K-12 Education

The state education agency issued guidance to districts after Gov. Greg Abbott directed its commissioner to investigate the student protests of killings by federal agents.

Applications will close March 17, with funding notifications sent to families beginning in early April. The rollout follows a yearslong battle at the Capitol and marks a major victory for the governor after repeated failed attempts to pass similar legislation.

The Texas Education Agency received hundreds of complaints about educators’ online reactions to the conservative activist’s death.

Austin ISD announced the changes in an email to parents Tuesday evening, days after saying its original plan to close 13 schools would move forward.

The district and school board held several feedback meetings with the community before releasing the revised plan. The board is expected to vote on the plan on Nov. 20.

The long-awaited vote survived objections from the panel’s most right-leaning Republicans, who criticized the lessons as “un-American woke indoctrination.”

House Bill 2 includes $4.2 billion for pay raises and nearly $2 billion to overhaul special education.

The Texas House originally passed House Bill 2, a multibillion-dollar school funding package, in April. But the version of the legislation heard Thursday by a panel of Texas senators includes several significant changes from what the House approved.

The sweeping legislation creates Education Savings Accounts, which allow parents to use state tax dollars toward private education costs. With $1 billion in initial funding, Texas’ program is the largest day 1 plan of its kind in the nation.

The Texas House Public Education Committee passed a sweeping school finance proposal on Thursday, along with a bill that would create a program allowing parents to use public funds to pay for private schools.