Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023:
New STAAR scoring changes could make it harder to compare schools
Wherever you stand on standardized testing, the goal of the STAAR tests students take each spring is to allow year-over-year comparisons to measure learning. Now, a major overhaul to STAAR scoring and the state’s accountability system could make it harder this year to compare numbers – both for student scores as well as the A-F rankings assigned to each campus based on STAAR performance. The ratings are a key part of a school’s reputation, and parents often consider the scores when making decisions about where to enroll their children.
Here to tell us more about what this means for Texas schools is Talia Richman, who covers education for the Dallas Morning News Education lab.
What are the details behind the latest Trump indictment?
Former President Donald Trump has been indicted again, this time in Georgia on state racketeering and conspiracy charges over efforts to reverse his defeat in the 2020 presidential election. But, if you haven’t been consuming the breathless play-by-play on some media outlets – what should you make of the latest legal challenges? And how do they stack up in the context of what’s already come out?
Cynthia Alkon, a professor of law and director of the Criminal Law, Justice & Policy Program at Texas A&M, joins us today to dive into the details of this latest indictment.
How this Texas roofer survives working in extreme heat
Homeless Austinites are suffering in this heat. Advocates say we need long-term solutions.
This has already been a record-breaking hot summer in Austin — and based on the forecast, the heat isn’t ending anytime soon.
All week, our home station KUT is broadcasting stories from life in the heatwave; today, Luz Moreno-Lozano talks with people who are homeless and can’t escape the heat.
What’s changed for migrants on the border after Title 42’s end?
The end of pandemic restrictions against migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. prompted a lot of speculation about how the situation at border would be affected. Sources at the border say fewer people are attempting to cross the Rio Grande illegally and that the CBP One app gives migrants more agency.
However, factors behind migration – cartel violence, natural disasters, religious or political persecution – continue to force migrants from their homes. What’s actually changed on the ground? Texas Standard intern Patrick M. Davis reports.
A court has granted Harris County a temporary injunction against a law that would require it to abolish its appointed elections administrator’s office on Sept. 1. But the state attorney general has already appealed the decision to the Texas Supreme Court.
Houston Public Media’s Andrew Schneider says the county is acting as if the law will take effect on schedule.
How Fort Worth was saved by the railroad
When we’re speaking of the North Texas metroplex, Dallas always gets first billing.
It’s “D-F-W” … not “F-W-D.”
But Texas Standard commentator W.F. Strong says at one point, the slightly smaller city was at risk of disappearing altogether.
Planned Parenthood can’t offer abortions anymore – but Texas is still trying to shut it down
With the end of Roe v. Wade last year, Planned Parenthood locations in Texas ceased to perform abortions, except for in a few narrow circumstances. Yet the state has continued to try to shut down Planned Parenthood clinics, which provide healthcare services like cancer screenings, contraceptives, and STI testing and treatment. Now, a current lawsuit threatens the future of Planned Parenthood clinics in Texas.
Joining us with more is the Texas Tribune’s Eleanor Klibanoff, who covers women’s health.
All this, plus the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.
