Posted on · PEN America has tracked a nationwide growth of laws and bills that — since 2021 — have impinged on educational free speech rights. The organization says 2023 saw 22 state legislatures approve more than 100 bills it calls “educational gag orders.
Posted on · A version of the bill that would send public money to private schools passed through a Senate committee on Thursday. Gov. Greg Abbott made such legislation one of his top priorities in this fourth special legislative session.
Posted on · State lawmakers made vaping or possession of a vape at school punishable by mandatory assignment to a Disciplinary Alternative Education Program. School districts now have to adopt the policy to comply with the law.
Posted on · A new Texas law going into effect Sept. 1 could put chaplains in public schools as counselors.
Posted on · A new report from PEN America shows expanding censorship of books, especially those centered on themes of race, history, sexual orientation and gender.
Posted on · The park will be the company’s first in Texas, and will cater to families and young children.
Posted on · The Houston Independent School District, the state’s largest, is short nearly 1,000 teachers with the first day of school roughly a month away.
Posted on · Across Texas, there are 15 single-member State Board of Education districts, and every seat is on the ballot this election. The SBOE makes important decisions about things like public school curriculum and what textbooks are used.
Posted on · The study analyzed the written free expression policies of close to 500 colleges and universities. Three Texas schools were ranked harshly and given “red light” status for restrictive speech policies, while most Texas schools earned a “yellow light” rating, which is average.
Posted on · At the beginning of next month, more than 650 new state laws take effect. Leading up to Sept. 1, public radio reporters from across Texas are explaining some of the most high profile and consequential of those laws. Today: HB 3979, which targets teaching critical race theory in schools.
Posted on · Cracking down on Critical Race Theory is on Gov. Greg Abbott's agenda for the Texas legislative special session that began this week. But Texas educators say they don't teach it, and experts say most people — including critics — don’t even know what is.
Posted on · "We loved the teachers, the faculty, everybody. But with all of the COVID regulations, it seemed hard for them to learn in front of a computer screen for 8 hours a day," Trisha Gilchrist said.
Posted on · The rise of COVID-19 cases in Texas led the state's education commissioner to allow school districts to keep classes online through their first eight weeks, if they choose — a big chunk of the school year.
Posted on · The University of North Texas says it has opened the state’s first college cafeteria free of the “big 8” ingredients that cause most food allergies.
Posted on · Texas-based Nokona has been making baseball gloves since 1934. Most of their domestic competition has moved operations overseas where America's oldest professional sport is little known.