The Week in the Rearview Mirror

Elementary and middle school students appear to be performing better on required state exams after four years of stagnant scores, but that's compared to old passing standards that no longer apply.

Republican presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump on Wednesday announced U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul of Austin would be among the featured speakers at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland later this month.

Over three decades, the amount of money Texas spends on jails and prisons has grown at a much faster rate than what it spends on public schools, a new federal study finds, but schools still receive significantly more money.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick was invited to the White House to participate in a town hall Thursday on race relations with President Barack Obama.

A baby born with microcephaly in Harris County is the first Zika-affected infant in Texas, the Texas Department of State Health Services announced Wednesday.

U.S. Housing Secretary Julián Castro on Wednesday defended his overhaul of a federal program that sells bad mortgages to private investors, rejecting the idea it was driven by politics.

The University of Texas at Austin will give its faculty and staff the option of banning guns from their private offices when the state’s campus carry law goes into effect next month, under regulations UT System regents passed Wednesday.

Days after five police officers were killed by a lone gunman in downtown Dallas, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, introduced legislation Wednesday that would make killing a police officer a federal crime.

U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Humble, announced Wednesday morning that he was recently diagnosed with leukemia and will spend the rest of the summer concentrating on this battle.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will not attend the Republican National Convention as he recovers from severe burns he suffered during a family vacation, according to his office. 

President Barack Obama, former President George W. Bush and Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said the best way to honor the lives of the officers is for Americans to put aside their differences and unite.

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