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

The Waco school district is one of the latest to partner with the Third Future charter network as a last-ditch effort to stave off state intervention.  WACO — Laneisha Latimer has heard about the strict way Third Future Schools plans to run South Waco Elementary School, where her son started the fourth grade.  School began Tuesday at South Waco and Dean Highland elementary schools under the control of the charter school operator Waco Independent School District chose to turn them around.   Latimer learned in May how tightly scheduled her son’s day will be. He will have to walk in silence in between one-minute transitions. Several times per class period he will have to demonstrate through writing or peer discussions that he understands the lesson. view article

San Antonio’s Celebrate Dyslexia, known for championing dyslexia services for children, is now working directly with educators who want to help students with the learning disability in the classroom. The Academic Language Therapy Association, a national group that sets standards for language therapy certifications, recently granted Celebrate Dyslexia’s train program an “independent course approval.” This means educators who go through Celebrate Dyslexia can now earn college credits for related masters or doctorate degrees, and the nonprofit can train students in teacher preparation programs at local universities and school districts. view article

The Waco school district is one of the latest to partner with the Third Future charter network as a last-ditch effort to stave off state intervention.  WACO — Laneisha Latimer has heard about the strict way Third Future Schools plans to run South Waco Elementary School, where her son started the fourth grade.  School began Tuesday at South Waco and Dean Highland elementary schools under the control of the charter school operator Waco Independent School District chose to turn them around.   Latimer learned in May how tightly scheduled her son’s day will be. He will have to walk in silence in between one-minute transitions. Several times per class period he will have to demonstrate through writing or peer discussions that he understands the lesson. view article

The number of Texas students using taxpayer money for private school or home-school could increase as more families accept invites.  More than 85,000 families are participating in Texas’ private school voucher program during its first year, a number that could increase as state officials finalize enrollment data, according to a new state report.  White families make up the largest share of participants so far, as do those considered low-income, the comptroller’s office noted in the report released Monday. The report did not say how many students previously attended private school or received home schooling, although earlier data showed that 57% of families invited to the program fell into that category. view article

The Lubbock Independent School District Board of Trustees has approved a memorandum of understanding with Texas Tech University to create Lubbock ISD Virtual Education, known as LIVE, a tuition-free online education program for eligible students. view article

The Waco school district is one of the latest to partner with the Third Future charter network as a last-ditch effort to stave off state intervention.  WACO — Laneisha Latimer has heard about the strict way Third Future Schools plans to run South Waco Elementary School, where her son started the fourth grade.  School began Tuesday at South Waco and Dean Highland elementary schools under the control of the charter school operator Waco Independent School District chose to turn them around.   Latimer learned in May how tightly scheduled her son’s day will be. He will have to walk in silence in between one-minute transitions. Several times per class period he will have to demonstrate through writing or peer discussions that he understands the lesson. view article

In less than three years, at least 150 public school campuses have closed or been approved for closure across Texas, records show. School boards voted to move forward with those closures to offset financial pressures and respond to state accountability issues at certain campuses, according to previous Community Impact reporting.  What’s happening  Among the closures are 57 schools in Community Impact’s coverage areas. Some districts have said that additional closures are not off the table. view article

Austin ISD trustees voted 7-2 on July 30 to close Paredes Middle School, and its 635 students will move to Bailey or Mendez middle schools this fall. This shift comes weeks before the first day of school Aug. 18, and marks Austin ISD’s 11th school closure in roughly a year.  District leaders point to years of failing state ratings at Paredes, most recently its third consecutive F in 2025, per TEA data. Superintendent Matias Segura called the closure disruptive but necessary to move students into stronger academic environments before another school year begins. view article

It led to a storm of comments from across the region.  A Houston-area mother's effort to help teachers collect classroom supplies ahead of the new school year has sparked a debate among Cy-Fair ISD parents and educators over whether district rules make it harder for teachers to share online "wish lists."  Aly Matei, a mother with children enrolled in Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District in the Houston community of Cypress, recently shared in a TikTok video her concerns regarding searching for classroom wish lists from teachers. Matei wanted to donate supplies before the school year, but she said she could not find many publicly posted lists. After reaching out to teachers on social media, Matei said several educators told her they were not allowed to publicly share their classroom wish lists. view article

Fort Worth ISD is down to 20 classroom teacher vacancies with fewer than three weeks before school starts Aug. 10. The board of managers received an update Tuesday night that provided a snapshot of where FWISD stands on staffing, from vacancies to lingering gaps in special education and bilingual instruction positions. view article

If you're starting to feel like summer is "flying by," hold on to your wings: students at several Dallas ISD campuses start the new school year on Tuesday. It's part of a district plan called Additional Days School Year, or ADSY. Students at 13 elementary schools – and sixth graders at select middle schools – will follow an extended calendar that includes additional instructional days, some of which fall on Saturdays. view article

Katy ISD board members will meet Monday evening to discuss developing a virtual high school, according to the board's meeting agenda. The creation of Legacy Virtual High School was discussed in a board meeting last Monday and faced no verbal opposition. view article

The threat of a state takeover is becoming harder for Texas public school districts to ignore as strict performance mandates put pressure on campuses and the leaders who run them. view article

The Austin school district is moving to immediately close Paredes Middle School before the start of the 2026-27 school year, a drastic step the district is taking as the campus faces the possibility of failing another state accountability rating and further state intervention.   While Austin ISD in a statement on Wednesday attributed the imminent closure to slow academic progress, labor union Education Austin said district leaders told the group they expected the campus to earn a fourth consecutive failed rating when state ratings are released in mid-August. view article

Fort Worth ISD’s Board of Managers has approved applying for a Texas Education Agency waiver that will allow the district to hire more uncertified teachers for the next two years, under the condition they complete an alternative certification program while teaching, the district announced Wednesday. view article