Hey y’all, 

A new school year is right around the corner for Texas students. If you or someone you know is in need, check out this list of back-to-school drives around North Texas offering free school supplies and services before classes start. 

This week, we’ll take a look at a new conservative-backed university entrance exam that the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board approved for use for in-state applicants last week. Its creator says the exam aligns with Texas' new K-12 social studies standards. You’ll also hear from Fort Worth Independent School District parents who are voicing concerns over a mass exodus of teachers following the district’s state takeover ahead of the new school year.

Finally, in case you missed it, state Sen. Taylor Rehmet (D-Fort Worth) represented Texas at the American Federation of Teachers conference in Washington, DC, last week, and spoke about raising teacher wages. You can watch a clip of his speech here.

If you missed last week’s edition, read it here.

Public universities in Texas can immediately start using Classic Learning Test (CLT) scores for in-state applicants who fall outside the state’s automatic admissions window, Texas’ higher education commissioner, Wynn Rosser, wrote to college chancellors and presidents on Thursday, July 23.

The CLT exam is gaining traction in Republican-led states, with universities in Florida and Arkansas already having adopted the exam for their admissions. Created in 2015, it promotes itself as an alternative to the SAT and ACT that draws its reading-comprehension passages exclusively from “classic” works and authors “that have shaped history and culture.”

Its author bank, which makes up two-thirds of reading and writing passages on the exam, includes authors such as C.S. Lewis, Martin Luther, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Mahatma Gandhi. It also includes poems such as “Beowulf,” which the exam says “fuses two worlds, pagan and Christian, with an effect seldom rivalled in any other literature.”

Critics argue the exam relies too heavily on Western cultures, which has been a similar argument against new social studies teaching standards in K-12 Texas public schools that were passed by the State Board of Education in June. 

During Fort Worth ISD’s board of managers meeting on July 21, a number of parents voiced their concerns ahead of the upcoming school year regarding teacher turnover and staffing updates. 

Several parents also called for the reinstatement of Shayma Alzubi—the newly hired principal of Western Hills High School who was reassigned following far-right backlash over her personal social media posts about the Black Lives Matter Movement and Palestine. 

Hear from them below:

We’ve reached the end of the month, which means we’ve also reached the end of “Sold” by Patricia McCormick. 

Here are some final discussion questions to consider as you wrap up your reading. We’ll start a new book for the month of August next week.

1. What message do you think Patricia McCormick wanted readers to take away from this story?

2. Did the ending feel hopeful, realistic, or both?

3. How can discomfort when reading about difficult topics be an important part of learning?

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