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New York Post
a day ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Federal judge declares Texas law granting illegal migrants in-state college tuition unconstitutional after state joins Trump in lawsuit
A federal judge on Wednesday permanently blocked Texas from enforcing a state law allowing illegal immigrants living in the Lone Star State to pay in-state tuition rates for public universities after the Trump administration challenged the statute. The two-decades-old law was overturned after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a motion in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas agreeing with the Justice Department's contention that the statute 'expressly and directly conflicts' with federal immigration law. '[T]he Court hereby declares that the challenged provisions … as applied to aliens who are not lawfully present in the United States, violate the Supremacy Clause and are unconstitutional and invalid,' District Judge Reed O'Connor determined. Advertisement 3 The Trump administration filed a lawsuit against the state of Texas over the law on Wednesday. Francis Chung/UPI/Shutterstock 'The Court also hereby permanently enjoins Defendant as well as its successors, agents, and employees, from enforcing Texas Education Code § 54.051(m) and § 54.052(a), as applied to aliens who are not lawfully present in the United States,' O'Connor, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, ruled. After the ruling, Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared on X that 'In-state tuition for illegal immigrants in Texas has ended.' Advertisement 'Ending this discriminatory and un-American provision is a major victory for Texas,' Paxton said in a statement. In a lawsuit filed shortly before Paxton entered the state's joint motion in the case, the Trump administration argued that 'federal law prohibits illegal aliens from getting in-state tuition benefits that are denied to out-of-state U.S. citizens.' 'There are no exceptions. Yet the State of Texas has ignored this law for years,' the lawsuit stated. 'This Court should put that to an end.' 3 Texas quickly joined Trump in a motion supporting arguments that the law was unconstitutional. Getty Images for 2025 NCAA March Madness Music Festival Advertisement The 2001 state law was passed by the Texas Legislature under the administration of former Republican Gov. Rick Perry, who served as energy secretary during President Trump's first term. The law, which survived several Republican-led legislative repeal efforts, allowed illegal immigrant students who have been Texas residents for at least three years leading up to their high school graduation and who pledge to apply for permanent legal status to pay dramatically lower tuition rates than out-of-state students. 3 'In-state tuition for illegal immigrants in Texas has ended,' Abbott wrote on X after the judge's ruling. James Breeden for the NY Post The University of Texas at Austin, for example, charges out-of-state students between $40,582 and $48,712 for annual tuition, whereas in-state students pay between $10,858 and $13,576, according to the school. Advertisement Texas was the first state in the nation to pass such legislation, which is now on the books in dozens of states. 'Under federal law, schools cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to US citizens,' Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement issued before the judge's ruling. 'The Justice Department will relentlessly fight to vindicate federal law and ensure that U.S. citizens are not treated like second-class citizens anywhere in the country.' The DOJ's complaint cited Trump's February executive order, 'Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders,' and his April directive, 'Protecting American Communities From Criminal Aliens,' as the impetus for the lawsuit.
CBS News
05-05-2025
- General
- CBS News
Texas can take over Fort Worth ISD or close failing middle school, TEA says
The Texas Education Agency informed the Fort Worth Independent School District on Monday that the state may take over district operations or close a middle school campus following five consecutive years of failing academic ratings. TEA Commissioner Mike Morath said the Leadership Academy at Forest Oak 6th Grade received its fifth consecutive "unacceptable" academic rating for the 2022–2023 school year. According to the district's website, the school serves students in grades 6 through 8. Under Texas Education Code § 39A.111, five consecutive failing ratings trigger mandatory state intervention. The commissioner must either appoint a board of managers to oversee the district or order the closure of the campus. The campus has not earned an acceptable academic rating since the 2014–2015 school year, according to a letter sent to FWISD. That means eight consecutive sixth-grade cohorts have attended the school while it has been rated academically unacceptable. Delayed accountability ratings spark statewide pushback The release of the 2023 academic ratings was delayed due to lawsuits from several Texas school districts challenging the state's A–F accountability system. Those legal challenges were recently resolved in favor of the TEA. Fort Worth ISD had already received approval to close the campus at the end of the 2022–2023 school year. However, the TEA noted in its letter that the closure "has no bearing on, and does not abrogate, the compulsory action the statute requires the commissioner to take." Districtwide academic concerns add pressure In the letter, Morath cited broader academic struggles across the district. Based on 2023 preliminary ratings, Fort Worth ISD received an overall grade of D, with 77 campuses rated D or F. The district has 147 schools. Eight campuses have failed to meet minimum academic standards since at least 2018, though the letter did not name them. "The 2023 ratings are preliminary and subject to appeal," the TEA noted. Morath urged the district to take "immediate and aggressive action" to improve student performance, adding that he would closely evaluate district leadership and operations in the coming months. FWISD literacy efforts underway Earlier this year, Fort Worth ISD and city leaders passed a literacy resolution aimed at helping more students read at grade level. Literacy rates have been described by local officials as a civic crisis, with only 43% of students currently meeting grade-level standards. "Public schools exist to ensure students grow academically, so they are prepared to be engaged, productive citizens in our country. Schools must be safe and loving," Morath wrote. "They must also teach academic knowledge and skills—and do so successfully. I know of no school system leader, be it a school board member or a superintendent, who doesn't desire for students to thrive. But if that desire does not translate into student learning, the only moral response is to change practices." Morath is expected to make a final decision on possible state intervention after appeals are resolved in August. CBS News Texas has reached out to Fort Worth ISD for comment and is awaiting a response.
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Heritage subpoenas Keller school board's attorney for records over split scheme
Attorneys for Heritage homeowners who are suing the Keller school board are subpoenaing board attorney Tim Davis to testify at a deposition and provide documents related to the board's efforts to split the school district. The split plan, which was roundly criticized by residents, was ultimately called off on March 14. However, lawsuits against the board stemming from the proposal are still pending, including the one to which the Heritage residents are a party. The Heritage neighborhood is along Heritage Trace Parkway in far north Fort Worth, close to the Alliance shopping center. Heritage and other neighborhoods west of U.S. 377, mostly in far north Fort Worth and part of Watauga, would have been split off from Keller ISD. The controversy shook the community, creating bitter divides between neighbors. According to court records, Davis, an attorney at Fort Worth-based Jackson Walker LLP, will receive a subpoena duces tecum, which requires the recipient to attend a scheduled hearing and produce requested documents. Those documents include: All communications Davis has had regarding the Keller school district since May 2022; Records of all services Davis has performed on behalf of the district since May 2022; Any documents Davis or other Jackson Walker attorneys have prepared regarding the district or sections of the Texas Education Code since May 2022; All communications between Davis and Patriot Mobile Action, the conservative Christian political action committee that has supported multiple Keller school board members, including those accused of trying to split the district; Presentations that Davis or other Jackson Walker attorneys have prepared regarding school board governance, the Texas Open Meetings Act or the Texas Education Code; Engagement correspondence between Davis and other Texas school districts. The deposition that Davis is required to attend is scheduled for May 5 at the offices of Kelly Hart and Hallman LLP, the firm representing the Heritage homeowners. Davis must produce the documents no later than May 28. Should Davis refuse to testify at the hearing or provide the documents, he could be found in contempt of court and 'punished by fine or confinement, or both,' according to the subpoena notice. Keller parent Matthew Mucker originally filed the lawsuit against the Keller board in Tarrant County District Court in January, alleging that board trustees violated the Texas Open Meetings Act by discussing the spit behind closed doors. The Heritage homeowners group joined that suit as intervenors in March, bringing in Kelly Hart and Hallman as counsel. The lawsuit requests that the judge in the case remove the five board members largely believed to be behind the split plan — President Charles Randklev and members Heather Washington, John Birt, Chris Coker and Micah Young — for 'incompetency and official misconduct.' The board members have denied wrongdoing and have requested the lawsuit be dismissed while questioning the motivations behind it. The two Keller school board members who represent constituents in Fort Worth — Chelsea Kelly and Joni Shaw Smith — have been vocal opponents of the split and are not defendants in the Heritage suit.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas bills invite political interference in the teaching of U.S. history
As a historian and faculty member at the University of Texas, I love teaching students about the complexity of the American past and helping them make connections between what seems like ancient history and their own daily lives. Several pending bills in the Legislature would make those aspects of my instruction harder, by hindering or outright prohibiting the teaching of honest and comprehensive U.S. history in public colleges and universities in our state. According to Texas Education Code §51.302, every student graduating from a college or university receiving state funding must complete six semester hours of American history, which may include up to three semester hours of credit in Texas history. Courses partially fulfilling this requirement — which I regularly teach — would be directly affected by Senate Bill 37/HB 4499 and SB 2714/HB 2548, should either or both of these bills become law. SB 37, one of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's top 40 legislative priorities, would require the politically-appointed governing board of each public institution of higher education to review general education courses to ensure that they do not 'distort significant historical events' or include a curriculum that 'teaches identity politics,' 'requires or attempts to require students to adopt an ideology,' or 'is based on a theory that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, or privilege is inherent in the institutions of the United States.' These restrictions invite political interference in the teaching of U.S. history through both their vagueness and their specificity. SB 37 does not explain what it means to 'distort' the teaching of history, and it does not attempt to define what constitutes an 'ideology,' thus allowing administrators wide latitude to censor teaching on aspects of American history they find objectionable. At the same time, these prohibitions explicitly seek to constrain teaching on issues of inequality in the U.S. My own research focuses on women's and LGBTQ history. By merely presenting students with evidence of trans and gender non-conforming people's existence in the past I could easily be accused of indoctrinating students with 'gender ideology.' SB 2714 goes even further in constraining teaching in core curriculum courses by banning discussions of 'whiteness,' 'systemic racism,' 'intersectionality,' 'gender identity,' 'social justice' and 'decolonization' among many other concepts. This language pertains to teaching regarding 'contemporary American society,' and the bill purports to exempt instruction on race and racism in the past. But I encourage students to see the legacies of historical events, policies and people today. For example, after discussing the development of the suburbs, housing segregation and the meaning of the American dream in the post-World War II period, I ask students to research the history of their homes and communities and interpret it for themselves. Many students see this project as a highlight of the course. SB 37 and SB 2714 and their companion bills threaten the teaching of U.S. history in Texas public colleges and universities in accordance with the Texas Education Code. If signed into law, these bills would undermine the liberty to learn and to think that has long been at the core of American institutions of higher education. As Thomas Jefferson wrote regarding the University of Virginia, which he founded in 1819: 'This institution will be based on the illimitable freedom of the human mind. For here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error, so long as reason is left free to combat it.' In considering SB 37 and SB 2714, I hope our state lawmakers will stay true to Jefferson's vision of higher learning and choose not to impose limits on the minds of Texas students who are more than capable of drawing their own conclusions about the American past. Lauren Gutterman is an associate professor of American Studies at the University of Texas. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas bills would silence honest discussion of U.S. history | Opinion
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Brownsville ISD has until Aug. 15 to appoint temporary trustee
Mar. 17—Now that a May 3 election is off the table, the Brownsville Independent School District Board of Trustees has until Aug. 15 to appoint a temporary trustee to fill the seat held by former board president Erasmo Castro Jr., who died Feb. 15 of pancreatic cancer. Under state law, that person will serve until the next regularly scheduled BISD election, which is in November 2026. Sections 11.59 and 11.60 of the Texas Education Code require the board to fill the vacancy within 180 days, either by election or appointment, according to the Texas Secretary of State's Office website. By a 4-3 vote on Friday the board decided not to call an election for May 3, the only remaining date on the state's election calendar that falls within the 180-day window. The next date, Nov. 4, falls outside the 180-day window, meaning that whoever is appointed will serve until BISD's next regularly scheduled election Board President Daniella Lopez Valdez said 26 people, "many of them very qualified," submitted applications for the position. All but one of the applicants remain under consideration for the position after Brownsville attorney John Shergold withdrew his name during the public comments period of Friday's meeting "I changed my mind. I'm going to take the high road. I'm going to ask that the board do the same and let the taxpayers and the parents and the teachers and the people that live within the BISD district vote who they want to sit on that seat up there. That's what a democracy is. That's what should happen," Shergold said from the lectern in the BISD boardroom. "Therefore, I will not seek, nor will I accept a nomination or appointment to your board. Please remove my name," Shergold added. Monday morning, Lopez Valdez said the board will now have the remainder of the time before Aug. 15 to decide the path forward to make the appointment "The goal of the board always is to build consensus for the best outcome of he district, for the good of the students," she said. Featured Local Savings
