Laura Isensee

How much money a school can spend on its students still depends, in large part, on local property taxes. And many states aren't doing much to level the field for poor kids.

How much money a school can spend on its students still depends, in large part, on local property taxes. And many states aren't doing much to level the field for poor kids.

This high school geography textbook calls slaves "workers" and "immigrants." The publisher is working to correct the error, but what does it tell us about teaching history?

Our Secret Lives of Teachers series continues with Isis Smalls, who teaches English and coaches volleyball at a Houston middle school. She's also a beauty pageant winner.

For the first time in more than a decade, the Texas State Board of Education has adopted new social studies textbooks. But the process came with a few hiccups.

When a child is suspended or expelled, it rarely improves his behavior or his academics. One school in Houston has adopted an old technique to handle student disputes: the healing circle.

Studies show that harsh policies, including criminalization, don't help the students who are removed from the classroom — and that schools punish black, Latino and disabled students more harshly.

There's been a big controversy this holiday season over the race of Santa Claus. It was sparked after a Fox News commentator said both Santa and Jesus were white. But in Texas there's a longstanding tradition of a Hispanic Santa Claus, and in Houston he's known as Pancho Claus.

Energy companies have begun paying for teachers to attend five days of all-expenses-paid training at a mine site. Not everyone is happy about the idea.