A dispute over Texas’ new school choice program has escalated into a public clash between Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock and Attorney General Ken Paxton, highlighting tensions within state leadership as litigation continues over the program’s implementation.  In a March 24 letter to Paxton, Hancock raised concerns about alleged terrorism ties among certain schools seeking to participate in the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program and urged additional legal action.  The letter follows a recent federal court order extending the application deadline for families and requiring the state to provide Islamic schools access to apply while lawsuits over their eligibility proceed.   Hancock pointed specifically to Houston Quran Academy, one of the schools the court has temporarily allowed to participate. view article

Regent approval comes at a time of public concern about “Woke AI.”  Khan’s development leave request further elaborates that her intent is to integrate “artificial intelligence with equity-driven practices.”The leave request further states that the project’s objective is to explore “how artificial intelligence can support equity in developmental mathematics.”  On October 3, Casa de Calvo wrote to interim Provost Christopher Markwood in support of Khan’s leave application.   Khan’s “proposal reflects an effort to connect research on pedagogy, equity, and artificial intelligence in ways that may benefit our students and faculty,” wrote Casa de Calvo.  “The project aims to integrate AI with equity-driven practices through the development of an Algorithmic Equity Framework,” Casa de Calvo continues. Khan’s proposal “is aligned with our institutional priorities.”   While state lawmakers prohibited aspects of DEI ideology in 2023, that prohibition does not extend to this sort of research. view article

Judge Bennett cited the “troubling” lack of Islamic schools in ordering the extension.  An Obama-appointed federal judge has extended the state’s application deadline for its new school choice program to March 31, while lawsuits proceed over the exclusion of Islamic schools. The original deadline was Tuesday at 11:59 p.m.   U.S. District Court Judge Alfred Bennett of the Southern District of Texas in Houston reportedly called the lack of Islamic schools “troubling.”   There are two federal lawsuits currently before Judge Bennett challenging Texas’ exclusion of certain Islamic private schools from the program for having terrorist ties. Earlier this week, the State advised the court that it is unopposed to consolidating the two cases. view article

As we all know by now, the 89th Legislative Session(s) brought numerous changes to the world of special education. In the midst of all of the high-profile special education legislation, one important change may have slipped through the cracks: House Bill 2 and Senate Bill 568 made changes to the requirements surrounding surveillance of special education settings.

Cabins, grounds and other buildings hit by the July 4 flood on the Guadalupe River cannot be renovated or removed, according to the order. Camp Mystic cannot alter its property by the Guadalupe River where 27 girls and the camp’s executive director died last summer, so that evidence can be preserved while a lawsuit proceeds, a judge in Austin ruled Wednesday.  The camp cannot demolish, repair or reconstruct a number of cabins where campers slept when a massive flood struck on July 4, Travis County District Court Judge Maya Guerra Gamble said.  The camp also cannot modify its grounds or its office building, recreation hall or commissary — all points of interest in the wrongful death case filed by the parents of camper Cile Steward, whose body still has not been found. view article

School boards had until March 1 to decide whether to establish a daily period for students and staff to pray or read religious texts. view article

Houston ISD and several other area districts have voted against adopting designated prayer sessions, which are optional for students and staff under Senate Bill 11, while Magnolia ISD has approved them. All Texas districts face a March 1 deadline to make a decision about whether or not to implement them.  Galveston ISD on Wednesday became the latest local school district to reject school prayer periods, which are permitted by a new Texas law. view article

The application period will close March 17. If demand exceeds the $1 billion available, the state will prioritize students based on family income and whether they have a disability. view article

In late 2023, Prosper activist Doug Charles said he received internal documents from a former Pogue Construction employee suggesting billing irregularities among $400 million of contracts with Prosper ISD. Charles said he sent the records to the FBI. In 2024, he shared them with a former federal prosecutor and an attorney with expertise in organized crime cases, both of whom work for Dallas law firms owned by former state Sen. Ted Lyon. view article

Seven juveniles are being charged in connection with an incident on a Canyon ISD school bus. According to the Randall County Sheriff's Office, the seven juveniles are being referred to Randall County Juvenile Probation for charges. The incident occurred on Feb. 27 on a Randall High School bus carrying a junior varsity baseball team back from a tournament in Lubbock, according to the criminal complaint. view article

The Randall County Sheriff’s Office has released an update on charges related to the incident on a Canyon ISD school bus. On Tuesday, March 3, the Randall County Sheriff’s Office received reports of possible criminal activity on a Canyon ISD high school bus. The Randall County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division began investigating this. view article

What began as a criminal investigation disguised as an alleged welfare check in October of 2018 set off a chain of events that would take nearly eight years to unwind through criminal court, a federal lawsuit, multiple appellate rulings, and ultimately, a jury verdict finding two former Midland ISD police officers, Alexandra Weaver and Kevin Brunner, liable for violating a family’s constitutional rights. view article

'I am innocent and I am a fighter.'  Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida just got one step closer to being expelled from the House of Representatives.  The House Ethics investigative subcommittee effectively found Cherfilus-McCormick guilty of nearly every campaign finance violation levied against her earlier this year. The bipartisan panel voted to start the process that could lead to Cherfilus-McCormick's expulsion after she was accused of laundering millions of dollars worth of Federal Emergency Management Agency funds related to a COVID-era contract into her campaign account. view article

A former Denton ISD employee was arrested last week and charged with injury to a child following an incident at Strickland Middle School, officials say. According to the Denton Police Department, 22-year-old Alexis Ray turned herself in on Friday on a warrant for the charge. The incident the charge stems from reportedly took place on March 17. view article

Controversy is growing around Austin ISD’s Pride Week, set for this week, as the State Board of Education calls on the district to get rid of the themed week altogether, and some parents argue there are more pressing issues. The debate comes as a new state law, Senate Bill 12, has recently gone into effect. The law bans the use of diversity, equity, and inclusion in public schools and clubs. view article

Officials approved the change after hearing from speakers who argued it would hamper the state’s economy and push immigrants to work without licenses in the black market.   People seeking a host of professional licenses in Texas, from electricians to dog breeders, will soon have to prove they are in the country legally after the state’s Commission of Licensing and Regulation on Tuesday adopted a new rule that could affect thousands of workers.  Commissioners unanimously approved the change after hearing from a parade of speakers who largely asked them to do the opposite because of worries that it will hamper the state’s economy and burden immigrants trying to make an honest living. The speakers also argued the move will push people to work without a license, and erode state oversight of crucial industries. The commission oversees the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which plans to implement the rule May 1. view article

The Blanco County property has not been used for school purposes since 1952.  In Lindig’s case, the trial court came to a different conclusion. Judge Allan Garrett of the 33rd District Court determined that “although the conveyance for school purposes is set forth generally in the deed, the reverter clause does not terminate the grantees’ ownership of the property if it ceases being used for school purposes. Rather, the reverter clause expressly states that it is triggered only if a school house is removed from the land.”  On appeal in 2015, the Third Court of Appeals in Austin affirmed this reasoning, adding that it was “undisputed that the building once used as a school remains on the property.” view article

A Bexar County judge on Friday dismissed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s lawsuit challenging the county’s immigration legal services program, bringing an end to weeks of legal battles before any court could hear the merits of the case. In Bexar County’s presiding court, 408th Civil District Court Judge Angelica Jimenez granted the county’s motion to dismiss filed earlier this week, ruling the case is moot after the remaining funds tied to the program were already distributed. view article

Litigation over a rigged $95M lottery jackpot includes a fight to hide companies and individuals involved in a scheme dubbed “money laundering” by lawmakers. Defendants in a high-profile lawsuit involving the alleged rigging of the Texas Lottery are continuing to fight attempts to expose their corporate interests.  The controversy surrounding the jackpot in question led Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to describe the Texas Lottery as “probably the biggest money laundering scheme in the country.” view article

A federal court cleared the way for Senate Bill 12, which prohibits drag performances on public property or in front of children, to take effect Wednesday. view article

East Texas elementary school employee accused of having child porn arrested  ONALASKA, Texas — An East Texas elementary school employee accused of having child porn was arrested Tuesday night.  Jerry Cobb, 47, was booked into the Angelina County Jail for warrants out of the Onalaska Police Department, including two counts of assault and possession of child pornography, according to OPD. view article

The Washington Post reported that a document was distributed to ICE staff indicating the agency was drafting a letter to potentially terminate the facility’s $1.2 billion contract. view article

Jose Omar Flores-Penaloza was willing to admit that he had entered the United States illegally. He was ready to be deported, according to his attorneys.  But federal prosecutors would not let him go last spring without making him answer for another crime — one he had never heard of.  Weeks earlier, President Donald Trump, to address what he called a national emergency, ordered a stretch of borderland transferred to the military so that troops could help apprehend unauthorized migrants.  Because prosecutors believed Flores-Penaloza had crossed through that zone, now called a national defense area, they charged him with trespassing on military property under statutes including one enacted in 1909 to keep spies away from arsenals.   The added misdemeanors were unlikely to lengthen his sentence; they typically result in time served and deportation. But Flores-Penaloza maintained his innocence in the face of the allegation that could cast him as a national security threat. view article

The federal lawsuits argue Texas officials are engaging in religious discrimination by preventing Islamic private schools from accessing state voucher money.  Four Muslim parents and three private schools have sued Texas leaders for excluding Islamic private schools from participating in the state’s private school voucher program.  The two federal lawsuits ask the court to block the voucher program from discriminating on the basis of religion. The first suit, filed March 1 by a parent acting on behalf of two children who attend a Houston private school, names Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock and Education Commissioner Mike Morath as defendants. A second suit filed March 11 by three parents and three schools names Hancock and Mary Katherine Stout, education savings account program manager, as defendants.  Here’s what to know. view article

The family of a 14-year-old McKinney ISD student has filed a civil lawsuit against a former district athletic trainer accused of sexually assaulting the teen. Attorney Paul Herz, who represents the student and the student’s family, said the allegations involve repeated abuse. view article

Attorney General Ken Paxton warned the Austin Independent School District that it could be fined $5,000 daily for alleged violations of Texas' new bathroom bill. The law prohibits transgender people’s use of certain public restrooms in government buildings. view article

Spring Branch ISD officials say they ordered Bunker Hill Elementary to remove decorations celebrating the Muslim holiday after a parent expressed concern the display did not align with district policy. Some say other religious displays were previously allowed. view article

KFOX14/CBS4 has obtained new documents detailing nearly $41,000 in Fabens Independent School District funds allegedly spent at local casinos by a former district employee. Credit card statements reveal six separate casino transactions over a two-month period, totaling approximately $41,000 in district funds. view article

Ken Paxton’s office has sent a legal notice to Austin Independent School District after receiving a complaint alleging violations of Senate Bill 8. According to the Texas Attorney General’s Office, the complaint claims both Austin ISD and Austin High School were aware that a biological male was using girls’ restrooms and locker rooms, which the state says would violate the law. view article

EDINBURG — The Texas Supreme Court pondered how far the state can go in limiting access to a public beach during oral arguments Thursday in a case involving the closure of Boca Chica Beach for SpaceX’s rocket launches.  Rio Grande Valley environmentalist and indigenous groups are suing the Texas General Land Office and Cameron County over a law, passed in 2013, that allows some counties to temporarily close a beach for space flight activities.   The lawsuit is among multiple waged over the years between local advocates and SpaceX as the space exploration company has continued to expand its physical footprint and the frequency of its rocket launches in South Texas. Both, activists argue, have caused harm to the local environment and impeded the public’s ability to access a beach that has to be closed off for safety when SpaceX is conducting its test launches. view article

A Pearsall Independent School District employee was arrested Wednesday afternoon after investigators found cocaine in her home, the Frio County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to KSAT Investigates. view article

Former London ISD teacher Amber Prince received five years of deferred adjudication probation, including 12 days in jail each year. view article

The family of a 14-year-old student is suing McKinney ISD and former athletic trainer Lindsey Post following allegations of sexual assault and grooming.  Post was arrested and charged with two second-degree felonies after authorities reportedly discovered graphic text messages and "outcries" of sexual activity.  The suit claims the district failed to protect the minor by allowing her to be alone with Post; McKinney ISD has not yet commented. view article

The federal lawsuit argues Texas officials are engaging in religious discrimination by preventing Islamic private schools from accessing state voucher money. view article

Jurors on Thursday found two former Longview ISD educators guilty in the abuse of students in a J.L. Everhart Elementary life skills classroom. Former J.L. Everhart Principal Cassandra Renee James and former Curriculum Coordinator/Assistant Principal Linda Kay Browne Lister were both found guilty of injury to a child charges. view article