Police are investigating an unnamed elementary school teacher in Commerce Independent School District who resigned over an “incident” involving “improper physical restraint” of a special education student.  Police are investigating an unnamed elementary school teacher in Commerce Independent School District who resigned over an “incident” involving “improper physical restraint” of a special education student.  Commerce ISD posted on social media that administrators were alerted on September 8 to “an incident involving a teacher. view article

The Klein Independent School District on Friday announced it has fired an employee for making "senseless and completely unacceptable remarks" on the assassination of Charlie Kirk. "Effective immediately, this individual's employment with Klein ISD has been terminated," the district wrote on social media. "This conduct does not reflect the values, standards, or expectations of our school district and will never be tolerated." view article

The Wylie Independent School District confirmed that they have accepted the resignations of two teachers. These resignations come after controversial posts they made online regarding the assassination of political activist Charlie Kirk. view article

Texas State University has terminated the employment of a professor who called for the overthrow of the U.S. government over the weekend.  “After a thorough review was conducted of the video recordings of the statements, it became clear to me that their actions amounted to serious professional and personal misconduct,” Texas State University President Kelly Damphousse stated late Wednesday. “Conduct that advocates for inciting violence is directly contrary to the values of Texas State University. I cannot and will not tolerate such behavior.”  “As a result, I have determined that their actions are incompatible with their responsibilities as a faculty member at Texas State University,” Damphousse continued.  “Effective immediately, their employment with Texas State University has been terminated.”  Damphousse was referring to Tom Alter, who was previously an associate professor of history at Texas State. view article

Christine Cockrell was sentenced to eight years of probation as part of her plea deal.  A now-former Gatesville Independent School District teacher was sentenced to eight years of probation after she pleaded guilty to sending a 15-year-old male student nude pictures on Instagram.  The victim’s family reportedly approved of the plea deal.  Christine Paige Cockrell, 54, was an eighth grade teacher at Gatesville Junior High when she was arrested in May 2024 for exchanging sexually explicit messages with the Gatesville High School student. view article

Texas State University fires associate professor for 'controversial statements,' inciting violence   Texas State University announced Wednesday that it had fired associate history professor Thomas Alter for “controversial statements” at a conference that advocated “for inciting violence.”  University President Kelly Damphousse said in a statement that he learned Alter had made comments this weekend that amounted to “serious professional and personal misconduct.” Damphousse said he fired Alter after determining that his actions were incompatible with his responsibilities as a faculty member. view article

Pasadena Independent School District said it is addressing inappropriate and insensitive comments made by an employee regarding the recent death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. In a statement posted online Wednesday, Superintendent Toni Lopez said the remarks are being handled administratively and emphasized they do not reflect the district’s values, standards, or expectations. view article

A Kemp ISD teacher was arrested for child grooming Sept. 9 by Kemp ISD Police. According to a statement from Kemp ISD Superintendent Dr. James Young Sept. 5, KISD Police and Administration were made aware of a concern regarding the actions of a Kemp High School employee. The district and administration immediately began reviewing and investigating an allegation of the employee engaging in inappropriate conduct. view article

Thomas Alter is the second professor in the state to be terminated for allegedly violating university policy after a video was posted on social media..  A Texas State University professor was fired on Wednesday after he was accused of inciting violence in a video of him speaking at a socialism conference posted on social media.  In a video circulated on social media platform X, Thomas Alter, an associate history professor, can be seen talking during a Zoom meeting as part of the Revolutionary Socialism Conference, an online meeting organized by several socialist groups. During his talk, Alter explains how he feels socialists in the United States can organize an effective party, and criticizes the Democratic Party, the Democratic Socialists of America, China and anarchists for their methods of organization. view article

Shelby Lashombe was reported for misconduct while at West ISD before joining Valley Mills ISD, but her victims reportedly were not students where she taught.  A Central Texas high school teacher and girls’ coach who was previously reported to the state for sexual misconduct was arrested for having sex with underage boys.  Shelby Dawn Lashombe, 25, was charged with one count of sexual assault of a child and two counts of improper relationship between educator and student—although Lashombe said the boys were not students at the schools where she worked.  Both offenses are second-degree felonies punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison. view article

Three charter school superintendents who are among the highest paid in Texas are overseeing some of the lowest-performing districts in the state, newly released records show. One of them is at risk of closure by school year’s end. view article

The Arp ISD Board of Trustees is seeking to fire an assistant principal accused of failing to report knowledge of a sexual assault of a child allegedly committed by her adult son. The school board voted Monday to begin the start of the termination process for Karla Florence, who was arrested in August and charged with Class A failure to report and Class B false report to a peace officer. view article

Fort Worth ISD’s Chief Financial Officer, Carmen Arrieta-Candelaria, is leaving the district later this month to take on a new role as Director of Budget and Finance for the County of El Paso, the district confirmed Tuesday. The move gives her a chance to return to her hometown and contribute to the community in South Texas. view article

A Victoria Independent School District principal faces a driving while intoxicated charge after a single-vehicle crash Sunday night. Sarah Young, principal of Rowland Elementary School, was arrested following the accident on North Navarro, according to police reports. Officers administered field sobriety tests at the scene, which they say Young failed to pass. view article

School officials say the alleged victim is not a student in the district.  An unnamed South Texas school employee is on leave following allegations of “inappropriate” messaging with a child who is not a student in the district.  San Benito Consolidated Independent School District posted a statement to social media on September 6:    view article

Houston ISD has a new chief of human resources, the district confirmed Thursday. Chief of Human Resources Jessica Neyman was removed from her post effective Wednesday, and Deputy Chief of Human Resources Norma Castillo will serve as interim. The district did not comment on why the change occurred. view article

Two Durham Elementary teachers were removed from their classrooms and reassigned to "home duty" last week after Houston ISD made controversial curriculum changes at the campus. Angela Kelly, one of the two Houston ISD teachers who were reassigned, shared the reassignment memo with Houston Public Media. It doesn't include any details about the reasoning behind the personnel move, but Kelly said in an interview she was told at the dismissal meeting with the Durham principal and an HISD official "that changes needed to be made on the campus and that they needed to protect the culture." view article

A Houston ISD union president was reassigned to "home duty" with pay after an alleged "failure to follow campus protocols" and "repeated refusal to implement the HISD Curriculum and Instructional Model," according to documents from late August.   Houston Education Association President Michelle Williams will stay home during work hours and call in at 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. to report in and out of work. The third-grade Benbrook Elementary School teacher must be available to receive assignments by phone within the hour, according to the letter. The letter does not indicate an end date for home duty.   The district alleges Williams left campus without informing campus administration and did not sign out as required by campus protocols. District officials also allege Williams is not following the HISD instructional model, while Williams alleges HISD is asking her to violate special education laws. view article

Round Rock ISD welcomes Mike Brooks to the Bond team as the Executive Director of Bond Projects. He previously served the district as the Director of Maintenance. “I am honored to serve as Round Rock ISD’s new Executive Director of Bonds,” Brook said. “I’ve seen firsthand how well-planned and well-executed facilities projects directly support student learning and staff success.” view article

Educational aide Rebecca Ontivero is charged with a second-degree felony.  A teacher for Marfa Independent School District is accused of sexual misconduct with a student.  Rebecca Romijn Ontiveros, 25, was arrested and charged with improper relationship between educator and student, a second-degree felony punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison.  The offense includes sexual contact or sexually explicit communication with a student, regardless of the student’s age. view article

An Arp ISD elementary assistant principal and her son were arrested Monday following an investigation by the Arp Police Department. Police said Karla Florence was taken into custody and charged with failure to report and false report to a peace officer. Investigators say she failed to provide truthful information and did not meet her legal duty under Texas law to report knowledge of a felony offense while serving in her role as an educator. view article

The driver of the Leander ISD school bus that crashed earlier this month is no longer an employee of the district. A message sent to staff and families of Bagdad Elementary School on Tuesday said that the driver, Tim Gall, was cited by Texas DPS for failure to drive in a single land and improper use of a seatbelt, though the investigation into the crash found no criminal wrongdoing on Gall's behalf. The message then said that Gall "is no longer employed" with the district. view article

School officials announce that the Leander Independent School District bus driver involved in a rollover crash is no longer employed with the district. view article

Temple students and staff are now in their second week back to school. Before the school year started, Superintendent Dr. Bobby Ott told us 107 new teachers joined the district this year- a good amount of them are alumni! We caught up with two alumni teachers at Raye-Allen Elementary School. Alex Curtis teaches 5th grade English and is in her first year teaching. Pam Bulls teaches 3rd grade math and science and has spent more than 35 years educating. view article

Across Texas, 1 in 6 teachers didn’t return to teach in 2024-25. In Houston ISD, it was nearly 1 of 3. The state's largest school district had a turnover rate of 32.2% compared with the statewide average of 18.8% in 2024-25, according to new Texas Education Agency data obtained by the Houston Chronicle.  HISD's teacher turnover rate increased 12.5 percentage points in 2024-25 after a large exodus of teachers following the first year under state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles. Nearly a third of teachers who taught in 2023-24 did not return to teach in 2024-25, pushing the district's turnover rate significantly higher than the statewide rate. view article

State Ag employees told police they were wary of Sid Miller’s political consultant. Now he’s the agency’s chief of staff.  Todd Smith was Miller’s longtime political consultant when he admitted to soliciting bribes for licenses the agency typically issues for $100. Miller then put him on the payroll at $218,000 per year. view article

Roger Luna—a New Braunfels High School graduate—began Aug. 11. Luna has over 30 years of IT experience in the public and private sectors. He previously worked as a Database System Analysis at Comal ISD, according to the release.   As the Director of IT Operations, Luna will oversee a team responsible for the district’s network, infrastructure, systems administration, information systems and desktop support. He will also work with the Instructional Technology team, the release states. view article

The Independence School District announced that one of its employees has been placed on administrative leave pending a criminal investigation. ISD did not specify who the employee is or what role they serve in the district. Specific allegations are not known at this time, but the district said it takes the charges seriously and is working with law enforcement. view article

Teachers from “liberal” states who have relocated to Oklahoma and are seeking to work there must take a controversial new assessment, to be given for the first time today, that “keeps away woke indoctrinators,” according to Oklahoma’s top education official.  Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s superintendent for public instruction, told CNN that if applicants do not pass the test, they will not earn a teaching certificate to be able to teach in public schools in the state this school year, which begins for some Oklahoma districts on Monday. The superintendent’s office notified CNN on Friday that it had not yet been released as of noon, but that it was coming soon.  The decision to use the assessment, developed by PragerU, a conservative media company whose teaching materials are now approved for use in public schools in ten US states, opens a new front in the education culture wars just days before schools are to open their doors.  PragerU has been embraced by the political right for offering curriculums that champion ideas aligned with the Make America Great Again movement, but, despite what its name implies, is not an accredited university or education institution, and has long been subjected to accusations of spreading inaccurate information. view article

Oklahoma will require applicants for teacher jobs coming from California and New York to pass an exam that the Republican-dominated state’s top education official says is designed to safeguard against “radical leftist ideology,” but which opponents decry as a “MAGA loyalty test.”  Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s public schools superintendent, said Monday that any teacher coming from the two blue states will be required to pass an assessment exam administered by PragerU, an Oklahoma-based conservative nonprofit, before getting a state certification.  “As long as I am superintendent, Oklahoma classrooms will be safeguarded from the radical leftist ideology fostered in places like California and New York,” Walters said in a statement.  PragerU, short for Prager University, puts out short videos with a conservative perspective on politics and economics. It promotes itself as “focused on changing minds through the creative use of digital media.” view article

(The Center Square) – Two years after being taken over by the state, zero Houston Independent School District schools have received an F-rating by the state.  The Texas Education Agency accountability ratings grade schools (A-F) according to a number of factors. A large number of HISD schools have historically failed, receiving D and F ratings for the year.  Students not only report failing grades and can’t read or do math at their grade level, but high school graduation rates are also low.  The district has also been plagued for years by corruption and mismanagement of public funds. After HISD officials were convicted for bribery, extortion and kickbacks, the state moved to take over the district.  After a long legal battle, the state took over the district in 2023, ousted its former superintendent and board of trustees and appointed a new board of managers and new superintendent, Mike Miles.  Under Miles, HISD has transformed. According to new preliminary TEA data, no HISD school received an F grade and the number of schools that received A and B grades tripled.  In the past two years, “We did great. You did great teachers. You did great students,” Miles said in an “HISD Now” public announcement. view article

Keeping teachers in the classroom has become more challenging in the last five years. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, about 10% of Texas teachers would leave in a given year. Since then, that number has jumped as high at 13.5%. Richardson Independent School District is getting creative with incentives to support educators and their families in hopes of keeping them in education. , view article

A former Judson Independent School District special education teacher is still recovering after he said a student attacked him in a classroom. Christopher Johnson said he has endured months of pain and medical visits. view article

Austin ISD is planning for staff cuts even after finding out federal funding is on the way. The uncertainty over the federal education grants has the school district re-evaluating how it moves forward. $9 million was at stake for Austin ISD when the federal government froze funds that were expected to be available on July 1. The White House is now committing to school districts across the country that they will get the education grants, leading Superintendent Matias Segura to meet with the 109 staff affected by federal funding. view article

With the first day of school around the corner, United Independent School District kicked off its new teacher orientation, welcoming nearly 100 new educators who are set to make an impact in classrooms across the district. view article