Education

In Sunday’s State of the State Address, Texas Governor Greg Abbott declared water issues an emergency item that Texas legislators should take on this session. The Texas Newsroom's Blaise Gainey has more on a potential Educations Savings Account program being debated on the Texas Senate floor today.

KERA’s Olla Mokhtar reports the ACLU and other advocacy organizations are urging Texas school districts to reject the state’s new K-5 curriculum, Bluebonnet Learning, because of its emphasis on Christianity. On Tuesday, the City of Lubbock Animal Services is giving away free spay and neuter vouchers beginning at 1 P.M. at the Lubbock Animal Services building at 3323 SE Loop 289.

Changes to state standardized tests have made it difficult to compare how Texas students are doing in school in recent years, but national tests known as the Nation’s Report Card can provide clarity.

A proposal to create a school voucher-like plan for Texas was advanced by the Texas Senate Education Committee on Tuesday night, giving voucher supporters like Gov. Greg Abbott their first major win of the legislative session.

A bill has been filed in the Texas Senate that would set aside up to $10,000 in public funds for parents to send their kids to private school. The Texas Newsrooms Blaise Gainey says critics claim that amount isn’t enough to make the program successful. An Odessa economist says President Trump's policy shifts may not have a huge effect on crude oil production. Tomorrow morning at 7 A.M., Lubbock Mayor Mark McBrayer and District 4 councilman Brayden Rose are hosting Coffee with the Mayor at the Market Street at 4205 98th Street.

Under SB 2, families enrolling their children in private school would receive $10,000 per year, or $11,500 if the student has a disability, through what’s called an education savings account. Supporters say it would be “the largest day one ESA program in the nation.”

In 2023, Texas passed a DEI ban at the state’s public universities. Now Abbott wants the state to stop funding diversity programs in K-12 schools.

Following his election as Speaker of the Texas House, Lubbock Representative Dustin Burrows announced former Texas Tech chancellor Robert Duncan as Chief of Staff for the legislative session. Our reporter Olivia O'Rand has more on the upcoming retirement of Lubbock-Cooper Independent School District's superintendent Keith Bryant. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission says the data of as many as 61,000 individuals may have been improperly accessed by agency employees and recommends folks review their accounts.

Ad Astra School has opened around the corner from Elon Musk’s corporate compound in rural Central Texas. Nonprofit filings show secondary schools and a university are also planned.

Midland County Commissioners on Tuesday adopted a new policy that will create a committee tasked with determining whether books at local libraries are appropriate for children and teenagers.