Gas Prices At Highest Level Since 2014

As Texans hit the roads this summer with pandemic restrictions eased and vaccinations widespread, the national average price of gas is expected to top $3 per gallon, though the average in Texas for regular is $2.799, according to AAA. Drivers should expect prices to keep rising as demand rises, according to the Consumer Energy Alliance.

“With oil’s continued push higher, fueled by continued strong demand globally and production only slowly answering, gasoline prices have had no choice but following oil’s rise last week setting a new 2021 high,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. “… It appears the only way forward is for gas prices to continue to rise as Americans’ insatiable demand for gasoline continues to act as a catalyst. And with hurricane season soon coming into its prime, we have plenty more catalysts for a rise in price, and few that could restrain the situation. Motorists should prepare to dig deeper for the second half of the summer, unfortunately.”

TEA Releases Test Results; Widespread Decrease in Performance

State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) results for spring 2021 show that outcomes for in-person learners were appreciably higher than those who attended classes online during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of students not meeting grade level increased from 2019 across all subject areas and grade levels, with the exception of English, according to the Texas Education Agency.

“Thankfully, from early on, Texas prioritized the availability of in-person instruction during this tremendously difficult year,” TEA Commissioner Mike Morath said. “When students come into Texas public schools, they are wellserved by Texas educators — a fact that these scores confirm. But it is also painfully clear that the pandemic had a very negative impact on learning. I shudder to consider the long-term impact on children in states that restricted in-person instruction.”

School districts that had a higher percentage of students learning virtually had higher declines in STAAR results in all grades and subjects, TEA reported. For example, districts in which fewer than one-fourth of students were learning remotely saw a 9-percentage point drop in math performance from 2019 to 2021. In districts where more than threefourths of students were learning remotely, the decline was 32 percentage points.