Education

Education issues are top of mind for Texas lawmakers, who are meeting in Austin right now. The Texas Newsroom’s Blaise Gainey reports, House Speaker Dustin Burrows announced two related filings yesterday. Tomorrow, the Patterson Branch Library will host its 22nd Annual African American History Month Program, celebrating the impact of Black librarians here in Lubbock. The event is Saturday, 2-4 P.M. at 1836 Parkway Dr.

Families participating in the program could receive about 85% of the amount public schools collect for each attending student from the state and local sources.

Our reporter Olivia O'Rand has an update on announcements from the Lubbock Police Department as it continues to expand technologies, including for communication with the public. Yesterday, the chair of the Texas Senate’s Education Committee filed a bill that could boost teacher salaries by thousands of dollars if passed. KUT's Becky Fogel has more.

Yesterday, the Lubbock ISD Board of Trustees unanimously approved a $290 million bond for voters to decide on in May. Our Brad Burt reports that LISD officials say the bond will not increase the district’s tax rate. This Valentine's Day weekend, Lubbock Animal Services is hosting two free adoption events. The first will be Friday 4-6 P.M. at the LAS building located at 3323 Southeast Loop 289. And the second is from noon to 4 P.M. at Paint Rock Coffee Co. located at 2002 Broadway St.

House Bill 3 mandated armed security in each of the state’s more than 8,000 schools, but many districts say it didn’t come with enough funding.

Texas is doing better than most states at catching students up to pre-pandemic reading levels, according the Education Recovery Scorecard. 2025 may be the Year of the Snake, but the Sweetwater Jaycees celebrate the reptilians every year. The Texas Newsroom’s Nina Banks reports on a decades-long tradition of bringing rattlesnakes to the Texas Capitol.

National test scores painted a bleak picture of academic recovery for both Texas and the U.S. following the COVID-19 pandemic. But researchers found that there were positive signs for individual districts.

A measles outbreak is now being reported in West Texas. All of the cases are unvaccinated and there are no confirmed exposure sites outside health care facilities in Lubbock County. Senate Bill 2, which would create a school voucher-like program for Texas, passed in the Texas Senate last week. It's mainly focused on using taxpayer dollars to help families offset the cost of private schooling and, as the Texas Newsroom's Nina Banks reports, it also factors in homeschool families.

After seven hours of debate over SB 2 on the Senate floor Wednesday, the chamber suspended rules so that they could expedite the process and send it to the Texas House for consideration.

Over half of newly hired Texas teachers are uncertified to teach in public schools. Our reporter Brad Burt has more from a recent education forum, where local experts talked about teacher pay, preparedness, retention and the impact on students, particularly in rural schools.