It’s Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Hey y’all, happy Wednesday!

I’m reporting to you from Santa Fe this week, where I’m attending the State Education Association Communicators conference with the National Education Association.

In today’s edition, you’ll find coverage on another lengthy Texas House Public Education Committee hearing, which took place Monday and focused on the money House Bill 2 has provided to schools for teacher pay, educator training, and special education.

You’ll also learn how Fort Worth residents are rallying behind a newly hired principal that was reassigned due to xenophobia in Fort Worth ISD, and we shake up June’s Texas Banned Book Club to celebrate Pride Month.

You can read last week’s edition here.

Katie Serrano

DFW Political Correspondent, COURIER Texas

Lawmakers discuss $8B public school funding boost

Image via Screenshot/Texas House of Representatives

During a 10 hour meeting on Monday, the Texas House Public Education Committee discussed $8 billion in funding the Texas Legislature allocated to Texas public schools last year. Lawmakers discussed the impact of HB 2 on teacher recruitment, retention, and special education programs.

But the consensus from educators who testified is that the influx of cash still isn’t enough to combat inflation, with districts cutting jobs and closing campuses.

The new law also increased teacher pay based on years of experience and districts’ enrollment, and it expanded Texas’ pay-for-performance system, allowing more teachers to qualify for raises.

However, some district leaders shared that this system leaves behind other crucial support staff like bus drivers, librarians, and nurses.

“ Support staff do educational work,” state Rep. James Talarico (D-Austin), who is on the committee and in attendance, said. “Bus drivers are usually the ones first checking on the kids in the morning, and they’re the last ones they see when they leave at the end of the day, and they can sometimes be the first line of defense of noticing if something’s wrong with a kid or if there’s a problem that teachers in the classroom need to know about. So we gotta take care of those educators as well.”

These funding deficits can be linked to declining enrollment, since Texas public schools receive funding based on attendance, meaning they receive less money if fewer students show up to class.

Texas’ private school voucher program also became law last year and starts next school year, which could result in additional funding loss if students leave public school campuses for private schools.

Things are so dire, one campus can’t even afford football:

Has your district felt the squeeze?

Let me know

Fort Worth ISD principal pushed out over far-right conservative backlash days after she was hired

Shayma Alzubi was announced as the new principal of Western Hills High School at the end of May. She’s worked at the district for over a decade.

The announcement, which included a photo of Alzubi wearing a Muslim hijab, was circulated online by far-right social media accounts that urged their followers to contact the district’s superintendent and request her removal.

Texas State Board of Education members Brandon Hall, a far-right conservative pastor who represents Fort Worth, and Julie Pickren, a January 6 insurrectionist who represents parts of Beaumont and Galveston, are calling for an investigation by the Texas Education Agency.

Following the backlash, Fort Worth ISD announced that Alzubi will be reassigned pending the outcome of an investigation.

The district claims Alzubi’s past social media posts, which include statements and photographs in support of Black Lives Matter, Palestine, COVID-19 mask mandates, and Muslim scripture, may not align with the district’s policy or expectations for staff.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, Faith Power Alliance, MAS-Dallas, along with interfaith partners and educators, are calling for her reinstatement, claiming the move is religious discrimination and an “online anti-Muslim witch hunt.” The groups held a press conference on Thursday, rallying behind Alzubi.

The district’s investigation comes amid rising anti-Muslim rhetoric in North Texas. During a Fort Worth ISD Board Workshop meeting Monday night, chaos broke out after an attendee started yelling about banning Sharia Law in Texas.

Earlier this month, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the city of Grand Prairie to shut down a private Muslim event set to take place at a rented out water park. He’s also declared CAIR DFW, which is a Muslim civil rights advocacy organization, as a foreign terrorist group, and adamantly opposes an Islamic community center development outside of Dallas.

🌽Native American farming traditions are transforming an Austin ISD school: The Central Texas Cherokee Township and Partners for Education, Agriculture and Sustainability (or PEAS) are growing Native Cherokee crops such as corn and beans on a small farm at Cunningham Elementary to teach students and families about sustainable agriculture, culture, and history. (Texas Tribune)

🏫Austin ISD is one step closer to a state takeover: The Texas Education Agency has rejected a proposal from Austin ISD meant to give the district more time to remediate three failing campuses before the state intervenes. (KUT)

👮Study finds police in Texas schools have used heavy-handed tactics on students: Following the Robb Elementary shooting in Uvalde, police officers assigned to Texas schools have pepper-sprayed and tased students in response to routine disciplinary issues, according to a new study. (Texas Standard)

For the month of June, we’re going to be doing the Texas Banned Book Club a little differently.

It’s Pride Month, and conservative lawmakers have continued to crack down on LGBTQ+ initiatives in public schools, which has trickled into book bans and censorship on library shelves. According to the American Library Association, out of the 4,235 titles targeted in 2025, 1,671 represent the lived experience of LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC people.

That’s why this month, instead of picking one book to read, each week I’ll showcase a banned book with LGBTQ+ themes that’s been banned for you to add to your own reading list. And don’t forget, we’ve already read a couple of books with LGBTQ+ themes in previous months, including “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” by George M. Johnson and “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe,” by Benjamin Alire Sáenz.

To kick us off, I want to spotlight a graphic novel series called “Heartstopper” by Alice Oseman. It follows the coming-of-age story and romance between two British high schoolers, Charlie Spring and Nick Nelson. There are six volumes to the story, and it’s also become a TV series on Netflix.

It was banned in Lamar Consolidated ISD in 2024 and Nacogdoches ISD in 2025, and has been praised for its themes of found family and acceptance, and its anti-bullying message. Have you read this graphic novel before?