Thousands of STAAR reading results improved after humans rescored students’ written answers. Most of the initial grading was done by an automated engine.The number of requests to rescore students’ STAAR tests nearly tripled from last year as more Texas schools sought reviews of written responses on the reading exams, thousands of which were initially graded by computers.  The Texas Education Agency began using an automated scoring engine in December 2023 to grade open-ended questions on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, including on the reading and English tests, with humans manually reviewing a quarter of exam scores.  In spring 2024, the state had 2,758 requests to regrade open-ended response scores on reading exams. Then, 21,620 requests last year. This spring, that jumped to 64,489. view article

With early voting in the midterms underway, Republicans and Democrats will remain as divided as ever on many issues. But one choice on the ballot ought to unite voters from across the political spectrum: More tax revenue for public schools. You read that right. Voting for more tax revenue to fund public schools is arguably the easiest decision that voters in northwest Harris County will face.  Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, which serves over 113,000 students and is the third-largest school district in the state, will ask residents to approve a $1.6 billion bond and an increase in the Maintenance and Operations tax rate. Yes, as state law requires the ballot to say, “This is a tax increase.” It is also a necessary one that Cy-Fair voters should support. Despite misleading claims to the contrary from state lawmakers in Austin, the state’s funding of public education has failed to keep up with inflation, and many districts across the state, including Cy-Fair ISD, remain underfunded and face harmful budget deficits. view article

With early voting in the midterms underway, Republicans and Democrats will remain as divided as ever on many issues. But one choice on the ballot ought to unite voters from across the political spectrum: More tax revenue for public schools. You read that right. Voting for more tax revenue to fund public schools is arguably the easiest decision that voters in northwest Harris County will face.  Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, which serves over 113,000 students and is the third-largest school district in the state, will ask residents to approve a $1.6 billion bond and an increase in the Maintenance and Operations tax rate. Yes, as state law requires the ballot to say, “This is a tax increase.” It is also a necessary one that Cy-Fair voters should support. Despite misleading claims to the contrary from state lawmakers in Austin, the state’s funding of public education has failed to keep up with inflation, and many districts across the state, including Cy-Fair ISD, remain underfunded and face harmful budget deficits. view article

(The Center Square) – After a new accountability and transparency law was implemented, in one year the number of teacher misconduct reports has tripled and the number of teachers added to Texas' Do Not Hire Registry (DNHR) has reached an all-time high.   According to the Texas Education Agency’s Educator Misconduct Reporting Dashboard, a record 19,766 misconduct reports were filed during the 2026 fiscal year, a monthly average of 1,647. The TEA fiscal year goes from Sept. 1 through August 31.   The number is up from 16,000 in June, The Center Square reported. It’s also more than three times the number reported in fiscal 2025 of 6,456, according to the dashboard. view article

The Austin Democrat’s campaign to unseat the three-term governor looked like a long shot. But she’s been able to capitalize on Texans’ anger on two major issues: data centers and schools. view article

DALLAS — When Texans vote in the gubernatorial race this November, they’ll decide on who will steer how millions of the state’s children are taught and how school districts are held accountable.  Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who is seeking a fourth term, faces Democrat Gina Hinojosa, an Austin state representative. Both candidates have made education issues a pillar of their campaigns, taking opposing stances on topics such as school vouchers, state takeovers and public school funding.  Hinojosa has made public education a campaign priority, view article

Chapel Hill High School earned academic distinction designations from the Texas Education Agency in science and social studies for the 2025-26 school year, recognizing strong student performance and completion of advanced coursework in both subject areas.  “Our students are such hard workers, and these distinctions show how highly they perform on a state level,” said Kevin Austin, a U.S. history teacher at Chapel Hill High School.  TEA assigns each Texas campus to a comparison group of 40 schools with similar enrollment, student populations and demographic characteristics. To earn a distinction, a campus must perform within the top 25% of its comparison group on designated academic indicators. view article

With a midnight deadline looming, parents at Burnet and Webb middle schools are racing to submit a “Parent Petition for Action” that calls for closing both campuses in an effort to avoid a state takeover of Austin ISD. The petition comes after both Burnet and Webb received five consecutive failing accountability grades, which authorizes the Texas Education Agency to intervene. Options include closing the schools or appointing a state board of managers and a superintendent to run the district. view article

Parents and volunteers are gathering signatures for a petition that could give Austin ISD another option, as the district faces the possibility of state intervention over failing accountability ratings at Burnet and Webb middle schools. With the deadline to sign the petition coming up on Thursday, volunteers set up a table outside Burnet Middle School on Wednesday afternoon to speak with families about the effort. view article

In May 2025, Austin Independent School District leadership stood before parents in the wood-paneled Burnet Middle School cafeteria and outlined their plan to improve the campus' long-struggling academic performance. view article

Parents at Burnet and Webb middle schools have until Thursday to decide whether to ask the state to close their children’s schools. Organizers say the petition is the only way to head off a state takeover of the Austin Independent School District. view article

This week, the podcast explores what can be learned from Houston ISD as more school districts face state takeover.  Test scores have gone up since the state took over Houston ISD in 2023. But enrollment has dropped and costs have increased, raising questions about whether its model for district turnarounds is sustainable elsewhere.  For this week’s TribCast, Eleanor is joined by  Texas Tribune education reporters Sneha Dey and Megan Menchaca to discuss what’s happening at the state’s biggest district, and what it might mean for other districts facing takeovers around the state. view article

DeNeeka Hill shares what district leadership is looking into as Fort Worth ISD families voice their concerns. view article

Austin ISD will be the subject of state scrutiny once again, with a new investigation into the district’s finances led by the state comptroller and spurred on by Gov. Greg Abbott. Texas Comptroller Don Huffines announced Monday that Austin, as well as Barbers Hill, El Paso, and Prosper school districts, would undergo a detailed financial review. view article

A group of educators, lawmakers, and education experts are calling on the state of Texas to limit the power that appointed boards and superintendents have during the state takeover of public school districts. A report released Thursday and authored by the Commission of the HISD Takeover offers a qualitative look at the impacts and effects of the Texas Education Agency's (TEA) state intervention in Houston ISD. The commission, which includes a 14-person panel, spent a year collecting more than 100 accounts from students, teachers and community members. It's now recommending lawmakers raise the threshold for triggering state interventions, add firm guardrails on the authorities of state-appointed boards and superintendents, impose limits on the education commissioner's authority, and establish local avenues for ending a state takeover. view article

The Texas Comptroller’s Office has included El Paso Independent School District among four institutions picked for “a detailed review” to examine if they spend state funds in compliance with state law. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott requested a review process in August to ensure that districts spend state funds on students, classrooms and teachers and not on more administration or what he called “non-instructional bureaucracy.” view article

Austin ISD will be the subject of state scrutiny once again, with a new investigation into the district’s finances led by the state comptroller and spurred on by Gov. Greg Abbott. Texas Comptroller Don Huffines announced Monday that Austin, as well as Barbers Hill, El Paso, and Prosper school districts, would undergo a detailed financial review. view article

From left, GP Mehaffey, assistant project manager for Landmark by Hillwood; Page Austin, senior lifestyle director; Denton ISD superintendent Susannah O’Bara; Andrew Pieper, senior vice president of Hillwood Communities; and Kim Cole, vice president of Hillwood Properties, pose at the future site of a Denton ISD elementary school. view article

A federal judge has ruled that Klein ISD violated federal law by restricting Disability Rights Texas' access to campuses to monitor conditions for students with disabilities. U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett signed the final judgment and permanent injunction on Sept. 28. The order requires the district to provide reasonable, unaccompanied monitoring access, including opportunities for private communications with students, under protocols incorporated into the judgment. view article

We are proud to announce that McKinney ISD has been named an Outstanding School District nominee for the prestigious H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards! The recognition doesn’t stop there! �� Our McKinney ISD Board of Trustees has also been nominated, along with several outstanding principals, school counselors and teachers from across the district. These nominations are a wonderful reflection of the incredible people who make McKinney ISD such a special place to learn, work and serve. We are proud to see our educators and leaders recognized for their commitment to students and excellence in education. view article

Students at Fort Worth ISD wrote an open letter to Superintendent Peter Licata and district leadership this week, sharing their concerns about what they have experienced during the Texas Education Agency’s takeover of the district — specifically critiquing scripted lesson plans. view article

Parent Renee Ingram came to the Lake Worth ISD’s community meeting with a question: What happens to students who cannot keep up? Her fourth-grade daughter struggles in her math class. Her seventh-grade son performs well but comes home talking about how stressful school has become. As the district moves through lessons at a faster pace than before state-appointed leadership took over, Ingram’s daughter has had more meltdowns at home. view article

In a recent English period at Bertha Sadler Means Young Women’s Leadership Academy, teacher Makayla Gray began class with students reading out their learning goals. She encouraged them to think about why figurative language matters and begin drafting a personal narrative.   “If you can do these things, you will have been successful today,” Gray said. During her lesson on similes, metaphors and personification, seventh graders raced to raise their hands and giggled at Gray’s jokes.  “Our language is full of figurative language,” Gray said. “What about ‘You are an angel? ’ Doesn’t mean that you’re literally an angel, like you’ve got wings and you’ll start flying around.”  The class provides a window into how Sadler Means, a 222-student all-girls middle school in the Austin Independent School District, is trying to give students more ownership over their own learning.  The campus improved from an F rating in 2024 to a B this year on the Texas Education Agency’s annual letter grades, a success that school leaders largely attribute to data-focused teaching and instructors earning buy-in from students.  view article

At a Sept. 15 Board of Trustees meeting, Chief Financial Officer Mike White announced that Bastrop ISD earned 98 out of 100 points, two points higher than last year, in the School FIRST audit. This is classified as a Superior Achievement in the rating scale, which the district has maintained for the last eight years. view article

If you walk into your local library, you can borrow a book or ask for help with a research question. You can also get help with your resume, access the internet on public computers, borrow a movie, or perhaps participate in some free public programming.  The Texas Library Association commissioned a study this summer to measure the return on investment for public dollars spent on libraries. They found that every dollar spent by local libraries generates almost $5 in statewide economic activity.  Shirley Robinson, the executive director of the Texas Library Association, said they did this by comparing what people get from libraries to what they could pay for on their own.   “Our research firm compared all of those services to comparable resources that one might be able to go and find in the open marketplace if you were needing to pay for those things,” she said. “And so that’s how that dollar figure of $4.74 for every dollar invested towards Texas libraries produces for an individual and community value.”   The study included data from a wide variety of libraries, from small rural systems to big urban ones. It also looked at how libraries impact the economy beyond the direct dollar calculation. view article

The answer shapes the rules that the board of managers will use to hold Superintendent Peter Licata accountable. Managers are drafting superintendent guardrails and FWISD goals based on feedback from parents, students and other district residents. They will finalize the goals and limits at their Nov. 10 meeting. view article

The Westlake High School gym unfolded into a gameshow-like scene Thursday morning as 30 students tested their strength and cardio with World Wrestling Entertainment superstars Rey Mysterio and Paul “Triple H” Levesque watching.  The Austin-area students — all athletes who typically compete in sports like volleyball and basketball — lay on black mats to perform crunches, push-ups and plank holds. In the Westlake weight room, students cheered each other on as they tried to complete more pull-ups than the next person. view article

The State Board of Education raised concerns about Alpha School's AI tool. Then the Texas Education Agency helped pilot it in public school districts. view article

Parents at two Austin Independent School Distirct middle schools are weighing a petition that could give them a voice in what happens next as AISD faces possible state intervention following five consecutive failing ratings at both campuses. view article

DIBOLL – During the regular monthly meeting of the Diboll ISD board of trustees Monday evening inside the district’s administrative boardroom, board president Jay Wyatt saluted the four queen candidates from last weekend’s Diboll Day celebration and thanked them for raising $221,000 for the celebration. Temple-Inland, he said, gave thousands of dollars for each biannual celebration, so since its departure, it has been up to the queen candidates to raise funds.  DISD Superintendent Igor Gusyakov recognized Diboll High School students Noah Arnold, Riley Brown, Jersey Stuckey, Graham Ward and Katie Williams for receiving the Lone Star Degree, the highest award Future Farmers of America members in Texas can receive. He also recognized DHS FFA advisor Missy Kaemmerling, to whom the FFA gave an honorary Lone Star Degree. view article

Parents at two Austin Independent School Distirct middle schools are weighing a petition that could give them a voice in what happens next as AISD faces possible state intervention following five consecutive failing ratings at both campuses. Burnet and Webb Middle School parents are weighing a major decision as the district faces possible intervention from the Texas Education Agency. view article

Houston ISD administrators directed some campuses to cut staff and slash spending a month into the start of school, as the district confronts the mounting financial pressure of enrollment losses three years into a state takeover. view article

Houston ISD may begin to regain local control of the district by the end of this school year. In August, both Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath and state-appointed superintendent Mike Miles said Houston ISD could exit the intervention "relatively soon." The state's largest school district has been under state control since 2023, after Wheatley High School in the fifth ward earned more than five consecutive failing accountability ratings from the Texas Education Agency. The state intervention was renewed in June 2025 when Morath said the district needed to make more progress. view article

Houston ISD administrators directed some campuses to cut staff and slash spending a month into the start of school, as the district confronts the mounting financial pressure of enrollment losses three years into a state takeover. view article

The announcement comes after a Texas Tribune investigation revealed the reforms the district’s state-appointed superintendent implemented, known as the New Education System, are straining finances.  Houston ISD administrators directed some campuses to cut staff and slash spending a month into the start of school, as the district confronts the mounting financial pressure of enrollment losses three years into a state takeover.  On Monday, The Texas Tribune published an investigation revealing the sweeping set of reforms state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles has implemented, known as the New Education System, is straining district finances. HISD has dipped into reserves and had previous cuts to afford the costly reforms as it is losing tens of millions of dollars in state funding because of enrollment losses.  District officials characterized the recent reductions on Tuesday as part of its annual “campus leveling” process, in which schools receive more or less money depending on how closely their enrollment matches projections made in the spring. Employees affected by the reductions may be reassigned to other available positions, HISD officials said in a press release. view article