Lufkin ISD officials expect to spend the next several months determining how students, staff and programs will be distributed as the district prepares to transition its elementary campuses to a K-5 model for the 2027-28 school year.  Deputy Superintendent Jill Gaston presented trustees with a timeline for the realignment during a board work session Monday. The district is gathering community feedback and enrollment data through the end of August before beginning a more detailed analysis in September  That analysis will take aspects such as campus capacity, attendance boundaries, transportation, nutrition services, staffing and the placement of specialized programs into consideration. view article

The governor says foreign influence has “no place” in Texas classrooms.  Gov. Greg Abbott is calling on Texas lawmakers to ban foreign funding in public schools and prohibit districts from employing workers through the federal H-1B visa program.   Abbott announced the proposals Tuesday as part of a broader push aimed at eliminating foreign influence in Texas classrooms. “The minds of our students are driven by influences that they are exposed to in our public schools,” said Abbott. “Those minds should be shaped by policies that are approved by state lawmakers.”  Abbott pointed to Austin Independent School District’s acceptance of hundreds of thousands of dollars from Qatar to support Arabic language and culture instruction, as well as school districts that have participated in Confucius Classroom programs affiliated with Chinese government-backed entities.  “We cannot condone the quiet indoctrination of our children in the classroom,” said Abbott. view article

A false description of my research became the basis for an argument about the value of my work. School districts face a larger version of the same problem.   As Texas students return to school this month, some will get a lesson that is new this year: how to check whether a source is telling the truth.State policymakers deserve credit for prioritizing this critical skill set. By state law, every Texas school campus is now required to send a teacher and an administrator to civics training in media literacy — verifying information and sources, identifying and responding to logical fallacies — so they can teach those skills to students. Elementary educators completed that training for the first time this summer.  Media literacy should not be something we ask only of children. I learned that all too well last week when I read an article by Texas Scorecard, a news outlet connected to a conservative advocacy group. The article questioned whether the University of Texas System Board of Regents should approve tenure for several faculty members. view article

After Charles Baxter Junior High School received a fourth consecutive F grade in the state’s annual A-F Accountability ratings, Everman ISD will turn the campus into a public charter school that will be operated by an outside organization, district officials said this week. Everman ISD is partnering with Third Future Schools, a nonprofit educational management organization, to turn Charles Baxter into a public charter school. The campus will remain as part of Everman ISD, but Third Future Schools will run the campus and its daily operations. view article

ABILENE, Texas — Brownwood ISD started the year with improved accountability ratings. The district moved from a C to a B.   The Texas Education Agency gave the district an overall score of 83, an improvement over the previous score of 78.  "I think the biggest difference is just some consistency. I think last year we were able to have a new math curriculum in our lower grades," Dr. Young said. view article

Just days after the Texas Education Agency (TEA) released its A-F accountability ratings, schools are focusing on helping students learn and master grade-level skills. Hidden Forest Elementary in North East ISD received an A rating, reflecting strong performance in educating students. view article

Texas’ school performance ratings remained relatively flat this year, while the Austin school district prepared for expected state sanctions over chronic F ratings. Campuses and districts received their state report cards Friday, providing families a glimpse of how well schools educate students. About one in four schools saw their ratings improve, while a nearly similar number of campuses saw a drop. Of the more than 9,000 campuses in the 2025-26 school year, 24% scored an A, 34% scored a B, 23% scored a C, 10% scored a D and 4% scored an F. Some schools did not receive grades. Schools with high poverty performed worse than more affluent campuses, while campuses with predominantly Black or Hispanic students scored lower than those where white or Asian students make up the majority. view article

On Wednesday, elementary schools in a small southwestern Colorado district stopped using a controversial reading curriculum developed by the state of Texas.  It was the third day of school.  The sudden shift came a day after the Montezuma-Cortez school board voted 4-3 to reject the new curriculum, called Bluebonnet, and four days after the district’s superintendent pledged that Biblical material would be removed from lessons. view article

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) released its 2026 accountability ratings today. McKinney ISD leaders have completed an initial review of the results and are partnering with campuses to celebrate accomplishments, identify opportunities for growth, and determine next steps. view article

Conroe ISD outperformed the state in most subjects for the spring 2026 State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, but scores within the district decreased in many categories compared to 2025, according to results released by the Texas Education Agency. view article

As Burnet and Webb middle schools received five consecutive failing grades from the state, increasing the possibility of a state takeover of the Austin Independent School District, parents and community members are contending with what the impact could be for all AISD campuses. view article

Austin school district leaders are determined to turn around the two middle schools that triggered mandatory state intervention. Whether they get the chance may no longer be up to them. Burnet and Webb middle schools received their fifth consecutive F ratings from the Texas Education Agency, triggering a state law that requires the agency to intervene. What that intervention ultimately looks like remains unclear. view article

The Texas Education Agency today released district and campus accountability scores for the 2025–26 school year, and Round Rock ISD has earned an adjusted score of 89. Nearly 78% of all campuses received an A or a B, up from 72% in 2025. The district’s true average score was a 91, an A. However, per TEA policy, if any campus in a district earns a D or if any campus receives a D in any domain, the highest possible score the district can earn is an 89. view article

A Humble ISD elementary school is celebrating a dramatic turnaround after improving its state accountability rating from an F to a B in just one school year. Jack M. Fields Elementary posted a 24-point increase over its 2025 score—the largest year-to-year gain among Humble ISD campuses—according to the latest accountability ratings released by the Texas Education Agency. view article

Eight Waco schools received failing grades on the state’s annual state report card, new data released Friday shows, but Superintendent Tiffany Spicer says she believes a turnaround is coming. South Waco Elementary School was among those receiving an F after several years of failing grades. Waco Independent School District officials have worried that an F at the campus this year could trigger a state intervention of the entire district. view article

Trustees approved a plan to restore CIS at five campuses, down from the original 15. The move reduces the district’s cost from $400,000 to $115,000. The program will now run at the following campuses: view article

More than 170 public schools in Texas have shuttered or are on their way to closing since 2023, according to a new report from a public school advocacy group.  Districts from every corner of the state are seeing declining enrollment and facing budget pressures that are triggering the closures. Among the closures, Houston ISD and the Austin ISD are both closing 12 campuses each. San Antonio ISD has 15 campuses closing. And in Fort Worth ISD, 21 schools have closed or are on the chopping block. view article

Texas public school performance as a whole flatlined on state accountability grades, as chronically underperforming districts learned whether they edged closer to state sanctions. Campuses and districts got their state report cards Friday, providing families a glimpse of how well schools educate students. Those who consistently get low grades inch toward state takeovers.  Of the more than 9,000 campuses rated in the 2025-26 school year, 25% got an A, 60% got a B or C, and about 15% got a D or F.   About one in four schools saw their ratings improve, while a nearly similar rate of campuses saw a drop. view article

There’s a big reason to celebrate in Dallas ISD. New TEA ratings show major progress across the district, and some of the biggest highlights are coming out of southern Dallas. In an exclusive interview, Dallas ISD Superintendent Dr. Stephanie Elizalde shared that several high schools are earning top marks, including South Oak Cliff, Carter, Pinkston and Skyline. view article

Two Austin Independent School District middle schools received their fifth consecutive F ratings, opening the entire district up to a state takeover. Superintendent Matias Segura sat down with KXAN Thursday to go over the schools’ preliminary accountability ratings, which the district received early from the Texas Education Agency. view article

Burnet and Webb middle schools received a fifth consecutive failing accountability rating from the Texas Education Agency, the Austin school district announced Thursday, triggering a state law that directs Education Commissioner Mike Morath to either close the schools or appoint a board of managers to replace the elected school board. view article

Midland ISD received an overall C rating in the state’s preliminary 2026 accountability ratings, marking an improvement in its numerical score. According to the district, Midland ISD received a score of 75 out of 100 for the 2025-26 school year. The district received a 72 in 2025 and a 70 in 2024. view article

A Houston ISD teacher has gone viral after sharing an emotional video about his concern for his students within the first few days of school. In the social media video posted Tuesday, Wheatley High School teacher Darius Williams shares his experience with his senior students. view article

Education reporter Wayne Carter joins NBC 5 Today answering viewer questions about what’s making headlines in North Texas classrooms as the new school year begins. Uncertified teachers, new curriculum, and starting school in July were among the topics. view article

Inflation and federal funding cuts have squeezed Texas’ child care subsidy, causing the Texas Workforce Commission to scale back the program. The Texas Workforce Commission Tuesday voted to cut 9.5% of the state’s child care scholarships, which represents approximately 14,000 seats for children.  For some regions that need to meet lower scholarship numbers in 2027, those cuts will begin by the fourth quarter of 2026, which begins in September.  Child care scholarships are a federal funding program administered by each state, similar to SNAP or Medicaid, meant to provide child care for low-income working families. view article

The students, buzzing with first-day energy, were supposed to be walking. Most were not. Inside the Marine Creek Leadership Academy gym Tuesday morning, physical education teacher Jake Neufeldt told elementary students to use “walking feet” as they spread across the floor, getting ready for their next exercise. A few jumped up out of the “criss cross, applesauce” position and began jogging and shuffling instead. view article

Dallas ISD welcomed students back to school on Tuesday – but fewer than last year. The state’s 2nd largest school district started the fall semester with about 132,000 students, down from about 134,300 last year. Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde, visiting blue ribbon Hexter Elementary School in East Dallas, said federal policies are partly to blame. view article

Fort Worth ISD is starting its first year under state control with zero teacher vacancies; however, data shows that many of those formerly vacant positions were filled by uncertified teachers. For the past five years, the number of uncertified teachers working at Fort Worth ISD has hovered around 40 to 50, according to data from the Texas Education Agency. This year, Fort Worth ISD will employ around 308 uncertified teachers as the school year begins, according to the district. That's a 569% increase compared with the 2025-2026 school year. view article

Lancaster ISD is heading back to school with a 100% graduation rate, we hear from the high school's new principal. view article

One of the state’s most important topics and one of its most important regions will get more attention.  I’m excited to announce two major moves in our newsroom that will boost our ability to cover topics hugely important to our state: education and the Houston region.  First, we’ve hired one of the leading education reporters in Texas: Megan Menchaca. Megan joins us from The Houston Chronicle, where she’s led coverage of the Texas Education Agency’s historic takeover of Houston ISD — scooping the competition with critical news such as the state’s extension of the intervention and the sudden replacement of state-appointed managers. view article

Inside the Marine Creek Leadership Academy gym Tuesday morning, physical education teacher Jake Neufeldt told elementary students to use “walking feet” as they spread across the floor, getting ready for their next exercise. A few jumped up out of the “criss cross, applesauce” position and began jogging and shuffling instead.  Lake Worth ISD Superintendent Ena Meyers noticed and hurried across the gymnasium toward Principal Pharah Hogan. view article

Nearly 70,000 students are heading back to school in Fort Worth ISD, marking the district's first day of school since the state took over. The second-largest school district in North Texas is also starting the year with a major staffing milestone: zero teacher vacancies. view article

Where a family lives has traditionally determined where their children attend public school. But as Texas parents gain more education options, that model is changing. For the first time, Katy ISD is launching Limited Open Enrollment, allowing some high school students who live outside the district to attend its schools. The move is one of several new initiatives the district is introducing as public school systems across Texas confront stagnant or declining enrollment. view article

Black Texas families weigh whether to send their children to schools with more academic resources — but potentially fewer of their values.  Jaleel is attending his first day of classes this month at a middle school opening its doors for the first time that specializes in air traffic control, commercial drones and engineering.  His parents decided not to send him to the majority-Black, F-rated campus closer to their home in Fort Bend ISD. Still, they fear their sixth grader may lose out on the community and support that come with receiving an education alongside kids in his neighborhood.  “This is a very difficult thing,” Mikole Montgomery, Jaleel’s mother, said of the choice to bypass Missouri City Middle School. “I don’t take the decision lightly.”  Black children attend schools labeled as failing by the Texas Education Agency at a far higher rate than any other racial or ethnic group. Majority-Black schools are the least likely to achieve the state’s highest academic rating. view article

hen Aubrie was a freshman in the Houston Independent School District (ISD), she was assigned to an Algebra I class. On the first day of school, her teacher recognized her talent and moved her into pre-AP Algebra I, where she thrived.Two years later, at the beginning of the last school year, Aubrie was excited to take pre-AP Algebra II. She had always loved math and imagined a bright future in science. But three weeks into the school year, she and nearly 2,000 other juniors across Houston ISD’s 16 New Education System (NES) high schools were abruptly pulled out of Algebra II and placed into a remedial math course called Algebraic Reasoning/Texas College Bridge.  This move was not made to help students grow academically. Instead, we believe students were moved into this less rigorous course to artificially inflate campus accountability ratings, at the expense of student learning. Just sitting through the Algebraic Reasoning course and clicking through the online modules increases a school’s A-F rating, even if students never pass the state’s college readiness assessment attached to the class. It’s a loophole that state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles is exploiting at an unprecedented scale. view article