Appeals court: TEA can release A-F school ratings A judge with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that the Texas Education Agency can release its 2023 A-F school accountability ratings, the Houston Chronicle reported.
The ruling overturned a district judge’s injunction after more than 120 school districts sued to stop TEA from releasing the ratings. Those districts argued that the agency did not provide enough advance notice about changes to the formula used to calculate the rating.
The A-F ratings assigned to each district and campus are based on standardized test performance, though the COVID-19 pandemic slowed the process. The appeals court ruled that TEA Commissioner Mike Morath had the authority to postpone their issuance or to change the standards after the 2022-2023 school year was over.
“We agree that after a race is over not everyone can be declared the winner,” the court’s opinion read. “But it is not our role as judges to decide whether the Commissioner’s decisions were necessary or fair. The Districts’ burden … was to show the Commissioner acted ‘without legal authority,’ not that he should have exercised his discretion another way.” Dueling property tax proposals compared The Texas House and Senate have agreed to spend at least $6 billion to cut property taxes but are taking different approaches, The Texas Tribune reported. The most significant difference that must be reconciled is whether businesses or homeowners get the larger tax break.
The House measure gives more relief to businesses. It would exempt up to $250,000 of business inventory from all property taxes, up from $2,500. House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, backs the bill.
“Raising the personal property tax exemption … would be a monumental win for Texas businesses, freeing up funds for business owners to reinvest in the growth of their companies on top of the potential savings provided by buying down property tax rates for all property owners statewide,” Burrows said in February.
The Senate version focuses on bigger tax breaks for homeowners, largely by raising the homestead exemption once again, this time from $100,000 to $140,000.
“I have made increasing the homestead exemption my mission because it is the best way to deliver meaningful property tax reductions for homeowners,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who leads the Senate, said in February. That bill passed unanimously in February. It contains an increase in personal property tax exemption from $2,500 to $25,000 – much lower than the House version. Paxton cleared by DOJ, attacks Cornyn Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is no longer being investigated by the U.S. Justice Department, which quietly declined to prosecute him in the final weeks of the Biden presidency, The Dallas Morning News reported.
Paxton took the opportunity to get a dig in at U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, whom he may challenge in next year’s GOP primary. Cornyn, in an online exchange in 2024 while the investigation was ongoing, told Paxton it would be “hard to run from prison.” Last week, Paxton replied.
“This former TX Supreme Court Justice and TX Attorney General ignored the rule of law, the Constitution, and innocent until proven guilty while standing with the corrupt Biden DOJ cheering on the bogus witch hunts against both me and President Trump,” Paxton wrote on X. “Care to comment now, John?”
Cornyn retorted that Paxton has agreed not to contest a civil suit filed by whistleblowers’ suit, which seeks millions in damages.
“Is this the same person that had a $6.6 million judgment entered in Travis County based on the whistleblower complaints, and he didn’t contest any of the allegations? I’m confused,” Cornyn wrote. Measles outbreak now at 481 cases The outbreak of measles cases in the South Plains and Panhandle regions of Texas has jumped to 481, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Fifty-six people have been hospitalized and one fatality recorded, in an unvaccinated school-age child. DSHS says more cases are likely given the highly contagious nature of measles. Most of the cases are in Gaines County, on the New Mexico border. That state has reported 54 cases as of Friday, while 10 have been reported in Oklahoma.
Texas has reported more measles cases in 2025 than in any full year since 1992, according to The News. Bill enacts new regulations on large electricity users A bill passed unanimously in the Senate and now pending in the House would enact new regulations on data centers and other major electricity users, the Chronicle reported.
The bill’s primary goal is to prevent a repeat of the deadly outages in February 2021 during Winter Storm Uri. It directs state regulators to figure out how to protect everyday residents and small businesses from huge rate hikes during weather emergencies, which is what happened to some users in 2021.
The growth of artificial intelligence is one factor in the boom in power demand. For example, Open AI’s first Stargate project being built in Abilene would require 1.2 gigawatts of electricity – enough to power a million homes for a year.
“It’s not an oil boom. It’s an economic boom led by big technology and their corresponding need for big electricity,” state Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, said on the Senate floor. Campaign against distracted driving underway The Texas Department of Transportation has launched a new campaign to combat accidents caused by distracted driving. The Talk. Text. Crash. campaign is aimed to remind Texans that when driving, nothing matters more than the road ahead.
“Everyone knows they should focus while driving, but too many people still take their eyes off the road to check a text, fiddle with their dashboard or grab a bite to eat,” TxDOT Executive Director Marc Williams said. “We want to make it clear: no text or call is worth a life.”
Last year, distracted driving contributed to more than 91,000 crashes in the state and more than 370 deaths, according to TxDOT.
Correction: The headline over last week’s story about the state’s measles headline contained the incorrect total number. The number of cases reported inside the story – then at 400 – was correct. We regret the error.
Gary Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published a number of community newspapers in Texas during a 30-year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Cedar Park. Email: [email protected].
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