Texas educators praise new school cellphone ban
The new state ban took effect on Sept. 1, and Texas’ more than 1,200 public school districts have adopted policies ranging from secure phone pouches to increased monitoring. Full Story
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![Students eat lunch without devices at Lago Vista High School on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025 in Lago Vista, TX. HB 1481 passed during the special legislative session which requires schools to implement a policy prohibiting personal communication devices. Lago Vista has implemented a policy where students stow devices, primarily cell phones, in magnetically locked pouches that also block cell phone service, the devices can be unlocked in the event of an emergency as well as when the students exit the building using a wall mounted key near the building entrance. (Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune)]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune -
Some of Texas’ highest-paid charter superintendents run some of its lowest-performing districts
Three Texas charter school districts underreported compensation paid to top leaders. They also recently had failing or near-failing performance ratings. Full Story
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![A stack of schoolwork rubber-stamped with “D” and “F” grades, mixed together with $100 bills.]()
Credit: Lauren Crow for The Texas Tribune and ProPublica -
Texas' new parental consent law leaves school nurses confused about which services they can provide to students
The law’s authors urged districts to use “common sense.” But some nurses worry they could violate the law and face discipline for providing basic care without a parent’s approval. Full Story
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![A student walks through a hallway at Calk-Wilson Elementary School in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Aug. 11, 2025.]()
Credit: John Oliva/Corpus Christi Caller-Times/USA TODAY NETWORK via REUTERS -
Texas launches downloadable form to exempt kids from school-required vaccines
Previously, parents had to wait for the state to mail them the exemption form. They still have to get the form notarized before submitting it to the school for enrollment purposes. Full Story
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![Mateo Cardona, 4, receives a vaccine in Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston on June 28, 2022.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Legislature ends second special session marked by new political maps, slew of conservative wins
Between cracking down on abortion pills and restricting transgender restroom use, lawmakers also tackled flood safety and the STAAR test. Left untouched: Texas’ hemp industry. Full Story
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![House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, oversees roll call on the House floor in Austin on Sept. 3, 2025.]()
Credit: Kaylee Greenlee for The Texas Tribune -
Texas is officially replacing STAAR. Here is what schools’ new standardized tests will look like.
House Bill 8 scraps the unpopular exam for three shorter tests at the beginning, middle and end of the year starting in the 2027-28 school year. Full Story
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![Nimitz Middle School teacher Selena Olivares leads her 7th grade class in an activity Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023 in Odessa.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Texas AG Ken Paxton encourages students to recite Lord’s Prayer in latest test of church-state separation
The endorsement comes as Texas elected officials push for more Christianity in public life and as Paxton’s office fights a legal challenge to religion in education. Full Story
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![Ken Paxton stands with attorneys Tony Buzbee and Mitch Little during prayer on the ninth day of then-suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial at the state Capitol in Austin on Sept. 15, 2023.]()
Credit: Julius Shieh/The Texas Tribune -
Texas education chief visits Fort Worth schools as state takeover looms
Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath is considering the state’s second-largest district takeover due to failing accountability ratings. Full Story
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![Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath watches a group of seventh graders read a poem in Fort Worth ISD’s William James Middle School on Aug. 28, 2025.]()
Credit: Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report/CatchLight Local/Report for America -
ACLU, other groups sue to block Texas' DEI ban on K-12 public schools
The suit alleges the new state law unconstitutionally silences the viewpoints of students and teachers. The law’s supporters say DEI programs use public funds to promote political agendas. Full Story
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![Temple, Texas - 4/17/25: JoMeka Gray teaches a class of kindergarteners at Kennedy-Powell Elementary in Temple, Texas. Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune -
A rigorous accreditation program inspired Texas’ camp reforms. Here’s what that process looks like.
More than 75 Texas camps have met dozens of safety standards to become accredited by the American Camp Association, which can be a lengthy and costly process. Full Story
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![Camp Mystic in Hunt on July 9, 2025.]()
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More than 800 new laws went into effect in Texas on Sept. 1. Here are some of the significant ones.
New laws range from school vouchers and water infrastructure funding to a ban on city and county-funded abortion travel funds. Full Story
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![The Texas Capitol in Austin June 30, 2025.]()
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1 in 4 Texas school districts sign up for new Bible-infused curriculum
The numbers may grow as the state collects more data. Some districts adopted the plan not for its religious emphasis but for more funding and to better align with teaching requirements. Full Story
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![A desk is distanced six feet apart from other desks at Premont Ernest H. Singleton Early College Academy on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020 in Premont. When the school reopened in June, students held hula hoops around themselves in line to maintain a socially safe distance from each other.]()
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House Democrats’ frustration with STAAR bill highlights divide over how new test should look
Democrats say recent changes to the bill give too much power to the TEA and fall short of meaningfully easing the pressures of standardized testing. Full Story
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![Austin Voices for Education and Youth hosts a summer camp at the Dobie Middle School in Austin on July 23, 2025.]()
Credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune -
“Bathroom bill” advances in Texas House days after tensions flared at hearing
Senate Bill 8, which now heads to the House floor, would restrict which bathrooms in government buildings transgender people would be allowed to use. Full Story
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![House Sergeant-At-Arms, l, and Texas DPS argue with a witness who was later removed from the hearing for rowdyness against HB 8 in THe House State Affairs Committee meeting on August 22, 2025.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
“My daughter was stolen from me": Grieving parents point to Texas camp failures at Capitol hearing
Senate Bill 1, which would require more oversight of emergency plans and evacuation procedures at summer camps, was advanced after the emotional hearing Wednesday. Full Story
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![Cici Williams Steward, mother of Cile Steward, who died in the Camp Mystic flood, gets up after testifying during a panel of Camp Mystic parents testifying before the Senate Select Committee on Disaster Preparedness and Flooding on August 20, 2025. Cile is the only child whose body has still not been recovered.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Learn more about Texas schools: Search our updated K-12 explorer
The Texas Tribune’s database now includes the state education agency’s 2024-25 ratings of public and charter schools. Full Story
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![Temple, Texas - 4/17/25: JoMeka Gray teaches a class of kindergarteners at Kennedy-Powell Elementary in Temple, Texas. Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune -
Vaccine exemption requests in Texas spike in July, as some experts fear more families will opt out
Federal funding cuts to immunization efforts and a new law that allows exemption forms to be downloaded, instead of mailed, could drive up exemptions in the future. Full Story
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![A nurse administers a dose of the Pfizer vaccine at a clinic organized by the Travis County Mobile Vaccine Collaborative at Rodriguez Elementary School on July 28, 2021.]()
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From a cell phone ban to Ten Commandments posters, new state laws bring big changes to Texas schools
Lawmakers also approved new teacher raises, banned DEI initiatives and gave schools more flexibility to discipline students. Full Story
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![A sign depicting the Corpus Christi Independent School District's new cell phone policies is shown outside Calk-Wilson Elementary School in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Aug. 11, 2025.]()
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Texas students’ STAAR scores for this year are out. Here’s how your school or district did.
Test scores rose slightly after math scores previously fell last year. Full Story
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![AUSTIN, TEXAS - July 23, 2025: Austin Voices for Education and Youth, hosts a summer camp at the Dobie Middle School for students that attend the three Austin ISD schools at risk of closure. Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune -
Five Texas school districts at risk of a state takeover after ratings’ release
The state can take control of a school district if at least one of its campuses receives a failing grade five years in a row. Full Story
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![Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath speaks at Harmony Hills Elementary School in San Antonio on Friday, August 15, following the release of state-wide school accountability rankings were released and showing Harmony Hills jumped from a C to an A score in just one year.]()
Credit: Scott Stephen Ball for The Texas Tribune