The 15th Annual Texas Tribune Festival full program is live! If you don't have your ticket yet, you can DM me for a secret coupon code ($30 off).

"What happens when the state’s metrics used to measure success and failure in education are fundamentally at odds with how a community views their schools?" www.texastribune.org/2025/07/30/t...

I wanted to shout out to my "tireless" colleagues at the Texas Tribune reporting on the weekend's flooding, but on Monday morning it's clear that they're very tired. The reporting is insightful, the photos visceral, and the tips for how to help purposeful. www.texastribune.org/series/texas...

"Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, wondered aloud whether the Legislature was 'spending a whole lot of money to give the appearance of doing something rather than taking the problem on to actually solve it.'" www.texastribune.org/2025/06/17/t...

My colleague Carla developed this nifty tool to look up how your Texas state legislators voted on some of the most significant bills this session...and see the current status of those bills. www.texastribune.org/2025/06/13/t...

From Beto to Karl Rove, John Bolton to Maureen Dowd, a former chief justice to the CEO of the Marshall Project...TribFest 2025's lineup of thought leaders is wildly eclectic. I'm really looking forward to it, and hope you can join us. festival.texastribune.org/event/c17d2d...

As we approach the close of the Texas Legislature's 2025 session, our bill tracker summarizes the status of nearly 30 of the most consequential bills, including 7 education-related bills, with hyperlinks to our latest reporting on each. www.texastribune.org/2025/05/20/t...

As a first-year staffer, I've benefited greatly from the baseline of trust the Trib built over the prior 15 years. Sharing a piece that exemplifies a colleague building trust with a new source. Check it out and consider becoming a member- no donation too small. www.texastribune.org/2025/05/08/a...

"The numbers ignore rising costs due to inflation...[and] are also based on data from the 2022-2023 school year, when school districts still had access to unprecedented amounts of temporary federal money allocated to help academic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic."

I'm looking forward to hearing my ever-insightful colleagues Jaden, Eleanor, and Matthew reflect on the numerous education bills still being deliberated in the legislature. You can join us for this free event at Austin's beautiful Central Library on June 11. trib.it/ahPqTG

I don't like to mourn such sad news in public, but I'm hoping I have a rich follower who wants to save a terrific Austin music club.

...and at almost the same time, we published an interactive tool for looking up the recently published ratings for any public school campus or district in Texas. www.texastribune.org/2025/04/24/t...

2022-23 school year data released this morning shows that school ratings declined after the state changed its rating thresholds.

Part VII of Walking Austin’s Neon Wilderness avoided busy streets in favor of a meandering residential route around Deepy Eddy- where we noticed homesteads with more to offer than the brute opulence the area is known for.

Tickets are on sale now for the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Nov. 13–15 in downtown Austin! Get tickets before May 1 and save big. Discounts available for members, students and educators. trib.it/tribfest2025... #TribFest25

Aside from the Schools Explorer, one of my other primary responsibilities at the Tribune is maintaining our Government Salaries Explorer. This morning we posted our quarterly update including state comptroller data from April 1. salaries.texastribune.org

Our Schools Explorer lets you look up demographics, graduation rates, teacher experience, SAT scores and more for any school district or campus in Texas. Updated for the first time in two years to include the latest available data. schools.texastribune.org

The DoE, which may soon be dismantled, had compelled Texas in 2018 to reevaluate students denied special education services because of a cap set by the state to reduce special education costs. www.texastribune.org/2025/04/07/e...

Our school funding explainer and my first proper co-byline provides context around the state's role in funding schools and why many schools are struggling to balance the books. Check out Yuriko's interactive district lookup to see how your school is funded. www.texastribune.org/2025/03/28/t...

Abbott: "...we've been spending countless dollars of American money and not getting results..." Capo: "It has been the only governmental entity holding his administration accountable for guaranteeing parents’ and students’ rights to a free and fair education." www.texastribune.org/2025/03/20/t...

HB 1481 would make Texas the 9th state to impose a cell phone ban in schools. The bill promises to address some parents' concerns about the "negative mental health impacts of cyberbullying and youths’ social media use." www.texastribune.org/2025/03/18/t...

While HB 2 proposes new funding to train uncertified teachers already on staff, some districts fear that restrictions on hiring new uncertified teachers will leave them dependent on larger classroom sizes www.texastribune.org/2025/03/15/t...

News nerds unite! Or news nerds compete against each other? Five rounds of trivia on current events, history, sports, arts and culture, hosted by Texas Tribune and Texas Standard. It’s okay to show up as an individual- we’ll put you on a team. triviawithtxtribuneandtxstandard.splashthat.com

Our data viz team helped put together this interactive explainer which gets into where your Texas water comes from (depending on where you live), when supply will exceed demand, and who to contact to provide input on water planning in your region. www.texastribune.org/2025/03/13/t...

Supporters say a voucher program would primarily benefit low-income students; critics say it would funnel taxpayer dollars away from public schools and largely towards families already paying for private school education. www.texastribune.org/2025/03/11/t...

We’re looking for two politics reporters to join @texastribune.org’s politics team!

Texans deserve to know what’s going on in our state Capitol. Support The Texas Tribune today and your donation will be doubled. #AmplifyAustinDay trib.it/amp25

Texas Association of School Budget Officials school finance survey: 42% of reporting school districts ended SY2023-24 in deficit, 63% expect to end SY2024-25 in deficit www.tasbo.org/news/school-...

Texas school finance reform is "like a Russian novel: it is long, tedious, and everybody dies in the end." -Mark Yudof (former Chancellor of UT) in Chronicle of Higher Education, 2004

From last week- SB 26 proposes performance-based and experience-based teacher salary increases. Education advocates noted the lack of reliance on basic allotment increase or other guaranteed long-term funding to sustain support for these raises. www.texastribune.org/2025/02/18/t...

Correlation, causation, whatever. All I know is, I ha'ent seen nary a Texas-sized roach or cricket in my home since the day I hung this giant beetle illustration by @marthaisermanart.bsky.social

Tribfest is an opportunity to join a conversation with decision makers & thought leaders about the future of education, economy, energy, health care, etc. while supporting our work of promoting a better informed and more civically engaged Texas. tribfest.org

🧵 1/ Part 5 of Walking Austin's Neon Wilderness: East Side by Street, Creek, and Lake. Walking may be the most efficient means of transportation, if you prioritize conversation (with yourself and others) and noticing things...

Both the House and Senate propose shoring up funding to help schools address the 2023 HB 3 school safety mandate, but will that be enough? www.texastribune.org/2025/02/10/s...

Overview of k12 education legislation deliberated in Texas this session- including teacher salaries, vouchers, teacher training, special education, DEI, career training. www.texastribune.org/2025/02/11/t...

ICYMI: Fiscal analysis by the Legislative Budget Board projects that voucher program costs could exceed $4.5 billion by 2030, and half of 350k current private school students would apply www.texastribune.org/2025/02/05/t...

State Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock and chair of the Senate Committee on Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs, will discuss water infrastructure and other 2025 legislative priorities with Texas Tribune Editor-in-Chief Matthew Watkins. In Austin or online 8 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 13. trib.it/61pZG9

While the Trump administration slashed protections against immigration enforcement at schools and churches, Plyler v. Doe ruled that states can't deny an education based on citizenship status, and FERPA requires schools to protect children's personal info. www.texastribune.org/2025/01/23/t...

Vouchers, amongst the most contentious proposals in Texas legislature today, refer to programs allowing parents to use taxpayer dollars to subsidize their children’s private schooling. We published a guide pulling together two years of reporting and analysis. www.texastribune.org/2025/01/23/t...

Following a group member’s recommendation, I led Walking Austin’s Neon Wilderness down Shoal Creek Boulevard last weekend for our 4th walk. We crossed the boulevard's namesake creek a few times...

“I think the biggest thing is fear of the unknown” - Ralph Carter, Hereford ISD superintendent www.texastribune.org/2025/01/18/t...

No texting and walking. A cactus might attack you.

ProPublica's new tool makes it easy to see racial differences between public and private schools projects.propublica.org/private-scho...

Water is life, water is essential to the economy, water infrastructure is expensive.

News nerds particularly may know the kind and talented @jazzmyth.bsky.social . Jasmine Mithani's parents and three-legged cat Shiloh lost their home in the Eaton Fire, which caused so much damage to Altadena, California. www.gofundme.com/f/help-mitha...

"Despite the state's public education funding increasing to almost $67.5 billion, its buying power shrank from $51.4 billion in 2016 to $44.9 billion this year" due to inflation. www.statesman.com/story/news/e...

Our journalists brought life to the experiences of everyday Texans, held powerful institutions accountable and surfaced stories that went beyond the daily news cycles. Here are some of the best reads from the Texas Tribune. www.texastribune.org/2024/12/24/t...

"The Texas Tribune has identified…where Texas has built its border wall, information the state keeps secret as it pours billions into the highly touted infrastructure project [which] has so far yielded little return" apps.texastribune.org/features/202...