Hey y’all, 

School is back in session for millions of Texas students.

Fort Worth ISD students are headed back to campuses that will look different from previous years after the district was taken over by the state in 2025. Learn more about the changes coming to their classrooms this school year below.

You’ll also learn how a local nonprofit is providing classroom and school supplies for Texas teachers, and find information on a second higher education lawsuit filed by faculty and staff over new ongoing censorship policies.

But before we dive into this week’s news, check out this interview with state Rep. Lauren Ashley Simmons (D-Houston) who is warning that the passage of private school vouchers is doing “exactly what critics warned.”

If you missed last week’s edition, read it here.

Students at Fort Worth Independent School District are headed back to school on campuses that look different than last year. 

The district was taken over by the state in October 2025 after one of its campuses received a failing accountability rating for five consecutive years. As part of the takeover, Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath appointed new leadership, including Peter Licata as the new superintendent, ahead of this school year. 

The takeover has sparked community and parent backlash after the newly appointed board of managers closed a campus dedicated to immigrant and refugee students, fired a newly hired Muslim principal, sparked a mass exodus of over 1,000 teachers, and cut several staff positions.

As part of the takeover, teachers will have to follow much stricter rules and guidelines related to how they run their classrooms: Teachers will no longer allow students to put their head down or end class early, and instruction will be ongoing in classrooms until the bell rings. Classroom lights must remain on and teachers must use limited decorations. Refrigerators and microwaves are no longer allowed in classrooms due to the high electric bills, according to Licata. 

Lessons will also be standardized across the district.

One of the biggest changes this year is the introduction of the Elevate Network, which was created by Licata and the new board of managers. It includes 19 of Fort Worth ISD’s lowest-performing campuses, and features scripted curriculum, a longer school year, and higher teacher pay. Schools will need a C accountability rating grade or better for two consecutive years to graduate out of the program.

By Noemi Castanon

Karen Olivo, an art teacher at South Hills HighSchool in Fort Worth, doesn’t know what she’d do without The Welman Project. The nonprofit that gives educators free school supplies has been a godsend during Olivo’s six years as a public school teacher and has helped close a resource gap left by years of bare bones funding for public schools across Texas.

“In this economy and society that we live in today teachers aren’t really given the support that they need most of the time,” she said. “Having a place like Welman is like a huge weight off of you.” 

In November of 2015 The Welman Project was established to help educators with resources for their classrooms—73% of public schools in Texas are currently underfunded, and teachers typically receive no money for their classroom needs. A 2025 report shows that the average teacher in the US spends about $895 out of pocket for classroom items each year.

Taylor Willis and Vanessa Rohrer, cofounders of the Welman Project, saw what already underpaid teachers were spending and wanted to create a resource that could help.

A group of professors is suing Texas A&M University over a new policy implemented last year that restricts how race, sexual orientation, and gender can be taught in the classroom.

The policy has resulted in restrictions, censorship, and cancellations across several courses, including banning Plato’s writings on gender in a philosophy course. 

The lawsuit was filed Monday on behalf of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), along with Texas A&M Professors Leonard Bright, Vanita Reddy, Landon Sadler, and Aaron George in the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas against the 12-university system. 

The faculty is arguing that the censorship policy is “unconstitutionally vague” and violates the First Amendment by discriminating against certain viewpoints.

The coalition is emulating faculty and staff at Texas Tech University, who filed a similar lawsuit just last month over comparable policies implemented on their campus.

Throughout August we’re reading the novel “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros. It was removed from Brazosport, Jim Hogg County, and Rains ISDs last school year, and follows Esperanza Cordero, a young Mexican-American girl growing up in a Chicago neighborhood through a series of vignettes.

Here are three more discussion questions as you make your way through the book:

1. How does Esperanza’s confidence change during these stories?

2. What symbolism do you see in “Four Skinny Trees”?

3. Some schools have objected to the book’s references to gender roles and emerging sexuality. Why do you think authors include these topics in stories about adolescence?