Morgan Smith
reports on politics and education for the Tribune, which she joined in November 2009. She writes about the effects of the state budget, school finance reform, accountability and testing in Texas public schools. Her political coverage has included congressional and legislative races, as well as Gov. Rick Perry's presidential campaign, which she followed to Iowa and New Hampshire.
In 2013, she received a National Education Writers Association award for "Death of a District," a series on school closures. After earning a bachelor's degree in English from Wellesley College, she moved to Austin in 2008 to enter law school at the University of Texas.
A San Antonio native, her work has also appeared in Slate, where she spent a year as an editorial intern in Washington D.C.
Recent Contributions
The return of six books temporarily suspended by Highland Park officials to classrooms has not ended an intense debate over who should determine what is read in public classrooms. Since September, two opposing groups of parents have mobilized.
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photo by: Martin do Nascimento
State Board of Education Vice Chair Thomas Ratliff leafs through binders at the meeting listing proposed changes to Texas textbooks in a SBOE meeting in Austin on Monday, October 20, 2014 .Textbook publishers were invited to meeting where public concerns regarding their textbooks were discussed.
The State Board of Education voted to adopt a new list of social studies textbooks Friday morning, following a week of intense debate and hundreds of pages of updates and corrections.
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photo illustration by: Todd Wiseman
The new U.S. history framework is the first of what will be updates to all 34 AP subjects offered as a result of a redesign effort launched by the College Board in 2006.
A major publisher has decided to withdraw a social studies textbook under consideration for approval in Texas amid ongoing controversy over last-minute content changes.
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State Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston.
Lt. Gov.-elect Dan Patrick adds two Capitol veterans well versed in state finances and legislative procedure to his staff for the upcoming legislative session.
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photo by: Martin do Nascimento
State Board of Education Chair Barbara Cargill questions textbook publishers on the contents of their publications at a meeting in Austin on Monday, October 20, 2014.
After wrangling over the proper definition of jihad and the influence of Moses on the Founding Fathers, the State Board of Education’s initial vote on new social studies textbooks was ultimately derailed by Common Core.
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photo by: Martin do Nascimento
State Board of Education members work their way through proposed revisions to social studies textbooks at a meeting with publishers in Austin on Monday, October 20, 2014.
As new social studies textbooks near approval, a conservative grassroots group formed by a San Antonio man with ties to a national anti-Muslim organization is jumping in with its objections.
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In June, the state ordered Honors Academy Charter District to close its campuses due to poor academic performance. But Honors' campuses remain open — and the district publicizes itself as accredited.
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Republican Konni Burton (l) defeated Democrat Libby Willis for the SD-10 Senate seat vacated by Wendy Davis.
In two legislative contests in Tarrant County — House District 94 and Senate District 10 — Democrats are pinning their hopes on Republican voters soured by the most conservative elements of their party.
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photo by: Marjorie Kamys Cotera
Attorney General Greg Abbott, the Republican nominee for governor, speaks at a GOP women's luncheon on Oct. 8, 2014.
Buoyed by recent polling numbers in the Texas governor's race, Republican nominee Greg Abbott touted his support among female voters during a Wednesday campaign stop, less than a week before the Nov. 4 election.
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photo by: Martin do Nascimento
State Board of Education members work their way through proposed revisions to social studies textbooks at a meeting with publishers in Austin on Monday, October 20, 2014.
In a month, the State Board of Education will take a final vote on the social studies textbooks that will be used in the state's public schools for the next eight years.
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Colorized scanning electron micrograph of filamentous Ebola virus particles (red) attached and budding from a chronically infected VERO E6 cell (blue) (25,000x magnification).
Though Texas schools are relying on the guidance of health officials to determine the level of risk to their communities, they are making decisions like whether to cancel classes, give notice to parents, or change health screening policies largely on their own.
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photo by: Gabriel Cristóver Pérez
Students in Yvonne McDaniel's English for Speakers of Other Languages, or ESOL, class participated in English-language exercises during summer school at McCallum High School in Austin on July 31, 2013.
If roughly 47,000 high school seniors in December fail to pass the state exams required to earn a diploma, their last shot at graduating with their peers in the Class of 2015 may depend on the quick movement of state lawmakers.
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A reading assistant reads on the classroom floor with a small group of fourth graders at Wanke Elementary School in San Antonio on March 9, 2012.
Most of the fifth- and eighth-graders who failed their state reading and math exams will likely move on to the next grade anyway.
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Republican Konni Burton (l) defeated Democrat Libby Willis for the SD-10 Senate seat vacated by Wendy Davis.
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photo illustration by: Todd Wiseman / Dennis Bartalon
UPDATED: Republican Texas House candidate Tony Tinderholt has raised about $25,000 since July, according to his latest campaign finance report.
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