After tight race, Dallas ISD’s most expensive seat up for grabs in June runoff

Early voting has begun for the runoff race between Sarah Weinberg and Jimmy Tran for the Dallas ISD District 2 school board seat that serves near-east and North Dallas. In the May 6th election, neither candidate reached a 50% threshold. Election day is June 10.

Dallas ISD implements clear backpack policy for 2023-2024 school year

Dallas ISD will require clear backpacks for all students beginning in the 23-24 school year as part of the district’s Comprehensive Safety Plan. Each student will be provided with a clear backpack at no cost. Mesh backpacks will also be acceptable.

Summer Breeze 2023- Register Now for Summer Programs

Dallas ISD will provide comprehensive summer programming during June and July to allow students to connect with peers, accelerate learning and improve social and emotional well-being.

No teacher raises, no vouchers: Lawmakers fail to reach compromise on school funding bill

HB 100 failed as lawmakers did not come to a compromise before the deadline. The bill was originally intended to allocate $4.5 billion in new funding for schools, but was edited to include education savings accounts. The Legislature’s final budget allocated money for every state employee except teachers.

Special Ed funding, book bans and more: How education issues fared in the Texas Legislature

HB 1605 will give districts $40 per student to spend on TEA approved materials. HB 900 requires companies that sell books to school libraries to set up a rating system for books based, and those deemed “patently offensive” will be banned entirely. HB 3 will require armed security in every Texas public school.

The future of Texas’ largest teacher preparation program in limbo after court ruling

Texas Teachers of Tomorrow, also known as A+ Texas Teachers, remains on probation after having failed to prove to state officials that they had corrected long-standing operational problems. A Travis county judge granted the organization a temporary injunction, but TEA plans to appeal the ruling. The final decision to revoke accreditation lies with the State Board for Educator Certification.

How a little more silence in children's lives helps them grow

Studies show that too much noise can be harmful to a child’s cognitive development. The brain is easily distracted when exposure to sounds that aren’t helping us learn a new skill or stay safe are present. A study found that students in noisier environments had “noisier” brains, meaning that neurons were firing even when not engaged in a task.

Summer jobs have become an (unwelcome) tradition for many teachers

According to a recent Pew Research Analysis, 16% of public school teachers work non-school summer jobs. Teachers make on average 20-30 percent less than other professionals with similar degrees. Multiple proposals to raise the minimum teacher salary to $60,000 have been proposed this congressional session, but have not progressed.

How apprenticeships bring young students into the workplace

Organizations like Apprenticeship Learning are offering programs to expose younger kids to different career paths via work-based learning. Experts believe that exposing students to more career options in the middle grades is beneficial because developmentally, there is an innate curiosity in who they are as people.