EDUCATION
How North Texas colleges work to keep pre-med students in the health care pipeline
| December 3, 2025
Five months into college, Brian Mata sees the difference between exploring science in a high school lab and surviving a course in a university lecture hall.
Texas’ private school voucher program is starting. Here’s what to know.
| December 3, 2025
Rules for the state’s new $1 billion private school voucher program were finalized on Nov. 25. Here’s what you need to know about the controversial initiative.
Texas schools are using AI to ban more books
| November 26, 2025
AI | book ban | EDUCATION | EXCO-Player | local politics | old texas | public education | public schools | TEXAS
School boards across Texas that are struggling to comply with a new state law restricting “inappropriate” materials on library shelves are turning to artificial intelligence for help.
Why Texas students need school libraries
| November 26, 2025
Watch as Amanda Jones, author of “That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America,” shares how school libraries help boost student performance and what happens when libraries are turned into disciplinary centers or computer labs.
Jones’ comments came during an event at Half Price Books in Dallas on Saturday.
Far-right conservatives are rewriting Texas history. Education advocates are sounding the alarm.
| November 26, 2025
DFW TEXED EXCLUSIVE | EDUCATION | K-12 education | Republicans | state board of education | TEXAS | Texas Lead Story
Education advocates are raising concerns over a new panel stacked with conservatives that will reshape how social studies are taught in Texas public schools.
Voters stopped a right-wing takeover of a Houston-area school board
| November 18, 2025
In early November, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD voters elected three new trustees to their school board, breaking a conservative majority that was elected in 2023.
Gina Hinojosa urges Fort Worth to fight for its public schools
| November 3, 2025
DFW | DFW TEXED EXCLUSIVE | EDUCATION | FORT WORTH | fort worth isd | TEA | texas education agency | Texas Lead Story
State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, a Democrat running for governor, answered questions and called on community members to fight back against Fort Worth ISD’s state takeover at a town hall on Saturday.
‘100% about politics’: Lawmakers denounce Fort Worth ISD takeover
| October 28, 2025
DFW | DFW TEXED EXCLUSIVE | FORT WORTH | fort worth isd | fwisd | TEA | texas education agency | Texas Lead Story
Fort Worth ISD officials can defend the district during an informal review on Thursday. A state takeover would mean sweeping changes to the district’s local leadership.
Judge blocks new Texas law restricting free speech on college campuses
| October 24, 2025
CIVIL RIGHTS | EXCO-Player | HIGHER ED | HIGHER EDUCATION | local politics | old texas | TEXAS | TEXAS LEGISLATURE
A federal judge has temporarily blocked parts of a new Texas law that limits speech on college campuses after students sued over infringements to their First Amendment rights.
UT won’t say if it accepted Trump’s pledge targeting trans, international students
| October 21, 2025
college | COLLEGE STUDENTS | DFW TEXED EXCLUSIVE | EDUCATION | educators | HIGHER EDUCATION | public education | TEXAS | Texas Lead Story
The Trump administration offered preferential funding to nine colleges that agreed to pledge loyalty to his conservative agenda. The University of Texas has yet to publicly respond to the offer.
New Braunfels ISD shutters school libraries
| October 20, 2025
austin | book bans | DFW TEXED EXCLUSIVE | EXCO-Player | library | local politics | old texas | public schools | TEXAS
New Braunfels ISD banned middle and high school students from campus libraries while the district reviews nearly 200,000 materials. It’s part of the district’s response to a new Texas law that prohibits books with “indecent, profane, or sexually explicit” material.
Lawmaker wants state takeover of Houston ISD to end
| October 14, 2025
Congress | EDUCATION | EXCO-Player | HTX | local politics | old texas | public education | TEXAS | TEXAS HOUSE
Texas Representative Charlene Ward Johnson (D-Houston) criticized the Texas Education Agency’s decision to extend its takeover of Houston ISD until June 1, 2027.
Speaking on Saturday at the Education Leadership Policy Convening in Atlanta, Rep. Ward Johnson advocated for a return to local governance, asserting the community’s right to its elected board.