Texas Standard

April 25, 2025

After yearslong fight, school voucher bill clears Legislature

A measure long sought by Texas Republicans is now on its way to the governor’s desk: A voucher-like plan to use public dollars to pay for private education. We’ll get details from Blaise Gainey of The Texas Newsroom. A massive plan was once proposed to keep Texas from running out of water in the late […]

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April 24, 2025

How Texas schools fared in long-awaited TEA accountability grades

After lawsuits and a long delay, the Texas Education Agency releases rankings for schools in the Lone Star State. The school rankings are more than just an indicator of how well students are doing, they can have ripple effects on the schools themselves, as well as on housing prices and more. KERA’s Bill Zeeble joins […]

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April 23, 2025

Houston ISD has half the nurses it did last year

Healthcare providers and people on both sides of Texas’ abortion ban are working together – kind of – on an effort to clarify the law.The VA is trying to trim its budget without affecting patients. A closer look at the plans and their potential holes.The number of nurses in Houston public schools has dropped by […]

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April 22, 2025

Remembering the ‘People’s Pope’

The Supreme Court halts deportations under the Alien Enemies Act. We’ll have the latest on the case involving migrants held in Texas.He was called a “monster” by one of the survivors of the El Paso Walmart mass shooting. We hear from victims and relatives of those killed as the gunman is sentenced.Pope Francis once made […]

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April 21, 2025

Harris County deputy suicides raise questions about mental health support

From Houston to Fort Worth, thousands of Texans joined people across the country over the weekend in a national day of protest against the Trump administration.The Texas Newsroom’s Blaise Gainey gets us up to speed on what’s happening at the state Capitol with six weeks left in the legislative session.Four Houston-area suicides among members of law […]

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April 19, 2025

Texas Extra: Our favorite Typewriter Rodeo poems

Texas Extras are special and extended content put together just for our podcast listeners! Texas Standard recently revealed our Top 10 list from April: the Top 10 Typewriter Rodeo poems from the past decade. Each poem is pretty short, usually just about a minute long, but we still didn’t have time to play them in […]

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April 18, 2025

Bird flu is spreading across Texas wildlife

Bird flu is spreading fast among wildlife including foxes and raccoons in Panhandle counties.Twenty-seven candidates are running to become the next mayor of San Antonio – the city’s biggest field in recent memory – as voters head to the polls next month.Deployed Resources, a Texas company that grew into a contracting giant building tent shelters, […]

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April 17, 2025

Texas House gives initial approval to school voucher bill

For the first time ever, the Texas House votes to approve the use of taxpayer money for private school education. Blaise Gainey of The Texas Newsroom shares what comes next.Many farmers in South Texas say a water treaty with Mexico is costing them dearly. Now the Trump administration appears ready to get involved.Thousands of acres […]

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