Data-Driven Education Journalism for the Lone Star State
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El Paso ISD's graduation rate fell from 87.6% to 82.3% over five years while Rio Grande Valley districts like McAllen ISD climbed to 98.3%. Same demographics, different trajectories.
Texas grew by 1.1 million students over 15 years, but the growth rate halved every five years. In 2026, it fell.
Houston ISD and Dallas ISD both posted 84% graduation rates for the Class of 2024, sitting about 6 points below the state average of 90.7%.
A charter that started with 659 students is now Texas' 6th-largest district at 79,608. But its growth engine just stalled.
Karnes City ISD's graduation rate fell from 94.2% to 41.4% over five years -- the largest decline of any Texas district -- as the Eagle Ford Shale town faces population volatility.
Houston, Dallas, Austin, Fort Worth, and San Antonio ISDs are simultaneously at their lowest enrollment in 22 years of data.
Retraction: our earlier report that Texas publishes no graduation data for Black and Native American students was wrong. TEA reports those rates yearly.
12th grade enrollment now exceeds kindergarten by 44,132 students in Texas, a complete inversion of the pipeline that held for decades.
Texas's federal 4-year graduation rate reached 90.7% for the Class of 2024, edging past its pre-COVID level. But 26 districts graduate fewer than 70% of students.
Of 1,202 Texas districts, 206 are at record-low enrollment while 320 are at record highs. The split runs along a predictable line.
Texas has 1.35 million English learners, up 97% in 20 years. LEP growth was 4.5x total enrollment growth since 2020, but 2025 brought the first dip.
Houston ISD has fallen to 168,812 students, its lowest in 22 years, while suburban neighbors added nearly 200,000.
Texas enrollment fell 47,195 students in 2025-26, only the second decline in 22 years and the first not caused by a pandemic.
White enrollment drops to 24.2% of Texas public schools, the lowest share on record, as the state's demographic transformation reaches the suburban ring.
TEA releases 2025-26 enrollment data showing 5,483,304 students statewide — down 47,195, the first non-pandemic decline in 22 years.