State officials began sending out the first notices to families awarded edu -
cation vouchers last week, the Houston Chronicle re - ported. In the first round, 42,644 qualified, mostly students with special needs who are considered the highest priority.
More than a quarter-mil -
lion students have applied to the state's voucher pro - gram, with a lottery deter - mining who gets a spot. Ini -
tial funding for the program is $1 billion, and it is pro - jected to support 100,000 students in its first year.
The program offers tax - payer money to help pay for private and homeschool education. The amount of each voucher awarded in the initial round varied, from $2,000 each for the 11,000 children applying for homeschool funding to an average of $15,585 for parents who documented their children's special edu -
cational needs.
Smokable hemp ban temporarily blocked A ban on the sale of nat - ural smokeable hemp prod - ucts has been blocked, pos - sibly until the end of April, by a Travis County district judge. A court hearing is set for this week. The Texas Tribune re - ported that lawyers for the hemp industry argue that state agencies overstepped their constitutional authori - ty by imposing new testing requirements that created a 0.3% total THC threshold. The industry says that ef - fectively eliminated smoke -
able products by essentially rewriting the statutory defi - nitions of hemp created by legislators in 2019. While that 2019 law also limited THC levels to 0.3%, manufacturers got around it by cultivating hemp plants with another type of THC called THCA, which pro - duces a high when ignited. The newly written limits on any type of THC mirror those that will be imposed by the federal government in November.
Appeals court rules for Ten Commandments in classrooms A feder - al appeals court last week or - dered pub - lic school districts to place cop -
ies of the Ten Com mand -
ments in classrooms, the Austin America-States - man reported. Parents and a group of faith leaders in nine school districts sued over a 2025 law that re - quires public schools to post donated posters of the Ten Commandment in classrooms.
By a split vote, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Ap -
peals decided the law does not violate the U.S. Con -
stitution, overturning a San Antonio federal judge's rul -
ing last year. The case could be appealed to the U.S. Su - preme Court.
"Students are neither catechized on the Com - mandments nor taught to adopt them," the judges wrote. "Nor are teachers commanded to proselytize students who ask about the displays or contradict stu - dents who disagree with them." Six judges on the ap - peals court dissented, with Judge Leslie H. Southwick writing that "S.B. 10 is fa - cially unconstitutional un -
der the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses."
STAAR ends after this spring
After about 15 years, this spring marks one of the final times Texas students will take the STAAR, ac - cording to the Chronicle. Beginning with the 20272028 school year, that endof-year assessment will be replaced by three shorter tests. Backers of the change say it will reduce classroom time spent preparing for the test and be a more accurate measure of students' prog - ress. Critics say the chang - es will still place too much emphasis and classroom time preparing for the tests.
"The only evidence is that it will create more test -
ing," said state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, Gov. Greg Ab - bott's Democratic challeng - er for governor. "We're go - ing from 15 tests to 51 tests by the time a kid's done with eighth grade. It's out -
rageous." The new Student Suc - cess Tool will provide three tests through the school year, instead of a single high-stakes test at the end of the year. Results will be available within 48 hours of each test, unlike STAAR re - sults, which are usually re -
leased in mid-June, months after students take the test.
Workplace fatalities dipped slightly in 2024 The Texas Department of Insurance has reported that 557 workplace fatali -
ties were reported in 2024, the latest year for which sta - tistics are available. That is down slightly from the 564 workplace fatalities report - ed in 2023. More than 90% of the fatalities occurred in the private sector.
The most fatalities were reported in the trade, trans - portation and utilities sector
at 175; construction fatal -
ities, with 128, followed. The most common occupa - tion involving fatalities was motor vehicle operators A total of 75 fatalities were due to violent acts in 2024. Men accounted for 92% of the 557 total inci -
dents in 2024.
Texas economy hits record $2.9 trillion The Texas economy ex - panded to $2.9 trillion in 2025, growing faster than the nation as a whole at a 2.5% rate, according to the U.S. Bureau of Eco - nomic Analysis. The state maintained its ranks as the world's eighth-largest econ -
omy, based on preliminary estimates from the Interna -
tional Monetary Fund.
"The Texas economy ex - panded to a record high of $2.9 trillion thanks to the productivity of our skilled workforce and the entre -
preneurs and businesses investing here with confi - dence," said Greg Abbott.
The state's economy has grown by 46% over the past 11 years.
Wildfire risks in Panhandle, West Texas rise
Dry windy conditions across West Texas and the Panhandle are rising, the Statesman reported, leading to increased risk of wild - fires. The National Weather Service has issued red flag warnings from Canada to Mexico, including those ar - eas in Texas.
"A red flag warning means a combination of warm temperatures, very low humidity, dry vege - tation, and strong winds.
These conditions can quick - ly spark and spread wild - fires, and in this environ -
ment, even a small fire can grow rapidly, so extra cau - tion is critical," Mary Was - son, meteorologist with the San Antonio Express-News reported.
The Texas A&M Forest Service reports that 9 out of 10 wildfires in Texas are human-caused and there - fore preventable. Burn bans are now in effect in 102 Texas counties, and wildfire preparedness is at Level 2, with Level 5 being the high -
est risk.
Gary Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published a number of community newspapers in Texas during a 30-year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Cedar Park. Email: gborders@ texaspress.com.
