public schools

Texas Comptroller Don Huffines has requested legislators double the money behind the state’s private school voucher program to $2 billion. More than 100,000 students sit on the waitlist, but critics argue there is little evidence vouchers are delivering on their promises to justify expanding the program.

Texas is trying to expand access to preschool by encouraging school districts to partner with private child care centers. But some longtime Dallas providers say the school district that’s supposed to be their partner is also becoming their competition.

The Texas State Board of Education approved an updated social studies curriculum that many Muslims says discriminates against them and ignores Islam’s scientific and cultural contributions made through history.

The State Board Education is expected to give final approval Friday to controversial social studies and history curricula that all Texas high school students must learn. Lessons depict Islam as a violent religion and Christianity as an essential cornerstone of the nation.

Some districts use the temporary work permits to fill critical teacher shortages in roles such as bilingual education.

Civil rights advocates have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Texas law requiring the state's public schools to display the Ten Commandments. Monday's petition tees up a case that could set a new national standard for the limits of religious expression in classrooms. Posters with the Ten Commandments began going up almost a year ago in classrooms across Texas, a state that educates about 5.5 million students. An appeals court earlier this year cleared the way for the Texas law and one in Louisiana, and similar laws have been passed in Arkansas and Alabama.

A lawsuit claims Brinker Elementary principal Jennifer King knew about an earlier sexual abuse accusation against second-grade teacher Paul Campbell but didn’t report it to the state as required, investigate Campbell, or supervise his actions.

The Texas Education Agency released its annual A-F school district grades Friday. Locally, many districts, including Dallas ISD, saw minor improvements. Denton ISD dropped a grade.

North Texas students in districts from Dallas to Fort Worth and in between start school this week. The state’s second-largest independent school district – Dallas – opens Tuesday morning.

The expansion of the district's free pre-K program could fill more seats, and will pay off academically, said Assistant Superintendent Debbie Ramos.

The Museum School of East Dallas is one of four new Texas charter schools opening this semester. Some Dallas ISD families worry it is dividing a close-knit community by drawing away funding, students, and teachers.

Six months after the Texas Education Agency determined a North Texas school district needed to provide a student with residential placement to address his behavior and educational needs, the family is still waiting. Lawyers and advocates warn Kelton Lightfoot's case could weaken an official complaint process meant for students with disabilities and have far-reaching implications for accessible education in Texas.