Texas
Did Texas lawmakers do enough for children with disabilities? These child care advocates say no.
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LUFKIN — Texas lawmakers this year added $100 million to a scholarship fund to help families across the state pay for early child care, an extraordinary investment that may ease a waitlist to help thousands of children.
However, advocates say legislators fell short in creating more opportunities for the state’s youngest living with disabilities.
“Most families with children with disabilities are really struggling in one area, if not multiple,” said Bethany Edwards, director for research and evaluation at the Center for Transforming Lives, a North Texas nonprofit that helps single mothers. Edwards is also a parent of a child with disabilities.
“And there’s a lot that can happen from a policy standpoint to change these systems, but change seems to happen very slowly,” she said.
Expanding the state’s public preschool programs to children with disabilities and incentives for more and better training for child care workers were among the proposals that fell short this year. Texas lawmakers ended the legislative session June 2.
David Feigen, the director of early learning at Texans Care for Children, said early access to quality education programs can have long-term benefits for children with disabilities.
“When children enroll in early learning programs, their world really opens up,” Feigen said. “These early experiences are really critical for all children, but they’re really particularly critical for children with disabilities.”
Under current rules, children are eligible for preschool through a public school district if they come from low-income households, have limited English proficiency, have parents in the military, are homeless, in foster care or have a Star of Texas Award.
While that criterion captures many children with disabilities, it doesn’t account for them all. And adding a disabilities designation would create more opportunities for a group that often struggles to find adequate care, Feigen said.
Children with disabilities who learn alongside their typically-developing peers are often motivated to make bigger strides in their skill development, said Katrina Campbell, CEO of the Brighton Center in San Antonio. Her organization helps a broad spectrum of children with disabilities in myriad ways, including its own preschool program.
“It’s pivotal to have children with special needs in an inclusive setting, especially those really formative years,” Campbell said.
Access to early childhood education is invaluable for all families, but especially for those whose children need a little more support, Feigen said.
Lawmakers tried — and failed — to create more high-quality care options for children with disabilities beyond preschool. For example, House Bill 175 would have created new certificates for child care providers who enhance their offerings to care for children with disabilities. The Texas Workforce Commission already has some local training options for these providers.
If the bill had become law, supporters believe it would have created more spaces able to serve children with disabilities.
Federal law prohibits facilities from denying a child entrance to their programs if they are disabled. However, it costs more to care for children with disabilities because centers need to employ more and specialized staff. And if the facility can prove it is incapable of providing adequate care, it can ask the family to seek support elsewhere.
The expansion of the child care scholarships will help, advocates say. However, they are not the perfect solution.
A private pay family will pay $1,350 a month to attend the Brighton Center in San Antonio, Campbell said. The state only pays $850 a month for scholarships. This leaves the program with a $500 deficit per child per month, which adds up quickly.
The Brighton Center, as a nonprofit, does what it can through fundraising and other programs to close the funding gap. Most programs don’t have that option.
To help others in their region, the Brighton Center tries to teach other facility operators how to help children with disabilities so fewer children are asked to leave local programs. Campbell hopes those facilities will try to accommodate one or two children with disabilities, just to begin chipping away at the massive need.
One change lawmakers made that advocates hope will yield dividends is aligning a few of the agencies that manage the state’s child care efforts.
“Our state hasn’t been nimble enough to comprehensively address the challenges,” Feigen said. “And guidance can be inconsistent, the work to address nagging problems can be disjointed.”
House Bill 2310, which was signed by Gov. Greg Abbott on June 20, will require agency leaders from the Texas Education Agency, Texas Workforce Commission and Health and Human Services Commission to collaborate on early learning solutions for children with disabilities and delays. These leaders will work with providers, policy experts and families.
There have been efforts to bring agencies together in this way on other aspects of child care, and it has been effective, Feigen said. But there needs to be a concerted effort for children with disabilities.
Edwards is hopeful, but not optimistic that this bill will change anything for these families.
“It’s definitely not a bad thing, but it’s also just a plan to create a plan at this point,” Edwards said. “It won’t change the experience for parents or for families that are currently struggling and who are currently in the broken system.”
Disclosure: Texans Care for Children has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
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Texas
Texas A&M Forward Transfer Seemingly on Visit to See Lady Vols Basketball | Rocky Top Insider

Lady Vols basketball is looking to add more pieces to its 2026-27 roster with high-level experience. After completing her junior season at Texas A&M, Fatmata Janneh has emerged as a Tennessee target for her final year of eligibility. According to her Instagram story on Sunday night, she is in Knoxville.
With the Aggies a year ago, the 6-foot-2 forward averaged 11.4 points per game on 43.3% shooting from the field. She also showed off an ability to hit from range, posting 1.1 makes per game on 33% shooting from three.
Perhaps Janneh’s biggest strength is her rebounding, though. She ripped down 9.7 boards per contest, good for the fifth-most in the SEC. This featured 2.6 rebounds on the offensive end per outing.
Janneh also averaged 1.1 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.4 blocks per game. She appeared in 27 games, starting in each.
More From RTI: How Watching The NCAA Tournament Drew Terrence Hill Jr. To Tennessee Basketball
Janneh started her career with a pair of seasons at St. Peter’s. As a sophomore, she averaged a double-double, posting 18.2 points and 11.6 rebounds per game. This made her a sought-after transfer in the portal before landing at Texas A&M as the nation’s leading defensive rebounder. As a freshman, she averaged 11.0 points and 8.0 rebounds.
The forward is from London, England, attending Barking Abbey Sixth Form for her prep ball. She would be the second player from England to join the Tennessee roster if she committed. UT also added the commitment of incoming freshman and former Boston College signee Irene Oboavwoduo this offseason.
So far, Caldwell and the Lady Vols have landed five transfers in this portal cycle. This features Liberty guard Avery Mills, Northern Arizona guard Naomi White, Stanford forward Harper Peterson and Georgia forward Zhen Craft and guard Rylie Theuerkauf.
Tennessee will also roster a pair of incoming freshmen. Four-star recruit and top-50 prospect Gabby Minus is staying true to her signing despite the roster overhaul and assistant coaching changes, along with the addition of Oboavwoduo.
Texas
Texas needs at least $174 billion to avoid water crisis, state says
AUSTIN (Texas Tribune) — Texas communities will need to spend $174 billion in the next 50 years to avert a severe water crisis, a new state analysis revealed Thursday. That’s more than double the $80 billion projected four years ago, when the Texas Water Development Board last passed a state water plan.
The three-member board presiding over the agency authorized the highly anticipated draft blueprint Thursday, the first administrative step toward adopting the water development board’s plans for the next 50 years. The plan, released every five years, encompasses the projects that 16 regional water planning groups in Texas said are the most urgent, water development board officials said.
The board’s latest estimates come as the state’s water supply faces numerous threats. Growing communities across Texas are scrambling to secure water, keep up with construction costs and cope with a yearslong drought. This week, Corpus Christi officials said the city may be just months away from declaring a water emergency. Meanwhile, other rural cities by the Coastal Bend are rapidly drilling wells to avoid a crisis. Residents in North Texas have also been bracing for groundwater shortages.
In an effort to restrain the crisis, lawmakers last year called an election in which voters approved a $20 billion boost for communities to use on water-related expenses. The water development board’s estimate shows that what lawmakers proposed on the ballot falls dramatically short of the needed cash, experts said.
“What this number tells me at the end of the day is if we don’t get serious about (funding water projects), there are going to be serious consequences for Texas,” said Perry Fowler, executive director of the Texas Water Infrastructure Network. “Even with the billion-dollar-a-year plan kicking in, it’s not going to be enough to offset the costs of the projects that are going to have to be executed.”
The new estimate accounts for 3,000 projects, from regional infrastructure upgrades to smaller endeavors such as drilling new water wells. Texas’ water supplies are expected to drop by roughly 10% between 2030 and 2080, according to the water plan. In that same time frame, the maximum amount of water communities can draw is also expected to decline by 9%.
The 80-page plan notes approximately 6,700 recommended strategies that would add water to the state’s dwindling portfolio. The recommendations — which are not accounted for in the cost — include developing new supplies from aquifer storage and recovery, brackish groundwater, desalination and recycled water. It also calls for water conservation.
The report suggested that if Texas does not implement the plans and recommendations, the state is one severe drought away from an estimated $91 billion in economic damages in 2030.
The state’s plan attributes a variety of reasons for the bigger price tag, such as higher costs of construction due to inflation, impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on supply chains, and a growing backlog of water supply projects.
“There’s a plan that can meet our needs,” said Matt Nelson, deputy executive administrator for the Office of Planning at the water development board, adding that they take their cues from the regional planning groups. “These are local projects that folks need to implement; they’re needed regardless of how they’re funded. It’s important to remember these are not top-down projects or state projects.”
Experts told The Texas Tribune that the board’s estimate is only a fraction of what Texas communities will need to ensure they have water in 50 years’ time, saying growth and development are outpacing the state’s ability to keep up.
“This is a bigger water plan in terms of volume strategies and capital costs compared to anything we’ve ever seen before,” said Jeremy Mazur, the director of infrastructure and natural resources policy at think tank Texas 2036.
Mazur suggested that the $174 billion only covers water supply projects and does not account for updating aging infrastructure, adding that the actual price could amount to a quarter of a trillion dollars.
“There’s a substantial magnitude with regard to the capital investment needed to both fix our aging and current systems and potentially develop the water infrastructure, water supply projects that we need.“
The report largely confirmed what many water experts have warned regarding threats to the state’s water supply, said Sarah Kirkle, director of policy at the Texas Water Association.
“Population growth, extreme weather, and economic development needs are all increasing demands on our infrastructure, and the state is going to need more water, sooner,” Kirkle said. “This is all while water projects are becoming more costly and complex because the easiest and cheapest local projects have already been developed.”
Fowler, with the infrastructure network, said he expects the Texas Legislature to take up the issue next year, when lawmakers meet for the 90th legislative session. He said the state should take a bigger role in ensuring that communities can afford their respective water projects.
“It’s going to have to be a top-down priority, there’s no way around it,” he said. “The challenges are so immense that it’s going to take all hands on deck.”
Texas residents have until the end of May to comment on the proposal. Water development board officials must adopt it by January 2027.
Alejandra Martinez contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at www.texastribune.org. The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans – and engages with them – about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
Texas
Co‑worker confesses to killing missing North Texas man and stealing his car, police say
A North Texas man reported missing earlier this week was found dead Friday, and police say a co‑worker has confessed to fatally shooting him and stealing his car.
The suspect, Gregory D. Lewis, 34, remains in custody and faces a forthcoming capital murder charge, according to the Fort Worth Police Department.
Lewis is accused of killing 31‑year‑old Thomas King, who had been last seen in his Taco Casa work uniform. King was reported missing on Tuesday after failing to return home Monday from the fast‑food restaurant in the 1100 block of Bridgewood Drive.
Car found at Arlington motel
Police said King’s car was found at the Quality Inn on I‑20 in Arlington, and surveillance video showed Lewis arriving in King’s vehicle shortly after King left work.
Detectives identified the man in the video and arrested him on unrelated charges.
Body discovered on Fort Worth’s East Side
King’s body was located on Friday in an open field on Fort Worth’s East Side, authorities said.
According to police, Lewis confessed to shooting the victim and stealing his car.
Medical examiner review pending
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death.
CBS News Texas has reached out to Taco Casa for comment.
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