The Lone Star State ranks 19th in the U.S. for its teaching environment. Educational First Steps/Facebook

If Texas were a student, it would earn a mediocre grade when it comes to the state's atmosphere for schoolteachers. In a new study from personal finance website WalletHub, Texas ranks 19th for its teaching environment compared with the 49 other states and the District of Columbia.

While Texas earns good marks for teacher salaries, the rest of the state's grades for teachers are below average, according to WalletHub. In all, WalletHub studied 22 metrics to come up with its report card.

Texas ranks second for the average starting salary for teachers and 13th for the average salary for teachers. However, both data points adjusted for cost of living in Texas. The state also ranked 13th for the 10-year change in teachers' salaries, WalletHub says. Texas doesn't fare nearly as well in WalletHub's other measurements, though:

  • No. 29 for pupil-teacher ratio.
  • No. 30 for teacher safety.
  • No. 32 for fewest teachers per student projected for 2026.
  • No. 36 for school quality.
  • No. 36 for per-student spending in public schools. According to the National Education Association (NEA), per-student funding in Texas is $2,300 less than the national average.
  • No. 37 for teachers' potential for income growth.

A recent survey by the Texas State Teachers Association backs up the notion that the state's teachers aren't in the same class as their counterparts in places like New York, Connecticut, Minnesota, and Illinois, which were graded by WalletHub as the best states for teachers.

For instance, the Texas survey indicates that about four of every 10 teachers expect to take jobs outside the classroom to make ends meet during the academic year. In addition, the typical teacher in the survey reported spending an average of $738 a year on school supplies out of his or her own pocket.

According to the survey, moonlighting teachers in Texas average 14.1 hours a week at their extra jobs. That's on top of the 17 hours a week they spend outside the classroom on school-related work.

The Austin-based Texas State Teachers Association, an affiliate of the NEA, says the average salary of teachers in the survey was $53,221, which is $7,300 below the national average. According to the NEA, Texas ranks 29th for teacher pay.

Noel Candelaria, president of the Texas association, pins the blame for the plight of Texas teachers on Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and their legislative allies. He says they've failed to properly finance public education.

"Our teachers … remain dedicated to their students' success, even if it means spending evenings and weekends at extra jobs away from their families," Candelaria says in a release. "It's time for our elected officials at the state Capitol to demonstrate the same kind of dedication to our children by providing the necessary resources."

In August, Abbott said he wants to boost pay for the state's best teachers, putting them on a path toward earning more than $100,000 a year — without a hike in property taxes.

"Teaching is a calling; it would be hard to do otherwise," Abbott said. "But I want to ensure that teaching in Texas also becomes a profession, where we are able to attract the very best and keep the very best."

"We can and we must do more to improve education in Texas," the governor said. "As we approach this next legislative session [in 2019], one of my top goals is to improve education by investing more in our teachers and students."

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This story originally appeared on CultureMap.

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UTHealth Houston officially opens new tower in TMC's Helix Park

open for innovation

UTHealth Houston School of Public Health recently opened its new state-of-the-art tower in the Texas Medical Center’s Helix Park.

The 350,000-square-foot, 10-story campus at 1930 Old Spanish Trail was celebrated with an official ribbon-cutting ceremony on Oct. 28. The $229 million project will consolidate all UTHealth Houston School of Public Health operations into one facility. It will also connect students who are at the Austin, Brownsville, Dallas, El Paso and San Antonio campuses with peers and faculty through digital and distance learning.

Disciplines taught in the new tower will include epidemiology, genetics, nutrition, health policy, data science and health promotion, UTHealth shared when the building first broke ground in 2023.

Architects Kirksey Architecture and Smith Group designed the building, and Vaughn Construction served as general contractor. The facility features labs for studying human disease, classrooms and spaces to support interdisciplinary and community-based research, a broadcast studio and a teaching kitchen. A skybridge over Old Spanish Trail connects the new tower with a plaza that's shared with MD Anderson.

“This new facility reflects the kind of forward-looking investment that will serve Texans for generations,” Janiece Longoria, vice chairman of the UT System Board of Regents, said in a news release. “By creating an environment where talented people can learn, collaborate, and pursue new ideas, UTHealth Houston is building capacity to meet the challenges of tomorrow while strengthening its impact across our state.”

UTHealth says the system aims for the new campus to expand on collaborative research efforts and continue graduate education, as enrollment at the School of Public Health has increased by 27 percent over the last five years.

“This new building, with its state-of-the-art education technology and learning environment, will strengthen and advance the school’s mission to educate and train the next generation of experts who will advance scientific discovery, shape evidence-based health policy, and lead innovative solutions to the complex health challenges in communities throughout Texas and across the nation,” Kevin Morano, senior vice president, provost and chief academic officer of UTHealth Houston, added in a news release.

Attending the ceremony were Dr. Melina R. Kibbe, UTHealth Houston president and Alkek Williams Distinguished Chair; Eric Boerwinkle, dean, M. David Low Chair in Public Health and Kozmetsky Family Chair in Human Genetics at the School of Public Health; Texas State Representative Lauren Ashley Simmons, Texas House District 146; representatives of the offices of Senator John Cornyn and Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis; and Dr. Theresa Tran, director of the Houston Health Department.

"This building represents far more than a home for our school,” Boerwinkle added in the release. “It represents the people who make our mission possible: the faculty, staff, and students who fill each laboratory and classroom with curiosity, discovery, and purpose to improve the population’s quality of life.”

Rice University breaks ground on new innovation hub, The Arc

breaking ground

Construction is officially underway on Rice University's The Arc in Houston’s Ion District.

The university broke ground on the 200,000-square-foot research, corporate innovation and office building on Nov. 4. The facility will share a plaza with the existing Ion building, fostering collaboration within the innovation space, according to Rice.

“The Arc will bring Rice’s extraordinary research and talent and Houston’s impactful innovation ecosystem into even closer connection with the industries and innovators working to solve some of the world’s most consequential challenges,” Rice President Reginald DesRoches said in an announcement. “That constant exchange of ideas and expertise will help move discoveries more rapidly from the laboratory to real-world impact.”

Construction is scheduled to be completed by Q2 2028. Rice Real Estate Co. is developing the project, and Rice University will occupy about 80,000 square feet in the building (about 40 percent). Preleasing has begun, with floor plans ranging from 28,000 to 31,000 square feet.

The Arc will feature conference and meeting spaces, an amenity lounge, fitness center, outdoor plazas, underground parking, and on-site retail and dining, according to the release.

It aims to host tenants focused on artificial intelligence and machine learning, data science, robotics, quantum science and engineering and energy, including Rice's new AI Foundry.

Rice says the AI Foundry will be a space where university experts and partners can support organizations with AI challenges. Rice recently committed to hiring 75 new AI-focused faculty and announced plans to launch a new Master of Artificial Intelligence (MAI) next fall.

“The AI Foundry is exactly the kind of collaboration the Arc is designed to enable,” Amy Dittmar, the Howard R. Hughes Provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Rice, added in the release. “By bringing Rice researchers together with industry partners in a shared environment, we can accelerate the movement of ideas from research into practical applications while helping organizations build the capabilities they need to succeed as AI continues to evolve.

Developers of The Arc are targeting LEED Gold certification by incorporating smart building automation and energy-saving features into the project's design. Rice first announced the project in September 2025.

Rendering courtesy Bogza

Houston battery tech startup FlowCellutions acquired by Katy energy co.

M&A

Katy-based TerraFlow Energy, an energy storage and infrastructure company, has acquired Houston-based battery technology startup FlowCellutions. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

FlowCellutions still operates under its established name, but with the tagline “A TerraFlow Energy Company.” Becca Segel, founder and CEO of FlowCellutions, now runs the business as its president.

FlowCellutions specializes in electrochemical sensing, diagnostics, analytics, and testing that offer insights into battery chemistry, charging capabilities, and system performance.

“FlowCellutions has always been focused on developing better ways to understand what is happening inside a flow battery and using that information to improve how these systems perform,” Segal said in a press release. “Joining TerraFlow gives us the opportunity to apply that work at a much larger scale while continuing to build the capabilities and expertise that make FlowCellutions unique.”

The FlowCellutions platform supports data centers and other heavy users of power. It’s designed to help reduce operating costs, prevent failures and costly downtime, and extend battery lifetime from about seven years to more than 30 years.

Segel founded the company in 2022. A member of Greentown Labs, the company raised more than $2 million in non-dilutive funding and received $1.5 million in National Science Foundation funding earlier this year.

FlowCellutions is one of five finalists in the Energy Transition Business category of InnovationMap’s 2026 Houston Innovation Awards.

“FlowCellutions brings a depth of scientific and technical expertise that fits naturally with where TerraFlow is going,” Jon Parrella, CEO of TerraFlow, said in the release.

“As we move from developing these systems to deploying them at commercial scale, understanding performance at a deeper level matters,” he said. “Bringing FlowCellutions into TerraFlow strengthens that capability and gives both teams more opportunity to advance the technology.”TerraFlow, founded in 2024, develops long-duration energy storage and power infrastructure for data centers, industrial facilities, utilities and other large power consumers.

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This article originally appeared on EnergyCapitalHTX.com.