Vouchers Approved: Hundreds of public school supporters dressed in red descended on the Capitol Wednesday morning to express opposition to Gov. Greg Abbott’s voucher bill, Senate Bill 2. The bill would give $10,000 payments to parents to spend on private school tuition, with the result being less public school funding. Those demonstrating against the plan chanted “no vouchers, fund our schools” in the rotunda for close to an hour. The House passed the bill in the wee hours of Thursday morning. The body also approved a funding bill to increase districts’ base money per student (the basic allotment). Wednesday, Donald Trump was praising Texas’ universal voucher plan. He says he’s all about “return[ing] education to the states.” Hence, shutting down the U.S. Department of Education.
House Explosion: A house exploded in North Austin last Sunday, with a blast large enough that neighbors could feel it from afar. Six people were injured, including two firefighters, and about two dozen other houses were damaged in some way by the explosion, KXAN reports. The Travis County Fire Marshal’s Office said it will “not release any information or speculate on causes” until the investigation is complete.
LegiSLAYtion: Once a week, Austinites can attend something very special – a drag show that doubles as a lecture on the Texas Legislature. Brigitte Bandit, the beloved Austin drag queen and activist who has testified against anti-trans bills at the Legislature repeatedly, is behind it, and her new event LegiSLAYtion & Liberation is at Oilcan Harry’s on Tuesdays. KUT spotlighted the weekly event Tuesday, quoting Bandit: “The Texas Legislature is confusing. They intentionally make it as difficult as possible for people to make their voice heard and for [lawmakers] to listen to their constituents. And so I was like, how do I make this information accessible and break it down to people?”
Federal Funding Cuts To Hit School Districts: This school year, Austin ISD has received $41 million in formula grants from the federal Department of Education (and the state Texas Education Agency administers the funding). But, as the Trump administration moves to close the Department of Education, what happens to that critical funding if the agency closes? Trump has floated moving the agencies operations into other departments. Austin ISD’s executive director of state and federal programs told KUT this week that she’s worried that moving education-related grants to other departments could eliminate some funding or dilute the child-focused purpose of remaining funding. Meanwhile, AISD also relies on federal funding from other departments, including $34.5 million from the Department of Agriculture for school food services.
Trump Moves to Gut Public Media: In disturbing federal news, the Trump administration has drafted a memo to Congress laying out a plan to end nearly all federal funding for public media, including NPR and PBS. The administration plans to send the memo to Congress when it reconvenes from recess on April 28, and the memo would open a 45-day window for the House and Senate to either approve the cut or allow the money to be restored, NPR reported.
Food Bank Loses 700k Meals to Federal Cuts: These stories just keep coming. After the U.S. Department of Agriculture canceled a billion dollars in funding for programs that support food banks, 39 loads of food for the Central Texas Food Bank were canceled, KUT reported. It was 913,000 pounds of food, and roughly 716,000 meals. The Central Texas Food Bank, headquartered in Austin, serves more than 93,000 families monthly in a 21-county region of Texas. They expect growing demand as grocery prices stay high.
Immigrant Students Kicked Out: At least 252 international students across Texas universities have had their immigration status changed or revoked, according to university officials and Texas Tribune reporting. Many were removed from the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, which can immediately impact their ability to stay in the U.S. and continue their studies. The University of Texas System reported 176 affected students, while Texas A&M and other schools, including UNT and UTD, also confirmed dozens of cases. Immigration attorneys say SEVIS removals limit appeal options and often bypass due process. The Department of Homeland Security recently said it would begin screening international students’ social media for antisemitic content, citing recent campus protests.
Deporting Innocents: This week The Atlantic turned attention to those people being deported who never expected to be. Throughout the campaign, Trump promised his “mass deportation” effort would focus on undocumented immigrants with serious criminal records, a strategy which polling suggests most Americans view favorably. But Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are arresting people who, polling suggests, most Americans think should be allowed to stay in the country. ICE has struggled to arrest as many people as Trump promised, and recently Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that all undocumented immigrants without legal status must register with the government or face criminal consequences, a sort of Catch-22 which could speed up identification of people to deport.
ID Up or Be Delayed: In a much less heartbreaking and much less sudden federal change, flying could get a little trickier for some. Starting early next month (May 7) federal agencies will only accept state-issued driver’s licenses and ID cards that meet REAL ID standards at TSA checkpoints. You have just a few weeks left to upgrade your license or state-level ID to be REAL ID compliant. Check for a star symbol, which means it’s compliant. States have done it differently, but Texas started issuing REAL IDs in 2016, KVUE reports. If you don’t have a REAL ID-compliant license, airport officials say you need to arrive at the airport four hours before your flight to be processed.
Restricting University Topics: Unfortunately at the state policy level, there was also reason for alarm this week. The Texas Senate approved a bill Tuesday that would drastically restrict how Texas public universities can teach about history, race, and inequality. Senate Bill 37 passed 20-11. Democrats complained that the bill author, Republican Sen. Brandon Creighton, gave them no time to read a 13-page amendment he filed shortly before the vote. He ultimately allowed 10 minutes. The bill works by allowing people to file complaints about universities that would threaten their funding. The bill would also create committees to review curricula each year to ensure courses do not endorse specific policies. It would also create a statewide committee to evaluate which core curricula at universities are “foundational” versus cuttable.
More Discipline in Schools: Meanwhile, at the pre-K through second grade level, the Texas House approved a bill this week that would make it easier to suspend students, particularly homeless and younger students. For disruptive students sent to “alternative education settings,” the bill would allow for remote learning. The bill comes in response to an elevation in student violence in classrooms after the COVID-19 pandemic, The Texas Tribune reports.
Surely Couldn’t Be Measles: Dr. Robert Malone, a physician labeled a “Covid misinformation star” by The New York Times, strikes again. After 8-year-old Daisy Hildebrand became the second child in Texas to die of measles on April 3, officials and family determined that sharing the news with the public could wait until the following week. These plans were dashed as Malone posted a fiery headline and link to a Substack article shared to his 1.3 million followers on X. The vaccine critic claims that the child did not die from measles, but from sepsis after being ill from mononucleosis and tonsillitis. This claim caused a frenzy of media inquiries, many of which had to be fought off by Daisy’s father while he attended his daughter’s funeral. The skirmish highlights the ongoing battle of anti-vaxxers and the rest of us.
Governor Lite Will Run Again: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced last Friday that he would be running for a fourth term as lieutenant governor, The Texas Tribune reported. The governor lite is responsible for leading the Texas Senate, and has advanced conservative agendas including stricter border enforcement, more religion in schools, and property tax cuts. Patrick has been heralded several times on Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, for his work in fighting to protect the Second Amendment and growing the economy.
More Money for Ken Paxton: Dude, this guy just cannot stop getting money for stuff outside of his job description! If only it worked like this for the rest of us. Remember Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment over accusations of taking bribes and issuing orders to benefit his bribe-paying buddies? Well, some Texas Republicans found the whole concept of an impeachment despicable. Tuesday, the Texas House approved a motion instructing lawmakers to advocate for awarding Attorney General Ken Paxton the salary he missed while impeached in 2023. That would be a one-time $63,750 payment – the amount of salary Paxton missed out on.
New Ken Paxton: But who even needs Ken Paxton, when one of the farthest-right members of the Texas Legislature could just take his place? State Sen. Mayes Middleton, a Galveston Republican, announced this week that he’ll run for attorney general next year. That’s all thanks to Paxton challenging the more traditional Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in next year’s primary. Mayes joins the AG hopeful pool with John Bash, an Elon Musk lawyer and former U.S. attorney who announced his run last week.
Quote of the Week
“I’ve got constituents reaching out to me saying this is the death of higher ed.”
– State Sen. Molly Cook, D-Houston, speaking about Senate Bill 37, which would limit teaching history and race at public universities
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect that Senate Bill 2 was approved by the Texas House of Represenatives.
This article appears in April 18 • 2025.