Vice President, Communications
Merrill helps Texans better understand the research, data and policy choices shaping the state's future. Before joining Texas 2036, she spent more than three decades advising Fortune 500 companies, trade associations and nonprofits across Texas on strategic communications and public affairs.
No energy resource in Texas is growing faster than battery energy storage systems (BESS). VC-funded startups are surging here, there, and everywhere to build the industry. A search for “battery storage” returns thousands of recent headlines. But quantifying the actual utility-scale power available from batteries right now takes a bit more legwork. To quantify utility-scale…
The Texas Education Agency today announced the release of 2026 A-F Accountability Ratings for all public school systems and campuses on TXschools.gov. This year’s ratings show modest improvements with slightly more A and B campuses and slightly fewer C, D, and F campuses. Here are a few key takeaways: The share of “A” and “B”…
Statewide, about 60% of Texas public school students are classified as economically disadvantaged. A campus at or above that share is considered high-poverty. By that measure, roughly 5,400 of the state’s more than 9,000 rated campuses qualify. Poverty does not determine a school’s rating Nearly half of high-poverty campuses are already earning an A or…
Out of roughly 1,834 high schools in Texas, only 17 earned an F in 2025, about 1% of the state’s high schools. While it’s a relatively small number of F-rated campuses, the outcomes at these high school campuses are worth paying special attention to. The numbers behind the letter At high schools that received an…
Last year, approximately 25% of Texas students attended a campus that earned the state’s top A rating, and nearly 37% attended a B-rated campus. While an A or B rating is indicative of a high-performing campus, it does not mean that all students in those schools are on grade level. The grade reflects three things,…
Every year, when the Texas Education Agency releases A-F accountability ratings for the state’s roughly 9,000 public school campuses, many of the same misconceptions resurface. We’ve collected a few here and we dispel each of them with facts: ❌ Myth: All students have to pass STAAR for a campus to earn an A. ✅ Fact:…