Call Center Company in Pasadena, TX

The Texas destination has a lot to offer, without breaking budgets.

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Beach.com released an analysis looking at affordable beach destinations. At No. 1 is a Texas destination just outside of Houston: Pasadena. This area provides access to several nearby beaches and some well-known barrier islands.

Planning a summer beach vacation might not be at the top of your to-do list right now—the wild prices of staples like eggs and milk mean that everyone has to be a little more budget-conscious this year. But a new study from Beach.com finds that it is still possible to take an affordable beach vacation this year—it just might not be in the cities you usually associate with sandy shores, extra sunblock, and turquoise waters.

The study named Pasadena, Texas, is the most affordable beach destination in the United States, among both big and small cities. Pasadena isn’t super walkable, but for all other factors combined, it adds up to having the lowest costs across the board. Vacationers will spend an average of $1,549 for two people when staying in a hotel.

MethodologyThe study evaluated large and small city beach towns to determine which destinations would make the smallest dent in your bank account. To create the ranking matrix, the report analyzed various factors, including what the costs would be for two adults in each location. This includes weekend dining costs, everyday expenses, airfare, hotel rates, vacation rental rates, walkability, and price volatility. This last one is important because it accounts for the seasonal price changes that many popular destinations have throughout the year.

For many people, the Texas city might not jump out as an obvious beach destination. It is named after the significantly more well-known Pasadena, California, and is just down the road from the much more popular Galveston, Texas.

But just because it doesn’t have the name recognition of Miami or Malibu doesn’t mean it doesn’t have some beautiful coastline to enjoy. The city has access to several beaches, including El Jardin Beach Park and Sylvan Beach—and isn’t too far from some famous barrier islands like Red Fish Island and Brother Island Beach.

Pasadena is also only a short drive away from Houston, which means that you can also get some time exploring the city’s vibrant art scene and maybe even catch a rodeo. If you’re looking for even more Gulf-front beach towns on the Texas Coast, Travel + Leisure has you covered with a guide to the best Texas beaches.

And if you’re looking for other affordable beach destinations across the U.S., you’ll find plenty in the Beach.com study. For more small town affordability, you can consider Hialeah, Florida, or Elizabeth, New Jersey. For big city options, consider Long Beach, California, or Tampa.

The 2023 report cards are finally out for Texas public schools, and as expected, grades took a tumble virtually across the board.

Texas public districts and schools saw a sharp drop in their academic accountability ratings under a revamped rubric that made it harder for them to score top ratings in 2023, according to results released Thursday by the Texas Education Agency.

Nearly two-thirds of the A-through-F district ratings fell by at least one letter grade, while one-third of district ratings didn’t change. Those trends played out in the Greater Houston area, where 14 of the largest 20 districts dropped at least one letter grade and the remaining six held on to their rating.

To see results for each school and district, click here for the TEA’s ratings website.

The TEA planned to publish the scores in the fall of 2023, but the release was delayed due to a lawsuit filed by school districts that argued state officials violated the law in crafting the tougher standards. Scores from 2024 haven’t been released, either, due to a separate lawsuit filed by districts.

Accountability ratings are largely based on various measures tied to standardized test scores, including overall performance, rates of growth and comparisons to other districts and schools. Graduation rates and measures of readiness for life after high school also factor into ratings for districts and high schools.

Here are some of the biggest takeaways from the 2023 scores for Houston-area districts, including Houston, Katy, Aldine and Pasadena ISDs.

HISD trended down before takeover

Under Texas’ accountability system, each district and school grades a 0-to-100 rating, which is then converted into a letter grade that follows the traditional A-through-F scale. All of the Houston region’s 20 largest districts saw their numerical rating fall in 2023 compared to 2022.

But HISD carded the sharpest decline of the group, falling from 88 to 72. The fall largely resulted from a large drop in reading and math growth relative to the rest of the region.

The 2023 scores, which are primarily based on spring test results, marked the last accountability rating before Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath replaced HISD’s school board and appointed Superintendent Mike Miles to run the district. HISD’s accountability rating from 2023 did not contribute to the ouster of district leaders.

HISD posted significant gains in test scores and accountability ratings in Miles’ first year, district administrators said, though official ratings for 2024 haven’t been released.

Higher-income districts held steadiest

Critics of Texas’ accountability system often point to the fact that districts in wealthier neighborhoods rarely get low ratings, while it’s difficult for districts in lower-income parts of Texas to excel.

The updated grading system will do little to dispel that complaint.

In the Houston area, the five larger districts serving the fewest lower-income students — Conroe, Clear Creek, Katy, Pearland and Tomball ISDs — saw small drops in their ratings relative to the rest of the region.

Tomball scored the third-highest rating out of the state’s 100 largest districts, earning a rare A grade. Katy and Pearland lost their A grades from 2022, though they still scored 88 and 89 overall, respectively.

Aldine fell to the bottom

Among the 100 largest districts in Texas, none scored worse than Aldine ISD in 2023. The district carded a 63 rating, down from 77 the prior year.

Districts that serve high percentages of lower-income, emergent bilingual and at-risk students are much more likely to score lower ratings under Texas’ accountability system. But as the Houston Landing documented last year, Aldine has fallen behind districts serving similar types of students since the arrival of Superintendent LaTonya Goffney in 2018.

Aldine board members and many community members remain supportive of Goffney, a popular leader across the state and nation. The district made moderate progress on its standardized test scores in 2024, though it’s not yet clear whether the growth is enough for the district to shed its D grade.

Galena Park, Pasadena shined

The two eastern Harris County districts serving large numbers of lower-income Hispanic and emergent bilingual students topped many similar districts by earning B grades.

Galena Park ISD, home to roughly 21,000 students, lost its A grade but saw its overall score modestly slip from 91 to 85.

Pasadena ISD, which serves nearly 50,000 students, narrowly kept its B grade as its score fell from 86 to 81.

KIPP, IL Texas took a dive

For decades, many charter school advocates have pointed to above-average test scores as evidence that charters outperform traditional public schools.

But two of the Houston area’s largest charter operators — KIPP Texas Public School and International Leadership of Texas — posted sharp drops in accountability ratings that resulted in D grades. The two networks received scores of 69 and 68, respectively, in 2023 after both notching 86 ratings the prior year.

The tumble followed some of the state’s worst rates of growth on math and reading test scores, historically an area of strength for KIPP Texas in particular.

KIPP Texas runs 32 schools in the Houston area and 22 other campuses spread across the state. Greater Houston is home to 11 of International Leadership of Texas’ 26 schools.

Three of the state’s largest charter networks with a Houston footprint — YES Prep Public Schools, IDEA Public Schools and Texas College Preparatory Academies — each scored B ratings.

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