35 Texas Counties Eligible For Individual Disaster Aid

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Residents in a total of 35 Texas counties now qualify for individual disaster assistance following a series of severe storms and flooding that began in late April, The Dallas Morning News reported.

“I thank our federal partners and emergency response personnel across our great state who are working tirelessly to protect and support their fellow Texans,” Gov. Greg Abbott said Saturday. “Texas will continue to provide every necessary resource to regions across the state who are recovering from these storms.”

Under the individual assistance program, funding can be provided for temporary housing, emergency home repairs, uninsured and underinsured personal property losses, disaster legal services, disaster unemployment assistance, and medical, dental, and funeral expenses caused by the disaster, The News reported.

The following counties qualify for the federal assistance: Austin, Bell, Calhoun, Collin, Cooke, Coryell, Dallas, Denton, Eastland, Ellis, Falls, Guadalupe, Hardin, Harris, Henderson, Hockley, Jasper, Jones, Kaufman, Lamar, Leon, Liberty, Montague, Montgomery, Navarro, Newton, Polk, San Jacinto, Smith, Terrell, Trinity, Tyler, Van Zandt, Walker and Waller.

Homeowners and renters can apply for the aid at disasterassistance.gov or by calling the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s hotline at 800-621-3362 between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.

STAAR Results Indicate Math Results Lagging Scores released from the state’s standardized test indicate high school students are still struggling with algebra, with scores 17 percentage points below students’ pre-pandemic scores in spring 2019. The Texas Tribune reported scores have remained essentially unchanged in Algebra 1, with 45% meeting grade levels. “The data is clear; Texas students continue to struggle with math recovery,” said Gabe Grantham, policy advisor at public policy think tank Texas 2036. “We run the risk of leaving students ill-equipped to enter the future workforce without the basic math skills needed to be successful.” On the bright side, the percentage of Texas students who met or mastered grade-level English has increased since 2017 from 45% to 57%, the Texas Education Agency reported.

Across the five subjects that are tested, lowincome students graded lower than other students. For example, 35% of low-income students met grade level in Algebra I, compared to 61% of all other students.