Tag Archives: Education
Tough Decisions Ahead for School Leaders in Rural Texas
With no edict from Governor Abbott, rural school officials must weigh the health of their students against the health of their communities.
Update: Governor Greg Abbott announced Thursday, March 19, that all Texas schools will be closed until April 3. If he’d arrived four hours sooner, he’d ha...Read More
‘Almost Akin to a Political Coup’: Houston Teachers Fight Back Against State Takeover of HISD
In a last-ditch effort to stop a state takeover of Texas’ largest school district, the Houston teachers union is suing the state for disenfranchising voters of color.
The fight over the future of Houston’s public school system escalated this week when the local teachers union joined a federal voting rights lawsuit against t...Read More
Texas Schools Suspended Students Between Pre-K and Second Grade More than 70,000 Times in a Year
Black boys, foster care kids, and special ed students were disproportionately suspended, according to a new report from Texans Care for Children.
While racial disparities are a hallmark of the criminal justice system, a growing body of research shows that bias and unequal punishment start as early as pre-...Read More
In Boerne, a Youth Suicide Prevention Effort that May Actually Work
Boerne ISD was once in the grips of a student suicide crisis, but now a prevention program has kept the district suicide-free for the last three years.
A decade ago, Boerne ISD — an 8,700-student district on the outskirts of San Antonio — was in crisis. Students were inexplicably killing themselves at the r...Read More
In Their Rush to Appear Pro-Israel, Texas Lawmakers May Have Stepped on Free Speech
A growing number of people have reported that a state law is forcing them to choose between their political beliefs and payment for their labor.
To make extra money while attending the University of Texas at Austin, Obi Dennar often worked as a judge for high school debate tournaments. In October, after ...Read More
In Violation of Texas Law, Most High Schools Aren’t Giving Students the Chance to Register to Vote
Abysmal compliance with a decades-old state law is leaving at least 180,000 high school seniors off the current voter rolls, according to a new report.
About two-thirds of Texas high schools are not following a state law that mandates giving all eligible students the opportunity to register to vote, according t...Read More
Zero-Tolerance Policies Meant to Protect Against School Threats May Lead to Misguided Arrests
After Parkland and Santa Fe shootings, schools are taking a harder line against students who threaten violence. Advocates warn that overcriminalizing behavior could backfire.
Nicolas, 12 and legally blind, was already having a rough week before he allegedly threatened to shoot up his classroom. The fifth-grader had a bathroom mishap ...Read More
College Degree Options Are Disappearing for Women in Texas Prisons
In Texas, four-year degree programs for imprisoned women are expiring, even as more of them end up in the prison system.
The only bachelor’s degree programs available to women incarcerated in the Texas prison system are ending. By 2020, Texas A&M University-Central says it w...Read More
Alleging ‘Environmental Racism,’ El Paso Activists File Civil Rights Complaint Against School District
“EPISD didn’t propose [a hub for 124 buses] anywhere else because other communities wouldn’t have accepted it,” said Chamizal community organizer Hilda Villegas.
Katherine Villegas, 16, is a junior at Bowie High School in El Paso. She lives in the Chamizal neighborhood, a border community besieged by environmental hazard...Read More
