Should we keep our kids safe – and stuck at home – for the new school year?
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Alright, confession time: I'm not much of a "meme" person. I don't share them on social media, or even like them that much most of the time. But with a month or so to go before millions of Texas children return to school, an image someone posted in a mom's group on Facebook captured the feeling countless parents, including myself, share. It was actress Kristen Wiig's face, frozen three times in a row in disgust and disbelief, from a skit on Saturday Night Live. The identical reactions reflected the three choices parents face in the age of COVID-19: starting school in-person, starting school online, or homeschooling. Keep them safe – and stuck at home? Or send kids to school for some much-needed time out of the house, and run the risk of infecting the entire family? The risk to families from in-person school is real, and one we’ve been hearing about. But we’ve also been exploring the risk to teachers and employees in a series of conversations with superintendents around the state. Check out our provocative discussion with Corpus Christi’s superintendent below, along with some of our other recent highlights. And as always, thanks for reading (and listening)!
- Laura Rice
@LauraRiceKUT
Work safe, Texas. Texas Work Comp Insurance

Corpus Christi ISD Prepares To Open Schools In Person And Online


Many questions remain about what school will look like when classes begin in the fall.
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Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar Says State Faces $4.6 Billion Shortfall


The "dual headwinds" of lower oil prices and the global pandemic has rocked Texas revenues.
Read More

How 'Coaching Curls' Helps Black Girls Show Their Style


If you’re a Black girl in the foster care system, without a mom whose hair looks like yours, how do you learn to style and care for your hair? This program helps teach those families.
Read More

Listen: Concept Album 'Futuro Conjunto' Merges Musical Genres And Unease Through A Futuristic Lens


The album is a story woven together through song, art and Rio Grande Valley culture.
Read More
  • Whatever The TEA Says, Teachers Fear In-Person Instruction Is Too Risky (KERA)
  • More Than Half Of COVID-19 Deaths In San Antonio Area Have Been Reported In July (Texas Public Radio)
  • Texas Students Suspended Over Dreadlocks Continue Fight Against Barbers Hill School District (Houston Public Media)
  • More Women Sought Medication Abortion Services Online After Texas Banned Abortions Amid COVID-19 (KUT Austin)
I became Houston Public Media ’s politics and government reporter early in 2016, after five years as my station’s business reporter. My first major assignments in my new role were covering the Texas Republican and Democratic conventions, in Dallas and San Antonio, respectively. Fast forward four years, and I found myself covering the conventions again – but COVID-19 had changed the dynamics dramatically. Instead of hopping in my car and driving hundreds of miles, I spent days at my kitchen table capturing sound from streaming video feeds. The Democrats decided fairly early on to cancel their in-person event and hold their convention entirely online. From a technical point, things went fairly smoothly. Much of the weeklong convention was devoted to roundtable discussions that were clearly taped in advance. It did leave the organizers looking somewhat out of touch – the convention ran the week after the killing of George Floyd, and Floyd’s death didn’t get so much as a mention in the session on securing the Black vote. By contrast, GOP organizers planned up until the last minute to hold their event in-person at Houston’s George R. Brown Convention Center, only to be forced online when the city canceled the event for public health reasons. The result was a shambolic affair plagued with technical problems, and so many delays that delegates ultimately decided they would need to hold a second convention in order to clear up remaining business. The time and place for that second convention has yet to be determined. When it is, though, rest assured I’ll be covering it for my home station and for others around the state.
Andrew Schneider
@ASchneider_HPM
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