Texas Third Court of Appeals: ISD employees don’t lose their state-law-guaranteed employment rights by working in ISD/charter partnership campuses.
Girls flag football, basketball shot clock and Folklorico — and a balanced budget — among major action items.
Fifth Circuit: A rejected applicant for an ISD school resource officer position waited too late to claim he was illegally retaliated against for previously filing a grievance against the district.
A school board must conduct further proceedings before the education commissioner can …
Ruling: An Hispanic-American ex-ISD teacher’s racial discrimination claim against his former district fails because he couldn’t show that he was treated less favorably than a similarly situated employee outside his protected class under nearly identical circumstances.
Ruling: An insurer can continue pursuing its workers’ comp lawsuit against the family of a teacher killed in a van accident in Mexico 18 years ago.
The table below summarizes the final outcome of the major party races to fill the…
Ruling: Prior judicial rulings dismissing a former school bus driver’s discrimination lawsuit are affirmed.
A federal judge this week largely allowed a copyright lawsuit by the Texas Association of…
Ruling: An ISD is not federally liable over claims that an allegedly racist special-ed student repeatedly verbally and physically harassed an African American special-ed student.
Ruling: A former ISD police officer couldn’t show he was illegally fired for a Facebook “prayer” he posted.
Ruling: A state appeals court should not have entirely dismissed a lawsuit pitting a group of taxpayers and an ISD against another ISD.
Sixth/final article in a series.
Dallas-based Nova Academy has withdrawn its application to TEA to permanently close and transfer its students to a sister charter located elsewhere in Dallas County.
Education Commissioner Mike Morath recently approved Goodwater Montessori School’s application to permanently close, effective July 31, 2026.
Fifth in a series
Fourth in a series.
Third in a continuing series.
Five of the 18 (“Generation 31”) applicants seeking to open new charter districts no earlier…
Ruling: School board members don’t have to appeal to the education commissioner before suing their districts for withholding documents to which they are entitled.
The TEA’s latest annual school safety report finds that although most campuses met required security…
The TEA is accepting public comments on a proposed new rule to create statewide safety…
Social studies, literacy lists, ISD parent rights training, commissioner’s comments, etc.
Highlights from the April 12, 2026, UIL Medical Advisory Committee (MAC) meeting.
Appeals Court: A special purpose school district can’t block a building contractor’s breach-of-contract lawsuit against the district arising from cost overruns for a new adult-ed facility due to city permitting delays.
Second in a series.
Ruling: The former owner of real property had a good excuse for missing the two-year deadline to recover the excess funds left over from the property’s foreclosure sale for back taxes to an ISD.
Appeals Court: A state Comptroller’s decision that would reportedly cost a school district half of its supplemental state aid entitlement is upheld, despite an error on the Comptroller’s part.
First in a series.
The Texas Supreme Court (TSC) today (March 27, 2026) announced it has accepted an appeal…
Ruling: A judge should have dismissed a discrimination/wrongful termination lawsuit a fired charter teacher filed against the charter and up to 25 unnamed co-defendants.
Ruling: Although an ex-ISD employee can continue litigating his claim that he was improperly denied extra “premium pay” for working in-person during the COVID pandemic, his various other claims are dismissed.
Appeals Court: A company met the criteria to not be subject to property taxation for “pre-sold” crude oil being stored in Texas that was awaiting shipment to foreign countries.
The Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct this month publicly reprimanded Wilson County Justice of…
The TEA is reporting that 69,853 individual students were on Texas charter admission waitlists as…
The federal copyright infringement lawsuit (article) that the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) filed…
Don’t blame Education Commissioner Mike Morath if Texas educators were investigated due to their comments…
Appeals Court: A jury — not a judge — may have to decide the outcome of the religious discrimination/retaliation lawsuit an ex-Harmony charter employee filed against the charter.
Ruling: An ISD can’t avoid being sued over unpaid Hurricane Harvey repair bills.
Fifth Circuit: A teacher can continue pursuing a portion of her federal lawsuit claiming her principal violated her rights in banning staff from participating in a before-school prayer event because students might be present.
Texas Fifteenth Court of Appeals: A state district judge acted too hastily in ordering the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) to release most of its records regarding the Uvalde CISD Robb Elementary tragedy.
U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals: An ISD is not federally liable over claims that district personnel did not do enough to stop an elementary student from sexually harassing another student.
Ruling: The education commissioner lacks the authority to overrule a school district’s disciplinary action against a student who sent a text threatening to “shoot up” the school.
Ruling: An ISD’s board violated state education law by not holding a hearing on an ex-employee’s grievance.
Ruling: An ISD’s policy on reviewing and removing library books does not violate state law.
Attorneys for the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) and Texans for Excellence in Education…
Ruling: An ISD can’t sue a special-purpose-district industrial park on a broken promise claim because the industrial park enjoys full governmental immunity protections.
Fifth Circuit: Ex-special-ed administrator lacks constitutional protections against being retaliated against for reporting, to his principal, that teachers had mistreated special-ed students, and for cooperating with a CPS investigation.
The TEA’s 2026 Statewide Plan for Student Mental Health outlines how schools should expand access…
Twenty-seven ISDs and charters received less than full Accredited statuses for SY 2025-26 — including…
Ruling: A judge should have dismissed a breach-of-contract lawsuit a mother filed over claims that her daughter deserved the top cheerleader officer position.
Texas school employees claiming that they were subject to retaliation for commenting about Charlie Kirk…
Fewer concussions were reported among Texas high school athletes and students in urban and lower…
Ruling: An ISD can’t block an ex-administrator’s lawsuit against the district from moving forward at the trial court level.
Special meeting planned, annual report, Bluebonnet errors, “literary lists,” social studies, ISD board parental rights training, library rules, etc.
A new TEA report to the Legislature chronicles the explosive interest in the agency’s Texas Mobile STEM Laboratories program.
Ruling: A school board can’t shirk its responsibility to consider a parental grievance by invoking a lack-of-a-quorum board meeting loophole.
The justices deemed the lawsuit to be moot because Darryl George has graduated and is no longer subject to the policy.
Accused teacher who helped leak confidential info about his student accuser loses education commissioner appeal.
U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of AppealsRuling: A charter district properly fired an employee — who…
An effort by Barbers Hill ISD (BHISD) Superintendent Greg Poole and former BHISD board member…
Sixteen of the 18 latest (“Generation 31”) applicants seeking to open new charter districts no…
Texans for Excellence in Education (TEE) this week asked a federal judge to dismiss (via…
Calvin Walker — the man convicted of bilking Beaumont ISD (BISD) out of $1.2 million — has lost his final bid to keep his Master Electrician and Electrical Contractor’s licenses.
Education Commissioner Mike Morath didn’t waste any time approving Houston-based Yellowstone College Preparatory‘s request to…
Appeals Court: A judge should have dismissed an age discrimination lawsuit filed by a former ISD assistant transportation director.
Ruling: Although an ISD failed to show that its human resource’s director committed fraud, the…
Fifth Circuit: A federal judge properly dismissed a former substitute’s teacher’s claims that her firing was in retaliation for her discussing — with various district officials — her suspicions that federal funds were the subject of fraud or theft.
Ruling: An education commissioner’s decision — siding with an ISD over an administrator’s probationary contract termination challenge — should not have been overturned by a judge.
Ruling: Although an ISD made a “laudable effort” to ensure a special-ed student progressed academically, the district failed in its responsibility to address his severe behavioral issues that included the student’s tendency to frequently run away from school.
Commissioner’s comments, instructional materials, charter schools, parental rights, controversial “public comments” and more
ISDs and charters very soon will have the option of allowing students to participate in…
The Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) this week filed a federal lawsuit (press release)…
Ruling: An ISD’s refusal to award weighted credit to a student who took a junior…
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton today (Nov. 17, 2025) issued AG Opinion KP-0503 — concluding that under 2007 legislation (HB1287):
Ruling: A parent (and her attorney) can view — but not “receive” — video surveillance footage that the parent claims may have captured a teacher’s alleged assault of her special-ed child. That’s because the footage is not the subject of litigation the parent has filed.
Ex-Houston ISD teacher who got a $28,360.44 settlement check for resigning now owes the district $20,869.35.
Fifth Circuit: An ISD correctly concluded that a student didn’t qualify for dyslexia-related special-ed services because the student was chronically absent from school — and because her parents refused the district’s offer to have her tested for learning disabilities.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton today (Nov. 7, 2025) separately announced he has filed a…
Ruling: An ISD’s board properly voided its chief financial officer’s employment contract because the contract…
Ruling: An ISD properly nonrenewed a teacher’s contract over his reported admission that he had…
Ruling: A superintendent and former school board member will have to give depositions in a well-publicized court case in which some say the district’s hair policy discriminates against black males.
U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals: A public university professor loses his Free Speech lawsuit because he “self-censored” his comments over fears — that never materialized — that he would be retaliated against for those comments.
Texas Fourteenth Court of Appeals (Houston)
Ruling: A charter school has immunity from being sued by an ex-employee who claimed she was fired for reporting suspected child abuse to child protective services (CPS).
Foreign exchange students, sports ejections, cheerleaders, volunteer coaches and more.
The Texas Supreme Court (TSC) this morning (Oct. 24, 2025) dealt the final blow to…
Texas Thirteenth Court of Appeals (Corpus Christi-Edinburg)
Ruling: An ISD and school board member have sovereign immunity from being sued over an ex-administrator’s claims that she lost her job in retaliation for not placing the trustee’s daughter on the dean’s list.
Texas Sixth Court of Appeals (Texarkana) Ruling: An educator preparation program had justifiable reasons for not recommending a teacher certification candidate for standard certification.
With a few exceptions, the State Auditor concludes in a report issued today (Oct. 16,…
Texas Second Court of Appeals: Questions revolving around a conversation in which two (now former) public college employees secretly recorded must be answered to determine whether a lawsuit filed by one of the ex-employees against the college must be dismissed.
Whether an 18-year-old Texas law requires the State Board of Education (SBOE) to adopt a religious literature curriculum (TEKS) is the focus of this request for a state attorney general’s opinion submitted by SBOE Chair Aaron Kinsey, R-Midland.
Since President Trump’s second inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE)…
Ruling: An ISD is not federally liable for a student-on-student sexual assault that occurred on a school bus that was captured on bus surveillance video.
The UIL has begun posting proposed contest rule changes submitted by league staff in advance…
After a winning a hard-fought battle for state approval 2023, a new charter district planned for Houston won’t open after all.
Ruling: A “Chapter 313” tax abatement agreement between an ISD and a company became invalid due to the application not being amended to contain updated info about a merger involving the affected company.
TRS has targeted a McAllen bank building to be the site of its second regional…
A Texas Supreme Court justice detailed the reasons why Fort Bend ISD must release the phone logs of communications pertaining to the district’s business that were sent to and from cell phones (and other devices) that were personally owned by 10 district employees and board members six years ago.
Parental rights, a “cap flap,” Morath’s comments, Social Studies “Framework,” etc.
Highlights from the Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, UIL Medical Advisory Committee (MAC) meeting (agenda).
Ruling: An ISD has legal immunity from being federally sued by the children of a teaching assistant who reportedly died from injuries sustained from being physically assaulted in her classroom by a special-ed student.
School employees won’t be violating a new law if they use Band Aids and ice…
Ruling: An ISD took the proper steps in expelling a special-ed ninth grade student for drawing a knife on another student at school.
The Texas Supreme Court announced today that it would not consider Elijah Granger’s appeal of his voided $2,036,567.07 severance agreement with Lancaster ISD.
Texas Fifth Court of Appeals: A former special education director’s nonrenewal is upheld because she couldn’t show that the employment contract she “accepted” actually existed — and because she didn’t appeal her nonrenewal to the education commissioner before suing the district.
Texas Fifteenth Appeals Court: TRS and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas have sovereign immunity protections over being sued by a teacher who claimed she was misled into believing she would be reimbursed for the $48,500 she spent on surgery.
KISD’s decision to rehire a teacher despite his troubled past allowed the teacher to sexually molest a student — and justifies a jury’s $250,000 damage award against the district.
The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is proposing to remove private schools from the…
One charter was revoked, four charters were nonrenewed and seven charters voluntarily closed.
Ruling: A principal has (thus far) failed to show that she has legal immunity against parental claims that she failed to protect their five-year-old daughter from being repeatedly sexually molested at school by a substitute teacher.
The TEA on Friday (Aug. 15, 2025) officially opened the Generation 31 cycle for charter…
Ruling: A school district can’t arbitrarily block a parent’s special-ed grievance from reaching the school board level for a decision just because the TEA has ruled on the parent’s separate special-ed complaint to the agency.
Fifth Circuit: A federal judge’s dismissal of a lawsuit — claiming that an ISD should be held culpable for the alleged sexual harassment and abuse of a high school student by two teachers — is upheld.
The TEA on Friday posted the 2024-25 preliminary Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST) data (based on SY 2023-24 data).
An appeal to the education commissioner over an ISD’s disqualification of a graduating senior for the senior class trip to Florida is dismissed because the trip has been completed (and for other reasons).
An ISD justifiably fired an elementary principal for not immediately and adequately investigating an alleged incident at her school — and for taking too long (five days) to report the alleged incident to district higher-ups.
Ruling: The education commissioner lacks the legal authority to consider a school board member’s complaint…
Ruling: A school district taxpayer — who has no children enrolled in the district —…
A total of 7,422 individual Texas school bus drivers reported that — on Wednesday, April 23, 2025 — they collectively observed 8,777 vehicles illegally passing their stopped school buses.
U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Ruling: A high school graduate’s federal lawsuit accusing her…
An accounting firm’s report that was commissioned by an attorney that an ISD hired to investigate alleged financial irregularities can be withheld under the Texas Public Information Act.
A three-member U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals panel on Monday (July 14, 2025), unanimously…
Ruling: UT Austin has not completely proven that it has ended illegal race based considerations of prospective students.
Concerns that a newly passed school board contracting law could play havoc on the way…
Whether the state’s top health official is empowered to order school administrators to bar measles-exposed…
Commissioner’s comments, charter school approvals/rejections, ISD board training “framework,” American Indian/Native American Course … and more.
The Texas Supreme Court (TSC) today (June 27, 2025) announced that it has accepted an…
Ruling: An independent hearing examiner did nothing wrong by holding a scheduled due process hearing…
Ruling: A school board’s decision to deny a grievance filed by two former board members is upheld.
Texas Ninth Court of Appeals (Beaumont)Ruling: An ISD is not liable for a $400,000+ Hurricane…
Ruling: An ISD board’s firing of its superintendent was justified due to evidence that she…
The UIL Legislative Council during its summer meeting in Austin effectively said “not yet” to…
Ruling: A school bus dealer and a school bus manufacturer can’t have the lawsuit that the parents of a student killed in a school bus related accident filed against them moved from Dallas County.
TRS ActiveCare rates and premiums for 2025-26 — starting Sept. 1, 2025 — are now…
The TEA on Friday afternoon (May 30, 2025) posted the commissioner’s six selections — under…
The Texas Supreme Court (TSC) on Friday (May 30, 2025) announced it has agreed to…
Tariffs on goods imported to the U.S. could potentially impact the UIL’s budget for the…
U.S. Fifth Circuit: An ISD has legal immunity from being sued by the children of a teaching assistant who reportedly died from injuries sustained from being physically assaulted in her classroom by a special-ed student.
Texas Third Court of Appeals: ISD employees don’t lose their state-law-guaranteed employment rights by working in ISD/charter partnership campuses.
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rules in a disabled Aldine ISD employee’s lawsuit over her service dog.
The TEA is in the midst of conducting the required “capacity interviews” for the seven…
Athletic coaches and trainers of UIL 6A schools logged a total of 5,265 student athlete…
Texas Second Court of Appeals (Fort Worth) Ruling: A lawsuit filed by a teacher who resigned in lieu of her contract being nonrenewed is dismissed.
Ruling: An ISD should have obtained parental written permission before administering two psychological “screenings” to…
Ruling: A school board must first make specific findings that library books challenged by a…
Ruling: A construction company — that an ISD abruptly ordered to stop work on a multi-million dollar facilities project — can’t pursue a breach-of-contract lawsuit against the district because the company failed to make the state-law required disclosures of expensive gifts it gave several district officials prior to being awarded the contract.
Texas Fourth Court of Appeals (San Antonio) A judge’s order that an ISD must hold an election to fill the unexpired term of a school board member who died is voided.
Texas Thirteenth Court of Appeals (Corpus Christi-Edinburg)Ruling: An ISD isn’t liable for a “fender bender”…
The April 10-11 board meeting was the final meeting for the board in the 50+…
Seven applicants — under the TEA’s traditional approval cycle — remain in the running for…
Sixth (and final) article a series.
Highlights from the weekend UIL Medical Advisory Committee meeting.
Educator misconduct, controversial SBEC rule, new charter approved, innovative courses, school board “framework.”
Texas Thirteenth Court of Appeals (Corpus Christi-Edinburg)
Ruling: Despite winning $212,300 jury verdict, a former ISD truancy officer failed to show that his firing was a retaliatory act that violated the state Whistleblower Act.
House and Senate bills that have passed either chamber through 8 a.m. Tuesday, April 8.
United Health Care (UHC) may have won the right to manage the TRS-Care Medicare Advantage…
Texas public school students enrolled in campuses with four-day weekly calendars typically scored lower on…
Fourth in a series.
Third in a series.
Second in a series.
The number of prospective students put on waitlists to enroll in Texas charters in fall…
The first in a series.
Ruling: A federal lawsuit claiming that an ISD didn’t comply with the directives ordered by a special-ed hearing officer — to provide a student with a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) — is dismissed.
22-hour HB3 voucher bill hearing; the first wave of “bills on the move” since session’s start.
Ruling: A prior state appeals court ruling — that an ISD wrongfully fired a teacher — is upheld, except for dropping (at the ex-teacher’s request) the court’s order that the originating trial judge must determine if (and how much) the ex-teacher is due in attorney fees from the district.
The education commissioner has approved — subject to State Board of Education (SBOE) veto in…
Ruling: An ISD lacks sovereign immunity protections against being sued for breach of contract by a financial consultant.
A Texas Attorney General opinion (No. KP-0488) issued on March 5 suggests that some school boards may have sidestepped the requirements in a 2023 law (SB763) on voting whether to allow chaplains — either as volunteers or employees — “to provide support, services and programs as assigned by the board.”
Ruling: Although an ISD has immunity from being sued by a “third-party” provider of medical services under the district’s self-funded employee health insurance program, a city with a similar (but not identical) employee health plan is possibly not immune from being sued by the provider.
Legislative update, health benefits report, 111-year-old member, new regional office, headquarters move.
TEA reports SY 2022-23 charter fee collections and charter student “leaver” data
Bill stats, vouchers, teacher pay raises, school finance, property tax relief.
Ruling: An ISD lacks sovereign immunity protections against being sued for breach of contract by a financial consultant.
Ruling: An ISD’s school bus policies, actions and past practices, when considered together, do not make the district federally liable for a school bus driver’s repeated molestation of a young special-needs student.
A now-former ISD child nutrition director couldn’t show she was retaliated against by being fired four years after she reported her suspicions that the district’s chief financial officer — who was later fired and then elected to the ISD’s board and became its president — had improperly transferred child nutrition funds for other uses by the district.
Ruling: The mere fact that an ISD reportedly had — in its possession — school bus video surveillance footage of a bus driver sexually molesting two young female students more than 100 times does not make the ISD’s superintendent and ex-transportation director liable in the lawsuit the parents filed against them and the district.
Ruling: An ISD’s policy to mostly hire the lowest level of state-certified aides to assist special-ed students did not violate the rights of a disabled student, who was twice injured while in the presence of his assigned aide.
Of the 25 applicants for new “Generation 30” charter districts, 21 are still in the running.
The UIL must ban a student from participating in league activities based on a “valid suspicion” that the athlete is using an anabolic steroid for gender modification purposes, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says in an opinion (No. KP-0481) issued late Thursday afternoon.
A federal lawsuit filed by the parents of a White high school student who alleged their son was racially discriminated against after complaining about a homework assignment is dismissed.
Ruling: A superintendent’s “disruptive relationships” — that resulted in the district spending more than $1.3…
SBOE “reorganizes” and commissioner addresses STAAR, uncertified teachers and — and more.
Ruling: A Texas charter school has — thus far — failed to show that it has “sovereign immunity” from being sued over an ex-teacher’s claim that she was wrongfully terminated in violation of federal law.
Without comment, the Texas Supreme Court (TSC) on Friday (Jan. 31) let stand an appeals…
The TEA reported to the State Board of Education this week that the agency’s Financial…
Ruling: An ISD can’t block a company from suing the district over a $9.7 million unpaid bill for facilities clean-up work resulting from Hurricane Harvey.
Ruling: The commissioner lacks the legal authority to consider employment termination appeals arising from charter…
UT Austin today posted the application for the soon-to-be-vacated UIL executive director’s job.
Ruling: The education commissioner lacks the legal authority to grant appeals seeking the removal of…
Texas Second Court of Appeals — A lawsuit claiming that a high school student’s “terroristic threats” against a teacher caused her to have an emotional and mental breakdown to the point where she had to take medical leave — and never again return to work — was properly dismissed by the trial judge.
Ruling: The education commissioner lacks the legal authority to overturn the termination of an “at-will”…
The TEA reported (as of press time) that one out-of-state charter operator met the Dec….
The TEA has just posted the 227-page 2024 Comprehensive Biennial Report on Texas Schools in…
The TEA announced on Thursday that the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has agreed to provide the agency with the data to be used to calculate the military enlistment portion of the College, Career, and Military Readiness (CCMR) portion of the A-F school accountability system.
The Texas State Auditor’s Office (SAO) has issued a 20-page report on the Texas School…
Details of a research study released today suggest that the indoor air in Central Texas…
Part 2: Board member attacks AP courses; SBEC; costs for private schools to administer state tests; innovative courses; PSF; “goodbyes.”
Part 1: TEA remodel forces SBOE to move, Bluebonnet Learning materials, commissioner’s comments, ISD board trainers, legislative priorities.
The Legislative Budget Board (LBB) has just released a 125-page school performance review for Wharton…
Texas Fifteenth Court of AppealsRuling: The education commissioner properly ruled that a teacher should not…
Ruling: Prior federal rulings dismissing a lawsuit claiming that a now former student was verbally and physically bullied by students — and verbally harassed by school staff — due to his being a fervent White/Christian/Trump/MAGA supporter are affirmed due to the Fifth Circuit’s 9-9 tie vote on the student’s appeal.
Ruling: An ISD did not have to follow the steps required under its reduction in force (RIF) policy when nonrenewing the term contract of a grant-funded administrator when the grant funding the position ran out.
Ruling: The education commissioner lacks the legal authority to consider complaints about school boards’ censure resolutions that do not violate Texas school laws, and he cannot require that school boards reprimand school employees.
The following rule adoptions were posted in the Friday, Nov. 1, Texas Register:
Gov. Abbott late Friday afternoon appointed Leslie Recine, R-Pantego, to the State Board of Education Dist. 13 to temporally fill the board seat vacated by the resignation of Aicha Davis, D-Dallas.
The Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) on Friday submitted its official public comments on…
A panel of three justices appointed by Gov. Abbott scheduled oral arguments for Monday, Nov….
The Occupational Safety Health Administration (OSHA) recently issued citations for 24 serious health and safety violations — and assessed $257,183 in proposed penalties — against Artco-Bell Corp., a Temple, TX-based school furnishings design and manufacturing company employing more than 250 people.
Texas Supreme Court: Because an ISD submitted an “inadequate” state-law required “pre-suit” notice to the numerous insurance companies the district is suing over property damage claims arising from two storms, the companies are entitled to have the litigation “abated” by the trial judge until 60 days after the district submits the proper notice to the companies.
Ruling: An ISD employee who was fired after contesting his “surprise” demotion from dean of students to truant officer failed to show that his firing resulted from employment discrimination.
UT Austin could name a successor to retiring UIL Executive Director Charles Breithaupt by March…
These State Board of Education (SBOE) and TEA rules were posted for public comment in today’s Texas Register.
Ruling: An ISD timely informed a teacher that her school board had voted to terminate her probationary contract.
An appeal to the education commissioner by several families seeking to overturn the decisions by two school boards to reject their annexation/detachment petitions is dismissed.
“Boilerplate language” that a public governing body may routinely place on its meeting agenda is “insufficient by itself” to comply with Open Meetings Act (OMA) requirements to alert the public about the subject to be considered during the closed (executive session) portion of the meeting.
Gov. Abbott on Tuesday announced the release of final recommendations by the Healthcare Workforce Task…
A complete rewrite of charter school rules, plus changes to the Student Attendance Accounting Handbook and the Local Optional Teacher Designation System.
The most pressing issues reported by thousands of Texas school nurses in a state-conducted survey…
Anybody expecting the education commissioner or the TEA to get involved in local school board disputes about library books will likely be disappointed.
SBOE members could find themselves voting on vetoing some of the applicants for new charters as soon as their January and April 2025 meetings, instead of having to wait until their traditional June 2025 meeting to do so.
The UIL Medical Advisory Committee (MAC) on Sunday agreed that there won’t be any changes…
The Texas Supreme Court (TSC) — without comment — today rejected Beaumont ISD’s appeal seeking…
Fifth Circuit: Although a former charter district’s chief financial officer failed to show he was discriminated against due to his race, he can still pursue his whistleblower retaliation claim against the district.
Texas Appeals Court: Katy ISD has legal immunity against being sued over claims that it breached a settlement agreement with a now-former student.
The TEA has recalculated some of the underlying data used to derive the preliminary school district fiscal accountability ratings that were posted earlier this month.
An ISD that bypassed the eminent domain process to surreptitiously (via an “arms length” process) purchase, and then demolish, a small apartment building doesn’t have to pay the relocation expenses of the building’s former tenants.
The more than a year-long legal battle over if and when the 2023 A-F school…
U.S. Fifth Circuit: An ISD transferred a middle school math teacher from the classroom to support positions due to his poor job performance, and not because of his advanced age or for any other discriminatory reason.
Fifth Circuit: A city police officer has qualified immunity from being sued over the “problematic” arrest of a middle school student on his campus.
The TEA rule actions posted in the Aug. 16, 2024, Texas Register.
Ruling: A missed legal deadline by the TEA’s attorneys means that officials of a revoked charter can continue to litigate claims that the state illegally seized its two campuses and related property.
State auditor’s latest report on employee incentive compensation for TRS, PSF and ERS.
The UIL this week posted a list (see below) of the 44 public school districts…
School facility security audits found no problems with 7,293 (87 percent) of the state’s 8,382…
Ruling: A superintendent’s misstep means that an ISD that was awarded grants totaling about $8 million doesn’t have to pay the consultants who helped the district secure the grants.
Ruling: Property owners in a three-county area must continue to pay ad valorem taxes to both their “home” school districts and to South Texas ISD.
Whether school boards did not fully comply with 2023’s SB763 mandate requiring them to vote…
Morath on STAAR results; local school board training changes eyed, g/t rules adopted, and more
Four charters approved, esports course rejected, innovative courses, controversial Fort Sam Houston ISD school board appointment approved.
Ruling: An entity that provided student-related services for a charter district’s campuses can only sue the charter for breach of contract for nonpayment for services that the entity actually rendered for the charter — and not for lost profits that the entity expected to receive under agreements that the charter no longer honored.
Ruling: An ISD and its employees are immune from being sued over claims that a middle school student sustained serious injuries due to being physically restrained by district employees during a discipline related incident.
The U.S. Supreme Court, without comment, this week declined to consider the appeal filed by…
Ruling: The education commissioner can’t overturn a school board decision to void an employment contract…
Ruling: A parent’s appeal asking that the education commissioner order an ISD to entirely remove…
Ruling: A federal judge acted too hastily in dismissing an age discrimination lawsuit a former ISD administrator filed against the district.
Ruling: A parent’s claim of being a “low risk” registered sex offender doesn’t exempt him…
Ruling: A teacher waited too long to challenge the termination of her probationary contract 22 years ago.
A charter school has legal immunity over being sued by a teacher who was fired on a finding that he had used excessive force against a student with a disability while trying to break up a fight between that student and another student.
A Black applicant for a ISD school resource officer job wasn’t discriminated against when the district chose a Hispanic applicant who had less law enforcement experience and was friends with several of the ISD’s police officers.
An ex-superintendent lacked the required legal reasons to appeal the school board’s voiding of his $2+ million severance agreement to the education commissioner without first pursuing his complaints through the school district’s grievance process.
Ruling: Texas public school districts have legal immunity from being sued over claims by their employees that they were retaliated against for having filed a workers’ comp claim against the district.
A Texas Education News analysis of this Texas Bond Review Board (BRB) database (and of…
Ruling: A teacher failed to show that his ISD discriminated against him by firing him when he refused to return to in-person teaching after schools that had closed (due to COVID) reopened.
The TRS board during its May 2-3 meeting set TRS-ActiveCare health plan rates for school…
Ruling: Governmental employees generally have no Whistleblower protections against retaliation for reporting alleged violations of law committed by an unpaid member of the employee’s governing board.
A+ Texas Teachers settlement discussions, and more!
The UIL Medical Advisory Committee (MAC) on April 21 unanimously voted to recommend policy changes…
Seventh (and final) in a series.
The TEA has posted the names of the nine applicants that will advance to the…
Highlights from the latest SBOE meeting.
Sixth in a series.
The alleged injuries that a high school cheerleader sustained due to the repetitive exercise her coach forced her — and the other cheerleaders — to complete for her being late to practice did not violate her constitutional due process rights and federal anti-discrimination laws.
TEA reports SY 2021-22 charter fee collections and charter student “leaver” data
A charter school doesn’t have to pay a bill submitted by a law firm that provided legal services for the charter — under a contract signed by the charter’s two co-CEOs — because the charter’s governing board never approved the contract
Third in a series.
A state appeals court panel this week agreed to extend — from as early as…
March 5 SBOE major party primary election results.
TRS board discussed Active-Care affordability and tentatively adopted rules for new retiree optional visual/dental plans.
A state appeals court on Wednesday granted a motion that extends — from Feb. 9…
Ruling: An ISD can’t block the education commissioner from considering the possible annexation/detachment of school…
Preliminary results of the first state sponsored survey of Texas public school nurses has found…
Ruling: COVID related expenses incurred by Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) in dealing with the…
A comprehensive summary of what happened at the latest SBOE meeting.
The TEA sent notices to 467 ISDs and charters during Fiscal Year 2023 — that…
Ruling: An ISD lacks legal immunity protections from being sued for breach of contract by…
Ruling: Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) emergency decisions that children as young as 6…
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this week announced (via this web page) that 19 Texas…
A state appeals court has granted an “unopposed” motion that extends — from Jan. 9…
A pair of closely coordinated actions by two state governing bodies has resulted in the…
Ruling: A state law gives only current — and not former — school board members…
The 15-member State Board of Education (SBOE) will say goodbye to at least one member…
Ruling: An ISD did not have to grant a disabled parent’s request for paper based…
The TEA has posted requests for proposals (RFPs) for contractors to help the SBOE comply…
A three-member Texas Third Court of Appeals (Austin) panel — that currently has the fate…
Ruling: An ISD has immunity from being sued over a traffic accident involving a school…
Ruling: Opponents of an ISD’s approval of a “Chapter 313” property tax limitation agreement for…
SBEC violated a federal law by refusing to recognize the two out-of-state school counselor licenses…
Highlights from the Nov. 14-17 State Board of Education meeting in Austin: SBOE Resources Agenda…
Ruling: The education commissioner must reverse his decision that upheld a teacher’s firing over an…
Voters largely just said “no” to anything having to do with an athletic facility when…
Ruling: A former ISD athletic coach skipped the procedural steps required to ensure that the…
Just because the education commissioner is (for now) legally blocked from issuing the final 2023…
Texas ISDs responding to the School Year 2023-24 Texas Association of School Boards/ Texas Association…
Ruling: A school district must exempt a student from state-required accelerated instruction if the student’s…
The Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) is accepting public comments — until Nov….
The Texas Supreme Court dismissed “as moot” lawsuits filed by the state against San Antonio IOSd
A state attorney general’s opinion (KP-0447) issued today casts doubt on the legality of a…
A new Texas Tech University “policy brief” faults fully online educator preparation programs (EPP) in…
The TEA today posted an emergency bid notice seeking vendors that can supply 24 Chevrolet…
Ruling: Decisions by charter schools are not appealable to the …
Ruling: A teacher was not entitled to learn the identities of the students and parents…
Ruling: An ISD’s business manager who was effectively fired after it became known that she…
In about a year, the Permanent School Fund (PSF) Corp.’s headquarters will have moved from…
A federal judge on Monday issued a 59-page opinion that enjoins the state from moving…
Ruling: A wrongful termination lawsuit filed against an ISD is dismissed because the former employee…
Ruling: A high school graduate can’t force her former ISD to change her diploma to…
An executive order issued under the governor’s emergency powers is a “law” as defined by…
The UIL is considering upgrading the current recommendation — into a mandate by School Year…
Ruling: A federal lawsuit that was filed over the repeated tasing — by a school…
“The case is without merit.” That is what Education Commissioner Mike Morath told State Board…
A new Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) report reflects that despite Texas students enrolled…
About two out of every 100 students enrolled in a Texas public or accredited private…
The U.S. Department of Education (USDE) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced today that it…
A moratorium being considered by Franklin County commissioners to ban commercial solar energy projects countywide…
Update: Click here for the final fiscal ratings. The TEA today posted the preliminary 2022-23…
Ruling: A temporary injunction that has prevented the state from taking the next step toward…
The Texas Supreme Court — without comment — announced (Aug. 4) that it will not…
Ruling: A school board fired a high school assistant principal for “good cause” because she:…
Ruling: Classroom video, parental complaints, a letter from a disability rights advocacy group — and…
A Forney ISD grades 7-to-12 special-ed teacher who abruptly quit his job after only one…
Ruling: A school district has immunity from being sued over retaliation and other claims arising…
Ruling: A judge should not have invalidated a decision by SBEC’s governing board to permanently…
Ruling: A jury’s dual verdict that an ISD “constructively discharged” an administrator due to his…
Ruling: A decision by a three-judge U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals panel that school…
Ruling: An ISD can’t block the release of cell phone records reflecting district related communications…
Ruling: The education commissioner’s conclusion that an ISD did nothing wrong in reassigning its long-time…
Ruling: The University of North Texas (UNT) can continue charging out-of-state students higher tuition than…
Ruling: The TEA lacks the authority to enact the so-called “Special Rule” that is built…
The following is a list of the major school related bills that became law (or…
SBOE’s June meeting included TEA updates on what happened on the school legislation front during the regular session that ended on May 29.
Ruling: A three-month-old U.S. Supreme Court decision involving a special-ed lawsuit that originated in Michigan…
Ruling: A teacher was justifiably fired for including the name of a student in an…
Requests by school districts for SBOE approvals of innovative courses will undergo much closer scrutiny, and the board’s…
The SBOE Committee on School Initiatives directed that TEA staff draft rules to modify …
The State Board of Education (SBOE) gave final approval to four applicants for new (Generation 28) charter districts to open in School Year 2024-25, and rejected …
A court would likely rule that Texas school officials can’t decide how (or if or…
Ruling: An ISD has immunity from being sued over an accident in which a school…
Ruling: An ISD has immunity from being sued over retaliation and discrimination claims by a…
If the Legislature passes a voucher bill, then the UIL Legislative Council might need to…
Ruling: A public university’s requirement that a tenured professor give his students homework instead of…
The education commissioner is proposing that the State Board of Education (SBOE) “approve” (by not vetoing) five applicants to open new charter districts.
Ruling: A school board should not have indefinitely postponed the consideration of an employee’s grievance…
Ruling: An ISD didn’t give a parent the legally required prior warning before summarily issuing…
The state’s largest educator preparation program (EPP) has not shown any compelling reasons why TEA/SBEC…
Ruling: A public charter school district didn’t fire its marketing specialist for being a Muslim…
Ruling: Parents without lawyers may file federal lawsuits on behalf of their children if a…
Ruling: The TEA must temporarily halt plans to take the next steps leading to possibly…
Whether the education commissioner can consider ISD annexation disputes when one of the two affected…
Ruling: An ex-elementary campus secretary can continue pursuing her Whistleblower lawsuit against her former school…
Setting TRS-ActiveCare health insurance rates for the upcoming plan year — and being briefed on…
Rulings: An insurance company can’t force the lawsuits filed by two ISDs over storm related…
Ruling: A parental complaint alleging that a 12-year-old female student was subjected to “egregious, brutal,…
Ruling: Believing that a teacher had committed “particularly heinous crimes” did not justify a school…
Ruling: A licensed public adjuster and his company can continue litigating their claims that an…
Ruling: Taxing entities can’t hire lawyers under contingency fee contracts — sometimes called “tax ferret…
Ruling: Because a high school cafeteria worker had just gotten “off the clock” when she…
A TexEdNews analysis of this Texas Bond Review Board (BRB) bond election database reflects that…
School bills signed by, or sent to, the governor since our last update include ….
Ruling: A private residential facility can’t challenge the TEA’s decision to revoke the facility’s approval…
Ruling: Because a jury might conclude that a university student’s de facto expulsion was due…
The governor signed a major school safety bill — and other bills start trickling toward the governor’s desk.
Ruling: A state law that allows parents to give written notice to excuse their children…
The Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council likely has the legal authority to adopt a rule …
Here’s a summary of what happened at the latest SBEC board meeting:
April 27-28 TRS Board Meeting Highlights
Ruling: An ISD’s “read a million words during the school year” initiative didn’t violate a…
Texas per-pupil spending for this school year has dropped to 44th (near the bottom) nationally…
Both ISD and charter school enrollments increased this school year when compared to last school…
Ruling: An ISD’s awareness that a police officer had threatened to charge a school bus…
The TEA released the names of the eight applicants that will advance to the next stage of being considered to open new charter districts in Texas beginning in School Year 2024-25.
Ruling: A school employee’s claim that he was given the wrong type of employment contract…
Ruling: An ISD didn’t violate state parental rights laws by telling a parent — who…
The UIL Medical Advisory Committee voted unanimously (April 16) to allow parents to be able…
Ruling: SBEC was entitled to issue a two-year certification suspension to a former principal because…
A divided State Board of Education (SBOE) vetoed this recently approved State Board for Educator…
Minutes of the April 2023 SBOE committees that met Tuesday through Thursday (April 11-13, 2023).
The following is a summary of what Education Commissioner Mike Morath discussed with SBOE members (April 12) during the regularly scheduled “commissioner’s comments” portion of the meeting.
Ruling: The education commissioner is not legally empowered to consider a complaint over an ISD’s…
Ruling: A school board did not have to give its director of maintenance and transportation…
Ruling: A citizen’s complaint that an ISD’s leadership failed to address poor testing performance and…
Here’s a quick summary of what has been happening in the Legislature, with 54 days…
Click the image below to view/download the TexEdNews report of public charter district superintendent base…
Ruling: A federal disability rights lawsuit filed by the mother of a special-ed student who…
Fifth Circuit: Public schools and school officials can’t be successfully sued for violating the free speech rights of a student for the student’s “off campus speech” unless the courts — at the time the action is taken against a student — had clearly established that disciplining the student for what the student said is unconstitutional.
The following is a searchable database — with download and print features — of the…
Newly released TEA data reflects that ISDs and charters collectively enrolled a record 5,518,432 students…
The TEA reported this month that 66,512 individual students were put on one or more…
Texas ISDs and charters cumulatively budgeted 1.6 percent pay hikes for their employees this school…
Ruling: “Read a million words” (and similar) student reading incentive programs — offered by an…
Ruling: An ISD doesn’t have immunity from being sued for breach of contract by its…
Ruling: Although a federal judge properly dismissed a voting rights lawsuit filed against an ISD,…
Texas appellate courts recently issued rulings in appeals by the state of mask mandates in the Elgin and Point Isabel ISDs, and the city of El Paso.
Ruling: A judge must reconsider her order requiring six ISD employees to be deposed as…
Ruling: Missing a required legal deadline means that all but two of the several claims…
Ruling: A federal judge’s ruling that an ISD must pay a community activist nearly $300,000…
The SBOE approved a measure that is expected to free up about $6 billion in…
The SBOE Committee on School Initiatives signaled that it would be open to starting a…
Ruling: An ISD had “good cause” to fire a teacher over a series of anti-immigrant…
Ruling: A failed fax transmission is among the several reasons why a fired school employee’s…
Ruling: A parent who previously filed special-ed related complaints against her child’s ISD with the…
Ruling: The Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) Risk Management Fund lacks governmental immunity protections…
Note: Click here for an update to this article. Dismissed: An ISD did not violate…
Ruling: Although an independent hearing examiner (IHE) apparently violated state law by granting an ISD’s…
Ruling: An ISD’s request to extend the state mandated deadline to grant a parental request…
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