TheUniversity of Texas at Austin is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 graduate students and 3,133 teaching faculty as of Fall 2021, it is also the largest institution in the system.
Lakewood is a neighborhood in East Dallas, Texas (USA). It is adjacent to White Rock Lake and Northeast of Downtown Dallas. Lakewood is directly east of the West Village and Highland Park neighborhoods in Dallas. Skillman St. and Abrams Rd run South to North through Lakewood.
The Robin Hood plan was a media nickname given to legislation enacted by the U.S. state of Texas in 1993 to provide court-mandated equitable school financing for all school districts in the state, in response to the Texas Supreme Court's ruling in Edgewood Independent School District v. Kirby.
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is the branch of the government of Texas responsible for public education in Texas in the United States. The agency is headquartered in the William B. Travis State Office Building in downtown Austin. Mike Morath, formerly a member of the Dallas Independent School District's board of trustees, was appointed commissioner of education by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Dec. 14, 2015, and began serving on Jan. 4, 2016.
The Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) refers to the agency in the state of Texas that assists the people of Texas to effectively use information, archival resources, public records and library materials to improve their lives, the lives of their families, and their communities. The agency is charged with overseeing statewide library programs, meeting the reading-related needs of Texans with disabilities, and preserving and providing access to significant Texas documents.
Texas has over 1,000 public school districts—all but one of the school districts in Texas are independent, separate from any form of municipal government. School districts may cross city and county boundaries. Independent school districts have the power to tax their residents and to assert eminent domain over privately owned property. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) oversees these districts, providing supplemental funding, but its jurisdiction is limited mostly to intervening in poorly performing districts.
Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) is a public pension plan of the State of Texas. Established in 1937, TRS provides retirement and related benefits for those employed by the public schools, colleges, and universities supported by the State of Texas and manages a $180 billion trust fund established to finance member benefits. More than 1.6 million public education and higher education employees and retirees participate in the system. TRS is the largest public retirement system in Texas in both membership and assets and the sixth largest public pension fund in America. The agency is headquartered at 1000 Red River Street in the capital city of Austin.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Texas face some legal and social challenges not faced by other people. Same-sex sexual activity was decriminalized in the state in 2003 by the Lawrence v. Texas ruling. On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled bans on same-sex marriage to be unconstitutional in Obergefell v. Hodges. Texas has a hate crime statute that strengthens penalties for certain crimes motivated by a victim's sexual orientation, although it is rarely invoked. Gender identity is not included in the hate crime law. Even though federal law prohibits employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, there is no statewide law banning anti-LGBT discrimination. However, some localities in Texas have ordinances that provide a variety of legal protections and benefits to LGBT people.
Eric Lynn Johnson is an American politician and attorney who has served as the 60th Mayor of Dallas, Texas since June 2019. He previously served as a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives, where he represented District 100 in the cities of Dallas and Mesquite, Texas.
Myra Ellen Robinson Crownover is a businesswoman and politician from Lake Dallas in Denton County, north of the city of Dallas. Originally elected in 2000 as a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 64, she retired after declining to seek re-election in 2016. Under the state's 2012 redistricting process, her district was located completely in Denton County, including much or parts of Denton, Lake Dallas, Corinth, and Hickory Creek.
The U.S. state of Texas issues marriage licenses to same-sex couples and recognizes those marriages when performed out-of-state. Prior to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling striking down all state bans on same-sex marriage, Article 1, Section 32, of the Texas Constitution provided that "Marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman," and "This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage." Prohibition of same-sex marriage and civil unions also exist in Texas statute. This amendment and all related statutes have been ruled unconstitutional. Some cities and counties in the state recognize both same-sex and opposite-sex domestic partnerships.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in the U.S. state of Texas since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling of Obergefell v. Hodges on June 26, 2015.
Jeffrey Curtis Leach, known as Jeff Leach, is a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 67, representing a portion of Collin County.
The Oklahoma State Budget for Fiscal Year 2015, is a spending request by Governor Mary Fallin to fund government operations for July 1, 2014 – June 30, 2015. Governor Fallin proposed the budget on February 3, 2014. This was Governor Fallin's fourth budget submitted as governor.
Sarah Davis is an American politician who served as a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives; she was first elected in the Tea Party wave of 2010. Her district, the 134th, is located in Houston and includes The Galleria, Rice University, and the Texas Medical Center. Prior to her loss to Ann Johnson in 2020, Davis was the only pro-choice Republican in the Texas House.
Daniel G. Huberty is an American businessman, who has been a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 127 in Harris County since 2011.
Sylvester Turner is an American attorney and politician and is the 62nd mayor of Houston, Texas. A member of the Democratic Party, Turner was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1989 until 2016. He attended the University of Houston and Harvard Law School. Turner ran for mayor of Houston in 1991, losing in the runoff election to Bob Lanier. He lost again in 2003, coming in third and thus missing the runoff.
James Dell Talarico is an American politician and former teacher. He was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 2018 to represent District 52, which includes the cities of Round Rock, Taylor, Hutto, and Georgetown in Williamson County. Following the 2020 redistricting cycle, Talarico announced his run for a seat in District 50 in 2022. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
Dennis Higgins Bonnen is an American businessman and politician. Bonnen served as Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives from 2019 to 2021. A Republican, Bonnen represented District 25 of the Texas House since 1997. In 2013, then-Speaker Joe Straus appointed Bonnen as Speaker Pro Tempore, presiding over the House in the Speaker's absence. In January 2019, Bonnen was elected Speaker. In October 2019, he announced that he would not seek re-election in 2020.
Dustin Ray Burrows is an attorney and businessman in Lubbock, Texas, who is a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 83. He has represented the 83rd district since January 2015. Burrows is the former Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and the former Chair of House Republican Caucus. He has sponsored legislation including the SB2 bill, enabling Texas taxpayers to control local tax rates and tax increases. He also serves as the Chairman of the House Calendars Committee, a position he has held since 2021.
