Silas Allen

Texas schools could face challenges due to government shutdown. Here’s why If the shutdown lasts more than a few days, the problems could grow.

How will the government shutdown affect schools? Depends on how long it lasts. Gift link:

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Can teachers really be fired for social media posts about Charlie Kirk? What to know After Charlie Kirk’s death, the TEA warned teachers about “reprehensible” posts. What does free speech allow?

Texas is going after teachers who celebrated the death of Charlie Kirk. Can they do that?

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Grapevine-Colleyville parents worried about possible school closures The district is grappling with limited funds and declining enrollment, but officials say no decisions have been made about closures.

The district is grappling with limited funds and declining enrollment, but officials say no decisions have been made about closures.

More Fort Worth parents switch to homeschooling 5 years after start of pandemic Experts thought the rise in homeschooling might slow down after a few years. So far, it hasn’t happened. Here’s why some local families choose to homeschool.

When schools shut down at the beginning of the pandemic, there was a spike in the number of families who homeschooled. Most people expected that would normalize once the pandemic ended. But that hasn't happened.

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Aledo ISD violated special education laws, state investigation finds The investigation began after parents and teachers came forward with complaints about the district’s special education program.

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Aledo ISD violated special education laws, state investigation finds The investigation began after parents and teachers came forward with complaints about the district’s special education program.

Texas Education Agency investigators found that a Fort Worth area school district violated federal law in its dealings with students in its special education program.

www.star-telegram.com/news/local/f...

Texas education commissioner Mike Morath visits Fort Worth ISD campuses The visits were part of the commissioner’s process for deciding if the agency will take over the district.

Texas Ed Commissioner Mike Morath was in Fort Worth this morning, ahead of a decision on whether he'll take over the district.

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A screenshot from a Duolingo German lesson in which Vikram says "I like newspapers and want to become a journalist."

DON'T DO IT

Did parental activism, or lack thereof, save or doom certain Fort Worth schools? With schools facing closure, some families rallied hard for their campuses. Others were quieter. Did that sway Fort Worth ISD’s decisions?

The Fort Worth school district is set to close 18 schools over the next few years due to declining enrollment. We looked at how groups of parents at two campuses pushed back against school closures, and why one group was successful and the other wasn't. www.star-telegram.com/news/local/e...

FOIA exemptions.

Also, sign up for PBS Passport! You pay what you want, money goes to your local station, and you get access to tons more great programming on-demand. help.pbs.org/support/solu...

Federal education funding freeze leaves millions in limbo for Fort Worth schools Fort Worth ISD leaders are reviewing what positions and contracts will be affected by the funding freeze.

The Fort Worth school district says it has $10 million in federal funding tied up in the Trump administration's education grant funding freeze.

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More kids live in this Fort Worth ZIP code. So why are public schools shrinking? The trend illustrates one of Fort Worth ISD’s biggest challenges: When presented with options, many families are looking elsewhere.

The Fort Worth school district is closing a bunch of schools due to enrollment declines. I looked at one neighborhood where enrollment is dropping even as the kid population is increasing to see what's going on.

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CNN’s reporter on scene in Los Angeles: I’m being detained..

Two years into a state takeover, Houston ISD is seeing higher test scores, but also a lot of turmoil. I looked at what it can tell us about where Fort Worth may be headed.

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If you are not originally from Texas, but practice law here, a good thing to do is occasionally say things like "pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered" or "that man's got less sense than a peach orchard goat."

"Pete Rose was a lot of things... but in the end, there was one thing that anyone who had ever dealt with him in even the slightest passing way ultimately agreed upon: He was a miserable asshole."

BenFred: Sorry, but Pete Rose still doesn't belong in Hall of Fame Putting Pete Rose in the Baseball Hall of Fame would send wrong message to players regarding Major League Baseball Rule 21

Seems like a good day to re-read this column from @stltoday.com's Ben Frederickson

www.stltoday.com/sports/colum...

Texas Education Agency notifies Fort Worth ISD of potential state takeover A now-closed school got five years of failure ratings. Now Fort Worth ISD is at risk of a state takeover.

Texas' education commissioner warned the Fort Worth school district that it's at risk of being taken over by the state after one of the district's campuses received five straight failure ratings — a campus the district has already shut down.

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An email subject line reading "Stroke risk increases with age, but strokes can be prevented. May is National Stroke Awareness Month." The email in question landed in the inbox of a stroke survivor who is already extremely aware of stroke, thanks very much.

Already very aware of stroke, thanks

New state A-F ratings could place Fort Worth ISD at risk of state takeover. Here’s why One campus posted five consecutive years of failure ratings.

Texas' long-delayed 2023 A-F ratings could put FWISD at risk of a state takeover. But the likelihood of that happening is hard to pin down.

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Screenshot of a quote from Ziva Branstetter: "We had some sizzle early on that some nonprofits just can't get for whatever reason."

This quote is hilarious, because everybody knows the reason is that most nonprofit startups do not start with @zivabranstetter.bsky.social and @caryaspinwall.bsky.social

TEA shares 2023 school accountability grades after legal fight. Do they mean much? Fort Worth ISD previously released self-calculated 2023 data using TEA’s formula.

The Texas Education Agency released 2023 A-F scores this morning, after a two-year legal battle. The state education commissioner acknowledges that they're too out of date to do anybody any good.

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That's clearly Bill Belichick

Congrats!

Uncertified teachers are on the rise in Texas. Lawmakers look to clamp down More than half of last year’s crop of new teachers were uncertified.

More than half of last year's crop of new teachers in Texas were uncertified. Lawmakers are looking to clamp down. www.star-telegram.com/news/local/e...

We should all be so lucky.

AP: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won’t face federal corruption charges Paxton, who was accused of abusing his office to help a campaign donor, also beat impeachment charges based on these same corruption allegations.

#Breaking: The @apnews.com reports that Texas AG Ken Paxton won't face federal corruption charges.

It's a win for the Republican AG accused of abusing his office to help a campaign donor. He was impeached, and acquitted, on these same allegations.
www.kut.org/politics/202... #txlege

I wrote a couple of weeks back about how tariffs are going to make school building projects more complicated.

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Laid-off Dallas employees of the Department of Education leave office for the last time More than 4,000 federal employees were laid off in March when the Education Department eliminated six of its regional offices, including Dallas.

Melissa Malonson emptied her desk at the downtown Dallas office of the U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday morning after 25 years of service.

She was one of more than 4,000 federal employees laid off in March when the Education Department eliminated six of its regional offices.