Texas education reporter for @houstonchron Past: @TB_Times, @pbpost, @reviewjournal, @UNLV alum Boo: @aglorios Signal: lmower.02
Austin
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Friday was my last day at the @TB_Times. I'm so grateful for the friends I made there and the editors who let me pursue the stories I was interested in.
Next week I join the @HoustonChron's Austin bureau covering education!
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Lawrence Mower retweeted
Comptroller Don Huffines omitted on disclosure forms that he's manager of a venture capital firm that invests in SpaceX.
His ofc administers tax breaks worth >$1B dollars to SpaceX, awarded prior to Huffines' tenure. But his ofc still oversees compliance.
texastribune.org/2026/10/28/…
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Texas schools are sending more children into the juvenile system, an investigation by The New York Times and the San Antonio Express-News found. But Houston-area districts are bucking the trend. houstonchronicle.com/news/ho…
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James Talarico’s campaign website says: “When I entered the classroom, the Texas Legislature had just gutted the public education budget by $5 billion — so I had 45 kids in one classroom.”
Public records show the most students ever assigned to his class was 30, @nytimes reports.
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Inbox: @txcomptroller completed an "on-site evaluation" of Prosper ISD in North Texas last week as part of its review of four districts' finances.
Austin, El Paso + Barbers Hill ISDs are also on the list for the review requested by Gov. @GregAbbott_TX: communityimpact.com/prosper-…
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By far the coolest part of the Texas Election Code is the chapter allowing astronauts, many of whom live around Houston, to vote from space. 🚀🌕👨🚀
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.@elonmusk pumps $5M into @GregAbbott_TX's campaign as polls show @GinaHinojosaTX gaining ground.
Musk now appears to be the governor’s largest single campaign backer this cycle. He previously gave Abbott $500k. houstonchronicle.com/politic…
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After my story last week about TX Comptroller @DonHuffines withholding data on the school voucher program, he announced a new "transparency tool."
It will release more data than previously, but apparently won't include school-by-school or vendor-by-vendor spending info.
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As I pointed out in my story last week, the amount of voucher money going to vendors and private schools is something other states release:
houstonchronicle.com/politic…
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Striking detail in the big NYT piece on Taiwanese families adjusting to working at the huge new TSMC chip plant in Arizona: their surprise at the lack of rigor in US schools.
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There’s an ad running in CD-23 saying Brandon Herrera “made a joke” out of the Uvalde shooting in 2022. But the actual series of events tell a more complex story you might miss if you’re not very online.
expressnews.com/politics/art…
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New: Ken Paxton Says He’s Tough on Crime. His Trust Invested $600,000 in a Convicted Fraudster’s Company. w/@JinATX, @msweetharris and @zachdespart
propublica.org/article/ken-p…
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MAJOR SCOOP: Ken Paxton Says He’s Tough on Crime. His Trust Invested $600,000 in a Convicted Fraudster’s Company. propublica.org/article/ken-p… w/ @TexasTribune
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Lawrence Mower retweeted
Texans’ participation in SNAP has dropped to a 17-year low.
And the number of children under the age of 5 enrolled in SNAP has never been this low in more than 20 years, @texastribune reports.
texastribune.org/2026/10/23/…
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My deep dive on the "A.I.-driven" Alpha School, revealing their internal learning and enrollment data for the first time, just as the network expands into public education.
There is a big gap between the marketing and reality.
nytimes.com/2026/10/23/us/al…
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When someone mentions the pumpkin patch is open on Sundays around my wife:
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Boerne is one of the few Texas ISDs using a new state law to provide a period of in-school prayer and religious study; @LindseyByman explains how it'll work. expressnews.com/news/educati… via @expressnews
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NEW: Texas Comptroller @DonHuffines touts open government.
But when it comes to the $1 billion student voucher program he oversees, it's a secret.
His office said it was to prevent me and others from "doxxing ... Texas students."
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houstonchronicle.com/politic…
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The Comptroller has been encouraging kids in unapproved private schools to apply for the homeschool voucher.
Some of that money is going to unapproved private schools for "educational products or services."
That would then get to the issue of "private school enrollment"...
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Their reasoning for not releasing ANY data was "silly," one longtime expert told me.
Read my story for more:
houstonchronicle.com/politic…
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