The top local stories this evening from KERA News:
Gov. Greg Abbott has given the Texas Education Agency a week to file a draft plan to fix long-standing violations of federal education law.
The U.S. Department of Education on Thursday said Texas failed for years to properly educate students with disabilities. Today's announcement comes after an investigation in which department officials determined the TEA put an illegal cap on the number of students receiving special education services.
In a statement, TEA Commissioner Mike Morath said the agency will work to quickly address the issues outlined in the federal report – and that it has already been working on strengthening efforts to identify students who need services.
Other stories this evening:
- Every president has crafted his own way of speaking to the American people. Franklin Roosevelt had the radio, Ronald Reagan had primetime television and Donald Trump has Twitter. On Think, Krys Boyd talked with Southern Methodist University political scientist Stephanie A. Martin about how social media has affected the president's ability to communicate.
- The internet is full of painters, quilters, woodcarvers – all of them selling their goods through their own websites or on marketplaces like Etsy. But how many actually make a living at it? In the Art&Seek Artist Spotlight, Jerome Weeks tracks down a leather goods maker in North Texas – who is facing that career-changing question.
You can listen to North Texas stories weekdays at 8:22 a.m. and 6:20 p.m. on KERA 90.1 FM.
