vote (Texas Tribune)
• TribCast: Can Texas retain and train more teachers? (Texas Tribune)
• Despite deficit, San Antonio ISD boosts starting hourly wage to $17; starting teacher pay to $60k (Texas Public Radio)
• Families say school civil rights investigations have stalled after federal cuts (NPR)

Tuesday, April 15

• Texas House to take up Senate school voucher bill this week (Texas Standard)
• As special ed students are integrated more at school, teacher training is evolving (NPR)
• Texas House gives first approval to bill that would allow universities to pay student athletes (Texas Tribune)
• Trump administration freezes $2.2 billion in grants to Harvard University over campus activism (PBS NewsHour | AP)

Monday, April 14

• ‘Nobody wants to do our job’: San Antonio special educators say they need more support (San Antonio Report)
• Austin ISD gets $41 million from the Education Department. What happens if the agency closes? (KUT)
• Northwest ISD budget remains $965K short following $15M in cuts to staff, programs (KERA | Fort Worth Report)
• Class size, librarians, tax rate: Judson ISD weighs options to reduce budget deficit (Texas Public Radio)
• South San ISD responds after more than a dozen teachers are let go (My San Antonio)
• DOGE abruptly cut a program for teens with disabilities. This student is 'devastated' (NPR)

Friday, April 11

• 'What did I say in class today?': Teachers feel watched under Trump's anti-DEI push (NPR)
• $337 billion, two-year budget gets Texas House approval (Texas Tribune)
• Spring ISD board declines to approve Bluebonnet Learning math curriculum (KHOU)
• 'The Great Gatsby' turns 100. What's it like teaching it today? (NPR)

Thursday, April 10

• Houston ISD teachers could be paid based on performance. Critics say teaching ‘is not sales work’ (Houston Public Media)
• Socorro ISD, Canutillo ISD layoffs begin as notices go out (El Paso Times)
• Explore Texas public schools’ college readiness, demographics and teacher salaries (Texas Tribune)
• Electives like choir may not be offered at all Northside schools next year (Texas Public Radio)

Wednesday, April 9

• Some Texas school districts consider a new option for campus safety: drones (KERA)
• ‘She got punished for getting hurt’: Son says Northside ISD failed educator after career-ending fall at school (KSAT)
• Fort Bend ISD trustees weigh gender fluidity policy, following lead of other Houston-area districts (Houston Public Media)
• Americans without a degree still believe in the value of college, a new poll says (NPR)

Tuesday, April 8

• 9 Anthony ISD teachers awarded state incentives for student outcomes (KTSM)
• First measles case confirmed in Amarillo area; Canyon ISD staff member affected (Amarillo Globe-News)
• Bienvenidos! Some colleges are targeting a long-neglected group: Hispanic students (NPR)
• Most Americans want to read more books. We just don't. (NPR)

Monday, April 7

• Trump wants to dismantle the Education Department. That could hurt students with disabilities in Texas. (Texas Tribune)
• Austin ISD could close Dobie Middle School to avoid a state takeover of the entire district (KUT)
• 'Grossly misleading': Coppell ISD officials deny teaching critical race theory in lawsuit (KERA)
• Supreme Court sides with administration over Education Department grants (NPR)
• Houston ISD fourth graders start petition for reusable lunch trays, taking change into their own hands (Houston Public Media)

Friday, April 4

• Private school voucher bill clears first test in Texas House (Texas Tribune)
• School vouchers have more opposition than support from Houston-area residents, Kinder Institute finds (Houston Public Media)
• Texas cleared to release 2023 school accountability ratings, appeals court rules (KERA)

Thursday, April 3

• Texas senators consider ‘clean-up’ bill for 2023 school safety law (KERA)
• East Central ISD goes back to voters with a trimmed bond to address overcrowded schools (Texas Public Media)
• Southwest ISD teachers prepare for beginning of STAAR testing this month (KSAT)

Wednesday, April 2

• A Texas school leader says material about diversity in state-approved textbooks violated the law. (Texas Tribune | ProPublica)
• Austin-area teens say you don't have to be 18 to get involved with Texas politics (KUT)
• Ken Paxton takes legal action against Dallas ISD employees over transgender athlete policies (WFAA)
• Senate hearing examines whether to allow schools to serve whole milk (PBS NewsHour | AP)

Tuesday, April 1

• House committee considering a cap on school voucher spending, increases to public school funding (Texas Tribune)
• More early childhood educators needed. A proposed Tarrant County College program may fill the need. (KERA)
• Fort Worth ISD looks to strengthen phonics lessons for a reading rate boost (Fort Worth Report)

Monday, March 31

• Texas voucher bills have the appearance of academic accountability, but in practice it won’t mean much (Texas Public Radio)
• Socorro ISD offers resignation incentives amid $38 million deficit (KFOX 14)
• Texas ‘parental rights in education’ bill passes Senate, others await vote (KERA)
• 6 things borrowers should know about federal student loans right now (NPR)
• Analysis: Trump order targets agency that provides crucial funding for libraries and museums (PBS NewsHour)

Friday, March 28

• Texas officials’ claim that school funding is at an all-time high ignores inflation and temporary federal money (Texas Tribune)
• DOGEing the Texas Education Agency (Austin Chronicle)
• Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles lays out budget priorities for next school year (Houston Public Media)
• Fort Worth ISD superintendent unveils plan to move coaches into classrooms (NBC DFW)
• Denton ISD students get bilingual homework help, thanks to a UNT project that formed during COVID (KERA | Denton Record-Chronicle)
• NPR speaks to a former education secretary about dismantling the department, arrests (NPR)
• How U.S. colleges are navigating cuts to grants for research after Trump restricts federal funding (PBS News Hour | AP)

Thursday, March 27

• Beaumont ISD sees significant improvement in teacher recruitment (FOX 4)
• Five ways a funding overhaul has transformed Texas community colleges (Texas Tribune)
• Bryan ISD’s 2025-26 budget remains ‘uncertain’ (KBTX)
• Round Rock ISD prepares for worst case scenario amid possible $16 million deficit (KVUE)

Wednesday, March 26

• Argyle ISD approves one-time bonus for teachers and staff (KERA | Dentrol Record-Chronicle)
• Jewish Texans disagree on how to combat antisemitism in schools during hearing on Senate bill (Texas Tribune)
• Fort Worth ISD shifts $22.7M to support renewed literacy focus. Here’s how (KERA | Fort Worth Report)
• Fort Bend ISD board approves sample set of Bible-infused curriculum despite opposition (Houston Public Media)
• San Antonio ISD trustees approve cutting at least 32 positions (Texas Public Radio)

Tuesday, March 25

• Why North Texas educators fear vouchers could weaken special education resources (KERA | Denton Record-Chronicle)
• Northside ISD may expand class sizes to address budget woes (San Antonio Express-News)
• ‘Grave implications:’ Houstonians worry about repercussions of closing U.S. Department of Education (Houston Public Media)
• Austin borrower sues Education Department after monthly student loan payments increase by over 300% (KUT)
• How the Ph.D. Project, and 45 colleges, became a target of the Trump administration (NPR)

Monday, March 24

• Houston ISD adopts new teacher evaluation system amid opposition (Houston Public Media)
• Richardson ISD fights back against enrollment drop with door-to-door campaign (WFAA)
• What dismantling the Department of Education could mean for Texas students (Texas Standard)
• Trump says Education Department will no longer oversee student loans, 'special needs' (NPR)
• Texas’ DEI debate centers on a disagreement about whether programs perpetuate or prevent discrimination (Texas Tribune)

Friday, March 21

• Trump signs order aiming to close the Education Department (NPR)
• Abbott praises Trump’s efforts to eliminate Education Department at White House (Texas Tribune)
• What’s next for the Department of Education after Trump begins effort to eliminate it (PBS NewsHour)
• How the Education Department cuts could hurt low-income and rural schools (NPR)
• Mansfield ISD trustees approve library books every month. Now, the policy might go statewide (Fort Worth Report)
• Texas Senate passes bill requiring Ten Commandments to be displayed in public schools (KUT)
• South San ISD to implement new learning curriculum this fall (KSAT)
• Hutto ISD approves learning materials for 2025-26 school year (Community Impact)

Thursday, March 20

• Different pace and priorities separate Texas Senate and House on school vouchers (Texas Tribune)
• Lawmakers want to make it easier to suspend young Texas students. Advocates have concerns (Texas Standard)
• Trump to sign order aiming to close the Education Department (NPR)
• Texas AG Ken Paxton accuses Coppell ISD of violating Texas’ “critical race theory” ban (Texas Tribune)
• Petition against Conroe ISD’s use of Bible-infused curriculum picks up steam (Houston Public Media)
• Bill that would screen for “ideological bias” in college curricula to be debated (Texas Tribune)
• Del Valle ISD program working to train students, meet local labor demand (KVUE)

Wednesday, March 19

• Lawmakers want to give schools more leeway to suspend Texas’ youngest and homeless students (Texas Tribune)
• Lufkin ISD board eyes reduction of district staff (KTRE)
• How at-large voting creates conservative majorities on Texas school boards (Texas Tribune)
• Denton ISD signs 21 new teaching hires from teaching residency program (Denton Record-Chronicle)
• Texas bill would ban K-12 students from using cell phones during school hours (Texas Tribune)

Tuesday, March 18

• Most Houston ISD campuses are operating under capacity, study finds (Houston Public Media)
• Keller ISD drops plan to split the district in two (KDFW)
• Midland ISD to sell apartment complexes that house teachers (KOSA)
• To cut costs, Euless charter school to lose middle, high school grades (KERA)
• Harvard will be free for students whose families make $100,000 or less (NPR)

Monday, March 17

• Texas schools have leaned on uncertified teachers to fill vacancies. Lawmakers want to put a stop to it. (Texas Tribune)
• Texas school districts hopeful lawmakers will help plug $1.7 billion gap in special education funding (Texas Tribune)
• How Alabama students went from last place to rising stars in math (NPR)
• Why many in Gen Z are ditching college for training in skilled trades (PBS NewsHour)

Friday, March 14

• Texas Senate panel advances bill banning DEI in K-12 public schools (Texas Tribune)
• Texas lawmakers and charter leaders push back on the $870K paid to Valere schools’ superintendent (Texas Tribune | ProPublica)
• Keller ISD school board's talks on potentially splitting district prompt investigation by TEA (WFAA)
• Manor ISD faces $14M deficit, proposes consolidating high school classrooms, admin (CBS Austin)
• New South San Antonio ISD superintendent to focus on ‘quality’ teachers to turn district around (KSAT)
• Five years since COVID, Louisiana's readers are thriving. This is their secret. (NPR)

Thursday, March 13

• Texas House Republicans get an earful from the opposition on proposed school voucher program (Texas Standard)
• Education Department layoffs shutters civil rights office in Dallas (KERA)
• What parents, teachers and school choice groups think of Education Department cuts (NPR)
• An Austin borrower may see her student loan payments skyrocket. She's not alone. (KUT)
• San Angelo ISD to Reconsider Bible-Influenced Curriculum at Special Meeting (San Angelo Live)
• Midland ISD receives $1M grant to enhance fine arts with new instruments (Midland Reporter-Telegram)

Wednesday, March 12

• How Voucher Vendors Could Make Millions from ‘School Choice’ in Texas (Texas Observer)
• Debate on House’s school voucher bill centers on a question: Should wealthy Texans be included? (Texas Tribune)
• 1,300 Education Department employees will be laid off (PBS NewsHour | AP)
• Texas won't offer a program to help feed kids over the summer. Advocates push for change next year. (KUT)
• 'Everybody lost' | Killeen ISD announces tougher discipline after fatal school stabbing (KCEN)

Tuesday, March 11

• Texas House education committee to take up school choice issue this week (Texas Standard)
• HISD to give principals up to $11K for limiting loss of thousands of students to charter schools (Houston Chronicle)
• Fort Bend ISD expands pre–K 4 program to 6 new campuses (Community Impact)

Monday, March 10

• Vouchers aren’t pushing Fort Worth ISD to close schools, leaders say. Here’s what is (KERA | Fort Worth Report)
• Center ISD school board votes to adopt 4-day school week (KTRE)
• Socorro ISD to offer payout incentive for 100 employees who resign (El Paso Times)
• Trump signs executive action targeting public service loan program (NPR)
• Why Oklahoma is pushing for all-day cellphone restrictions in class (PBS NewsHour)

Friday, March 7

• Houston ISD is considering school closures. Elected trustees want community involvement (Houston Public Media)
• What does the Education Department do? A guide to the agency Trump wants to gut (PBS NewsHour)
• Texas A&M Board of Regents names Glenn Hegar as university system’s next leader (Texas Tribune)

Read the latest Texas education headlines posted by texasisd.com