Summer in Texas means triple-digit heat, a suspicious amount of construction on every major highway, and superintendents scrambling to make sure every classroom has a teacher before school begins. Hiring season is chaotic, and given the pressure to be fully staffed, it can be tempting to hire that perfectly qualified relative of a board member who just happens to be looking for a teaching job.

Midland ISD trustees will vote Tuesday, July 21, 2026, on whether to authorize a constitutional lawsuit targeting Texas’ mandatory school property-tax rate and recapture system, a case that could force lawmakers to rewrite major parts of public-school finance if the district ultimately prevails.  The board’s agenda lists the proposal as Item 9.6: “Discussion and Possible Board Action to Authorize Litigation Challenging Texas Foundation School Program under Article VIII, Sec. 1-e of Texas Constitution.” Board President Josh Guinn will present the item during the 5:30 p.m. meeting at Bowie Fine Arts Academy.  A 74-page draft petition attached to the public agenda names Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath, in his official capacity, and the State of Texas as proposed defendants. The document remains unfinished. It leaves the judicial district blank and uses placeholders for taxpayer plaintiffs, confirming that Midland ISD has not filed the case. view article

How a man once ordered to pay libel damages helped launch an investigation into Islamic private schools  Nearly a decade ago, a British court ordered a man named Sam Westrop to pay the equivalent of more than $173,000 in libel damages after he published an article on his website calling the founder of a London-based Islamic TV channel a “convicted terrorist.”  Westrop eventually admitted the underlying evidence for the claim was not reliable, according to court filings, and corrected the story on his website.  “There simply was no evidence to support the allegation of terrorism,” the judge in the case wrote.  Years after that ruling, Westrop made similar claims about a group of Islamic private schools in Texas that had applied to the state’s new voucher program. He alleged the school leaders had connections to Islamic extremist or terrorist groups, such as Hamas. Westrop shared his research as early as last fall with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, which oversees the voucher program that awards eligible families taxpayer dollars for private education or homeschooling. view article

Attorneys say the federal agencies are using children as “bait” to detain sponsors, leaving kids waiting in shelters for months.   On an early April morning, two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents approached Y.R. in the parking lot of her Dallas-Fort Worth area apartment as she was about to head to her construction job.  Y.R., a 37-year-old undocumented Honduran immigrant who came to the U.S. in early 2022, had spent nearly a year been filling out government forms and submitting to a background check and DNA test to get custody of her niece and nephew, who had been stuck in a federal shelter after they crossed the Texas-Mexico border in the spring of 2025. view article

Emergency responders say better tools and preparation also played life-saving roles after intense storms dropped heavy amounts of rain.  One year after catastrophic flooding killed more than 100 people along the Guadalupe River, another round of deadly July flooding swept across Central and South Texas, creating flash flood emergencies that forced evacuations and rescues along the Guadalupe and elsewhere.  But while the two July storms were sometimes similar in intensity and effect, they unfolded in unique ways — swift and concentrated last year vs. multiple rounds of heavy rain over days across a broad region this week.  And while weather officials said they took the same approach to issuing warnings, residents and responders on the ground said they had more tools available to them and the motivation of anxiety borne from last year’s horrific tragedy.  The result: A dramatically lower death toll amid widespread and catastrophic flooding.   “I mean, it’s so fresh in everybody’s memory, about the flood and about being so surprised that it got that big and that it made it far and all that kind of stuff,” said Center Point resident Kay Steadham, who felt people took emergency alerts more seriously this go around.   Last year’s flooding came from an exceptionally intense burst of late-night rain that pummeled a small area at the headwaters of the south fork of the Guadalupe River. Some 7 to 12 inches of rain fell mostly over three hours, propelling a huge and deadly wave of water downstream. The National Weather Service issued alerts through the storm, but the worst of the flooding happened overnight, in the dark while people slept. Some alerts may not have been received if cell service was lacking or phone alerts were disabled. Some people described getting alerts but not feeling worried because floods often happen in Flash Flood Alley. view article

Emergency responders say better tools and preparation also played life-saving roles after intense storms dropped heavy amounts of rain.  One year after catastrophic flooding killed more than 100 people along the Guadalupe River, another round of deadly July flooding swept across Central and South Texas, creating flash flood emergencies that forced evacuations and rescues along the Guadalupe and elsewhere.  But while the two July storms were sometimes similar in intensity and effect, they unfolded in unique ways — swift and concentrated last year vs. multiple rounds of heavy rain over days across a broad region this week.  And while weather officials said they took the same approach to issuing warnings, residents and responders on the ground said they had more tools available to them and the motivation of anxiety borne from last year’s horrific tragedy.  The result: A dramatically lower death toll amid widespread and catastrophic flooding.   “I mean, it’s so fresh in everybody’s memory, about the flood and about being so surprised that it got that big and that it made it far and all that kind of stuff,” said Center Point resident Kay Steadham, who felt people took emergency alerts more seriously this go around.   Last year’s flooding came from an exceptionally intense burst of late-night rain that pummeled a small area at the headwaters of the south fork of the Guadalupe River. Some 7 to 12 inches of rain fell mostly over three hours, propelling a huge and deadly wave of water downstream. The National Weather Service issued alerts through the storm, but the worst of the flooding happened overnight, in the dark while people slept. Some alerts may not have been received if cell service was lacking or phone alerts were disabled. Some people described getting alerts but not feeling worried because floods often happen in Flash Flood Alley. view article

Prosecutors said the bribes were intended to help fund her sister's judicial campaign.  view article

Arcola Mayor Fred Anthony Burton was arrested and booked into the Fort Bend County Jail on five felony charges after a grand jury indictment, according to online jail records.  Burton, 68, faces two counts of illegal voting, one count of misuse of official information, one count of tampering with a government record, and one count of fraudulently securing the execution of a document.   The illegal voting charges are tied to two separate Arcola elections, the municipal runoff held June 7, 2025, and the city’s general, joint, and special election held April 23, 2026. The indictments allege Burton helped, encouraged, or failed to prevent three people from voting when he knew they were not eligible to do so. view article

Three Alvin ISD employees have been fired after allegedly mishandling special education students in a classroom, according to Nolan Ryan Junior High's principal. Principal Dana Green said in a statement to Nolan Ryan Junior High families that the incident involving the inappropriate physical handling of students occurred in May, at the end of the 2025-26 school year. view article

The concern followed a recent unrelated case in which a Tomball ISD employee was indicted on federal wire fraud charges. view article

The ruling is being touted as a win for President Trump’s energy agenda.    A federal appellate court has cleared the way for the Delfin LNG deepwater port in the Gulf of America, rejecting a legal challenge by three left-wing environmental organizations. The groups had sought to vacate the project’s federal license.   The organizations failed to demonstrate that a single one of their members had suffered or faced an injury traceable to the project. The ruling is being touted as a win for President Donald Trump’s energy dominance agenda.   The port would feature a cluster of floating vessels moored miles offshore, liquefying natural gas and loading it onto tankers bound overseas.  The company asked the Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the U.S. Coast Guard for approval.   In compliance with the Deepwater Port Act (DPA), MARAD notified Texas and Louisiana—as adjacent states—so their governors could approve, disapprove, or conditionally approve the project. Neither governor responded.  MARAD then published five federal register notices, held six public hearings in the two states, invited public comment four times, and prepared a 2016 environmental impact statement (EIS) exceeding 1,800 pages—analyzing the project’s effects on the environment, socioeconomics, transportation, and air quality. view article

More than a dozen attorneys and former law enforcement officials reviewed footage of the deadly ICE car pursuit for The Texas Tribune. They said ICE’s tactics were breaking with best practice and possibly the law. view article

More than a dozen attorneys and former law enforcement officials reviewed footage of the deadly ICE car pursuit for The Texas Tribune. They said ICE’s tactics were breaking with best practice and possibly the law. view article

There are new developments in the legal battle involving the now-reassigned Western Hills High School principal who is suing the Fort Worth Independent School District. view article

Attorneys for the school district and Principal April Jewell argue they are “entitled” to depose a 10-year-old girl who was 5 when she was repeatedly molested at school by a teacher.   view article

When Kristin Sullivan's son, Rhys, was told he'd have to transfer schools from Bellaire High School to Sharpstown High School for special education classes, the family says they were devastated. "We got the infamous letter which sent our entire family into a tailspin," Sullivan said. "[Rhys] was devastated, but then his siblings were devastated for him. Lots of tears in our house." view article

A former Temple High School substitute teacher has been charged with four counts of improper relationship between educator and student and two counts of sexual assault of a child, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by 6 News. view article

Dallas County has asked a federal court to drop its top elections official from a lawsuit filed by the League of United Latin American Citizens.   Dallas district attorneys recently filed a motion to remove Elections Administrator Paul Adams from the suit, arguing that he "has not violated any federal or state law, and has complied with the procedures set out in Texas Election Code."   LULAC, Texas LULAC, LULAC's Dallas chapter and Common Cause alleged in a federal lawsuit that Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson and elections administrators across the state violated the National Voter Registration Act.   The lawsuit, filed in March, says that Texas adopted a “troubling voter purge program that relies on unvetted, outdated citizenship data to remove voters from rolls in ways that are discriminatory and non-uniform across counties.” view article

A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected an effort to defend the Texas Dream Act, leaving in place a ruling that ended a longstanding state law that allowed some undocumented students to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said advocacy groups, Austin Community College and a student could not step into the case to defend the Texas Dream Act because federal law bars states from giving undocumented students a tuition benefit based on residency unless the same benefit is available to all U.S. citizens, regardless of where they live. view article

A federal court in Austin sentenced a former Austin ISD elementary school teacher to serve 200 months in prison in connection with the possession of child pornography. After serving his prison term, 51-year-old Carl David Innmon will be placed on 10 years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. view article

Appeals court rejects effort to defend Texas law offering in-state tuition for undocumented students  A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected an effort to defend the Texas Dream Act, leaving in place a ruling that ended a longstanding state law that allowed some undocumented students to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities.  The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said advocacy groups, Austin Community College and a student could not step into the case to defend the Texas Dream Act because federal law bars states from giving undocumented students a tuition benefit based on residency unless the same benefit is available to all U.S. citizens, regardless of where they live.  The law allowed students who graduated from a Texas high school or earned an equivalent diploma in the state, lived in Texas and pledged to seek permanent residency when eligible to pay in-state tuition, even if they did not have legal immigration status. view article

Officers arrested 64-year-old Paul Campbell after a student reported inappropriate physical contact while at Brinker Elementary, where Campbell was a teacher. Plano PD said Campbell is being held in the Plano City Jail. view article

More details about the arrest of a Plano Independent School District teacher on charges of sexual abuse against a child under the age of were revealed in court documents provided to WFAA. Paul Campbell, 64, was arrested and jailed on Wednesday, July 8, after an 8-year-old student reported the abuse to school officials. view article

The Texas Dream Act was enacted in 2001, granting illegal aliens in-state tuition benefits.   The Texas Dream Act, enacted in 2001, formerly allowed qualifying illegal alien students to pay in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities.  In June 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice sued the State of Texas, arguing that federal law preempted the Texas Dream Act.  According to the suit, federal law preempts any state rules that grant illegal aliens benefits not afforded to all U.S. citizens. The Texas Dream Act did this because U.S. citizens from outside the state were forced to pay higher rates than the qualifying aliens.  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton ultimately agreed with the DOJ, settling the case. view article

From investment fraud to sophisticated schemes involving hard-to-trace digital currency, Texans lost more than $1 billion to crypto scams in 2025. view article

A man has been arrested following an investigation with the Texas Attorney General’s Office and Van Zandt County Sheriff’s Office. On July 7, 2026, deputies with the Van Zandt County Sheriff’s Office, working in coordination with the Texas Attorney General’s Office Fugitive Apprehension Unit, served a felony arrest warrant on Larry Plant, the maintenance director for Martin’s Mill ISD, the sheriff’s office said. view article

Public records obtained by The Dallas Express show Carroll ISD sought payment from Kush Rao and his Southlake Foundation in 2025 from a fundraiser promoted to raise funds for a district-hosted Special Olympics event. view article

A longtime Plano ISD teacher is facing a child sexual abuse charge after being arrested Wednesday, according to Plano police. Paul Campbell, who taught at Brinker Elementary School for at least two decades, was booked into the Plano City Jail on a charge of continuous sexual abuse of a child. view article

The lawsuit asks a federal judge to halt the restrictions as discriminatory, improperly vague and a violation of free speech. view article

A former Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD teacher is facing charges for an alleged improper relationship with a student. According to the Irving Police Department, Denton police initially arrested 28-year-old Haley Radabaugh in May for child grooming. view article

A Martin's Mill ISD employee has been arrested and charged with child sex crimes, according to county officials. The Van Zandt County Sheriff's Office said a warrant was served for Larry Plant, the maintenance director for Martin's Mill ISD, on an indecency with a child - sexual contact charge. He was reportedly booked into Van Zandt County Jail without incident. view article

The court’s ruling means children born to undocumented immigrants in the U.S. will continue to be citizens.  The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday shut down President Trump’s attempt to reverse a 170-year-old constitutional right that gives American citizenship to babies born to undocumented immigrants.  In a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court said that children born on American soil to undocumented parents are “‘subject to the jurisdiction’ of the United States and are citizens at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment’s citizenship clause.” view article

After slashing their nearly $35 million budget shortfall down to nearly $6 million Judson ISD is facing a new hurdle. The school district is now being investigated by the Texas Education Agency. Board president Monica Ryan says many of the allegations being investigated are old claims that have already been found to be false. view article

Mothers from a Jasper High School choir booster club filed a lawsuit claiming Plano Independent School District (ISD) participated in civil conspiracy and had them falsely arrested. The lawsuit, which names Laura Cervantes and the Jasper High School Choir Booster Club as the plaintiffs, describes the series of events that led to the filing. view article

Austin ISD faces a federal lawsuit alleging the school district failed to prevent abuse by a former band teacher accused of grooming a student. Rodney Childers, a former band teacher at LBJ Early College High School, was indicted on nine felony counts, including three counts of improper relationship between an educator and a student, two counts of indecency with a child, one count of child grooming, two counts of online solicitation of a minor, and one count of possession of child pornography. view article