Aliyya Swaby

Aliyya Swaby started as the Texas Tribune's public education reporter in October 2016. She came to the Tribune from the hyperlocal nonprofit New Haven Independent, where she covered education, zoning and transit for two years. After graduating from Yale University in 2013, she spent a year freelance reporting in Panama on social issues affecting black Panamanian communities. A native New Yorker, Aliyya misses public transportation but is thrilled by the lack of snow.

Texas Schools With More Student Poverty Got The Most Ds And Fs In State Ratings

By Aliyya Swaby & Mandi Cai / The Texas Tribune • Aug 21, 2019

Many Texas educators and advocates are frustrated in the week after the state released letter grades rating their school districts and campuses, as they work to decipher the potential impacts for their schools.

Three Texas School Districts Face State Penalties After 2019 A-F Grades Released

By Aliyya Swaby • Aug 15, 2019

Three Texas school districts — including the state's largest — will likely be forced to shut down their chronically underperforming schools or submit to state takeover, based on annual state ratings released Thursday morning.

Texas Lawmakers Boosted Special Education Funding, Prompting Hope From Advocates

By Aliyya Swaby • May 31, 2019

Leslie Boorhem-Stephenson / The Texas Tribune

Texas lawmakers left the Capitol this week with some hits and some misses for a state special education program that has faced intense federal scrutiny in the past few years.

Texas Senate Unanimously Passes $5,000 Teacher Pay Raises, Adding Librarians

By Aliyya Swaby & Cassandra Pollock, The Texas Tribune • Mar 5, 2019

The Texas Senate on Monday unanimously passed a bill that would provide $5,000 annual pay raises for full-time classroom teachers and librarians, at a cost of $4 billion over the next two years.

Texas Senate Panel Advances $5,000 Teacher Pay Raise Proposal

By Aliyya Swaby • Feb 25, 2019

After a contentious three-hour public hearing Monday, the Senate Finance Committee unanimously passed a bill that would provide annual $5,000 pay raises for all full-time classroom teachers in the state.