Since 1954
Josephine Lee is a staff writer at the Texas Observer. She has previously worked as an educator and community organizer. Her reporting on labor, environment, politics, and education has been featured in Salon, The Daily Beast, Truthout, and other outlets. She was raised in and lives in Houston.
An agency report challenging media stories overlooks the charter schools’ compliance with federal tax and state business laws, on the watch of the now-HISD superintendent, while revealing new out-of-state payments.
Houston native and education expert Diane Ravitch urges a fight for "the future of Texas, and for the future of the children" under Trump's proposed reforms.
For decades, Houston families like mine have helped keep the flame of independence burning.
Republicans nearly ran the table in state House races, shoring up Governor Abbott’s school voucher majority for the 2025 session.
“In my 33 years as an educator, I’ve never known teachers to come out against a bond. I’ve never seen so much community involvement and participation, mainly because we do not trust Mike Miles.”
Abbott-induced financial crises in public school districts are at the center of key legislative elections in Bexar County and beyond.
The private firms who have operated the tollway will be paid $1.7 billion by TxDOT, adding to the profit they’ve already made in toll revenues, construction contracts, and sales of shares.
U.S. Representative Greg Casar discusses the timing and impact of a new federal workplace heat safety rule.
During the power outage following the storm, a shocking lack of support in vulnerable communities reflected a larger breakdown in coordination between the state, CenterPoint Energy, and local governments.
An Observer investigation has found irregularities in how the Houston ISD superintendent's Colorado charter school nonprofit did business in Texas.
