- Coming up on "Austin InSight," the Austin School District is now at risk of a state takeover, but a grassroots group is pulling together to try to keep the district under local control.

And later, Austin legend Matthew McConaughey further cements his legacy with a great honor at a Central Texas institution.

"Austin InSight" starts now.

- [Announcer] Support for "Austin InSight" comes from Sally & James Gavin, and also from Daniel L. Skret.

(lively music) (lively music continues) - Hi there, and thanks for joining us.

I'm Laura Laughead.

The Austin School District is inching closer to a critical crossroads with the state poised to step in and make changes to improve performance.

New state accountability ratings last week saw two campuses, Burnet Middle School and Webb Middle School, earn a fifth consecutive failing rating.

Under state law, that triggers a mandatory state intervention.

The Texas Education Commissioner has two options: either close Burnet and Webb or impose a state takeover of the entire district, appointing a board of managers to run it.

In a recent interview, we asked Superintendent Matias Segura whether he has any indication from TEA which path they'll pursue.

- I have not had any conversations with the agency about, you know, what happens next.

That's my place is to focus on student outcomes.

When, you know, outcomes begin to get released as we move forward, I'm sure there'll be those conversations.

- [Laura] While Burnet and Webb extended their streak of failing ratings, AISD actually as a whole saw improvement.

The district earned a B rating for the first time in four years after a series of C ratings.

The number of campuses that earned an A or a B rating increased almost 30% from last year, from 47 to 61.

And the number of campuses that earned a D or F rating dropped by about a quarter, from 41 to 31.

- It is very exciting to have so much to celebrate.

And I really want to honor our students who worked so hard and really dedicated themselves so diligently to learning.

- We are growing in inches, not yards.

That's the way everything in education works.

If you've been in education long enough, you know it takes time to move, right?

The system is moving.

Is it moving as fast as you want it?

No, what does?

But it is moving.

- In response to the threat of state takeover, a group of Austin parents, teachers, and community organizations is banding together to keep Austin schools independent.

Brian Degman is one of those parents, and he's here with us to tell us about the effort.

Brian, thank you so much for being with us.

- Of course.

Glad to be here.

- So, Brian, let's start with you.

What's your connection to Austin schools in this effort?

- Well, I'm just a parent in Austin ISD.

I have a first grader, and, you know, he's a little nervous, a little excited.

But, yeah, so I'm, you know, somewhat new to the district.

But over the past, you know, my first year at the district seeing the huge budget deficit that AISD is dealing with, and sort of getting more involved with state education funding, and then hearing about the state takeover really made me feel concerned about the state of public education in Texas, and wanting to get involved with helping to, you know, address the problems within our district and statewide.

- So why was it so important to you and all of these others who have joined this effort to keep local control of the school district?

- Yeah.

Well, we believe that the state removing our locally elected board and replacing them with appointed managers who are only accountable to the Commissioner of Education or the commissioner of the TEA is just not an acceptable solution to parents, community members, taxpayers here in Austin.

And I think we've seen from the takeovers in Houston and Fort Worth that these takeovers don't have student interests in mind.

And students have suffered in Houston.

I mean, their enrollment is down by, I think, 13,000 students since the takeovers began.

Something like 11,000 teachers have left the district.

One in four teachers in Houston is now uncertified.

And it's affecting the quality of the education that those students are getting.

And so we believe that parents in the community here in Austin are the people who have our children's best interests in mind, and our voices and our, you know, point of view needs to be considered and matter.

- Now, state law mandates intervention from the state given the set of circumstances that AISD finds itself in currently.

So what outcome can you really hope for to keep local control over the school district while fulfilling what state law calls for here?

- Well, the TEA sort of has multiple options.

You know, I think we've seen in most districts that face what Austin's in, it ends up with a state takeover.

Wichita Falls ISD has recently had a sort of different outcome where they have a conservator and they had to close and reopen the school.

And, you know, I have no insight to what sort of deals TEA and AISD could be trying to make.

But in any sort of outcome, the thing that we're focused on is making sure that parents and community have a real voice and a real power to make sure that schools are run in the best interest of our children and not, you know, have that power taken out of our control.

- And indeed, that is the most important thing here is our students' success and our students' well-being in schools.

Well, Brian Degman, an Austin ISD parent and a member of Keep Austin Schools Independent, thank you so much for joining us today.

I know this is a ongoing and difficult conversation.

- Thank you so much.

- While the district is staring down the barrel of state intervention, we do want to note Dobie Middle School, which was also on the verge of a fifth consecutive failing rating, was actually able to break that cycle with a D rating.

Our Decibel team has done lots of work at Dobie, exploring the challenges the school has faced, but also the work that's been happening to give students a better chance to succeed.

So we want to be sure to give them a shout-out and celebrate their progress.

You can check out their stories about Dobie at decibelatx.org.

(lively music) Meanwhile, there are growing calls for justice for Anthony Williams II, as well as accountability for the Austin police officers who fatally shot him in late July.

Three officers opened fire on the 17-year-old after he reached for his waistband.

They were responding to a 911 call reporting a teen with a gun, a call police say came from Williams's own phone shortly before 4:00 that morning.

Police didn't find a gun at the scene.

Police Chief Lisa Davis described this event as a suicide by cop.

According to a sociology professor at UT Austin who researches police culture and training, the shooting was as predictable as it was tragic.

- If you call the police and tell them that somebody has a gun, they're going to show up.

And if you reach for your waistband once they arrive, they are very likely to believe that you are not reaching for a cell phone, or a water bottle, or anything else.

They are likely to react to you as if you are reaching for a weapon, which they have been told is being brandished by somebody in the area in which you currently are.

- APD is investigating the shooting, and the three officers are on leave.

The district attorney says his office will review the case once APD has completed its review.

This is another story our Decibel team has been working on, from gathering reaction to researching and adding context.

You can find their reporting once again at decibelatx.org.

The Austin City Council approved its largest budget ever last week at $6.6 billion.

To cover the costs, they'll increase the city's property tax revenue by three and a half percent, the most allowed under state law without asking voters for approval.

That decision capped off months of debate as city leaders weighed which programs or departments to cut amid slowing revenue growth and rising costs.

Our local government reporter, Sam Stark, has been covering this at every turn.

Sam, thank you so much for joining us.

I know you've been quite busy on this.

- I have been.

Thanks for having me, Laura.

- So, Sam, tell us, what was at stake this budget cycle?

- Yeah.

Laura, as you mentioned, city leaders this year were grappling with slower revenue growth and rising costs, which led the city manager in early July to propose a budget that would slash several million dollars in funding for organizations that contract with the city to provide social services.

Many in the community strongly opposed making those cuts, leading several city council members to pledge their commitment to restoring the funding.

And that's exactly what happened in the approved budget.

The city was able to redirect some additional property tax revenue to restore social service contract funding and continuous supporting social services related to things like behavioral health and children.

- But not everybody was on board with this budget.

- Yeah, that's exactly right.

Mayor Kirk Watson and Council Member Marc Duchen both voted against it.

They argued that City Hall should have shown more financial restraint before raising property taxes and taking on more debt, especially after voters rejected Proposition Q last fall.

Additionally, the new budget included a change to how the city handles emergency communications.

That includes 911 calls, which some found that move to be controversial.

If it goes ahead, the city would create a new Office of Joint Emergency Communications, which could eventually become a standalone department independent of the Austin Police Department.

It's a move that the Austin Police Chief, the Austin-Travis County EMS Chief, and the Interim Fire Chief all questioned, saying it's unclear whether the change would actually improve emergency response.

- And I'm sure you'll be watching that as well as it moves forward.

But how will this new budget impact taxpayers?

- Yeah.

So for someone who owns an average value home of about $472,000, the property tax increase will add about $114 to their city tax bill next year.

But when you factor in higher fees for things like trash, water, and electricity, as well as new debt for infrastructure projects, that average homeowner could pay about $290 more next year.

But the number could rise a little higher depending on how voters vote this November.

- And that's also because there's a bond proposal on the ballot.

What exactly are voters being asked to approve?

- Yeah.

The city council voted to put a $295 million bond proposal before voters, which could fund capital improvement projects for parks and libraries.

And that decision wasn't unanimous either.

Mayor Kirk Watson and two other city council members voted against putting the bond package on the ballot.

They sided with city financial staff who had recommended waiting until 2028.

But the other eight city council members said the needs at aging parks and libraries couldn't wait that long.

(water splashing) The Garrison Pool is one of the few places Austinites living south of Ben White Boulevard can splash in to cool off during Austin's seemingly endless summers.

And park experts say it's at risk of closing.

- It would be such a huge loss.

- [Sam] Katherine Romans and her kids are frequent visitors, especially during the summer months.

- Three, two, one!

(water splashing) She said Garrison Park and its pool are well-loved and utilized.

And as Austin's summers grow longer and hotter, it's a crucial space for the community.

- This is a place where families come to host birthday parties, where neighbors gather, where folks come every day to do lap swimming and to get a break from the intense heat of the Austin summer.

- [Sam] Romans and others were among those fiercely advocating that the city council call a bond election that would include funding for Austin Parks, a department that has not received bond funding since 2018.

- But what's clear is that in the next few years, should a major mechanical failure come up, the pool is likely to have either a prolonged or permanent closure without dedicated funding to address those issues.

- The motion passes.

- [Sam] On August 4th, the Austin City Council largely agreed it was in the city's best interest to call a bond election, one that prioritizes Austin Parks and libraries.

- I think this proposal is laser-focused on some of the greatest areas of need for our capital programs.

- [Sam] This November, voters will see two bond proposals on the ballot.

Proposition A would authorize $260 million in bonds to fund improvements to Austin parks, pools, trails, and other park facilities and infrastructure.

Proposition B would authorize $35 million in bonds for two library projects, one in Oak Hill, and for the design of another in Colony Park.

- This bond proposal is small enough that it doesn't require a major burden on taxpayers.

It's far less than the amount of debt we retire each year, and the program is balanced across the city.

- [Sam] Council Member Siegel was among the eight council members voting to push forward the election.

Three others, including the mayor, opposed it, concerned about taking on more debt before the city had spent the majority of prior bond funding.

- What isn't helpful is when we feel a pressure so intense that we start to have ad hoc bonds every two years.

I don't think that's going to stop unless we have somehow incredibly strong public commitment to make systemic changes for how we approach bonds.

- [Sam] Now that it's on the ballot, Romans hopes voters approve the funding so that South Austin can keep its summer sanctuary.

- It's hard to imagine our community without it.

- You can catch up on more of Sam's reporting on city government through our partnership with the Austin Current at austincurrent.org.

(lively music) Now from Austin to outer space, we all know Central Texas is a launchpad for a variety of industries, but a new documentary gives us an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look at a local space startup from bankruptcy to orbit in just a matter of years.

That's the story of Firefly Aerospace.

And for anyone who loves numbers, that's almost statistically impossible.

- [Announcer] Everyone, thumbs up in the room for a go.

AVI and software in the other room, you guys go.

- [Sam] "To the Black" follows Firefly founder Tom Markusic as the company faces remarkable odds to launch a rocket and gives us a rare look into the pressure and perseverance that the space industry takes.

"To the Black" was directed by award-winning filmmaker Scott Edwards, who is based here in Austin.

Edwards also helps film and produce Texas Monthly's "The Story," which airs right here on PBS.

Scott is here with us in the studio.

Scott, it is so great to be with you.

- Great to be with you.

Thanks for having me.

- Absolutely.

So this documentary is incredible, and I'm not just saying that.

I was absolutely gripped from start to finish.

It is so beautifully shot, and you could not have scripted a better comeback story.

So the first thing I want to ask you and talk to you about, because it feels like a time capsule in a sense, because you spent six years filming this.

You went out to Firefly 120 times.

So can you take us back to 2016?

How did you first find out about this company and then realize there's a documentary here?

- Yeah, great.

I make videos for a living for companies, and a client led me out there, and I met these guys.

And when I show up, I think it's the first time I meet them.

It's like 8:00 a.m., 9:00 a.m.

They say, "Look, whatever you do, you cannot use this, but you must film it."

And I'm so intrigued.

What is this?

- That's an odd request.

- There's an all-hands meeting.

All the people gather around and they announce that they've raised Series A funding.

They've raised $30 million.

They toast champagne, and it was electric.

- Just $30 million.

- And that was actually, that's the first scene.

That's what gets the story going.

So I just happened to be there the day that really their funding took root and they began to take off and start building rockets.

- And you just kept coming back out there, kept coming back out there.

And we were just talking about this before the interview, but there's such a level of trust, clearly.

It seems like, you know, fly-on-the-wall, cinema verite, people almost forgot you were there and filming.

- Totally.

- Which is the highest compliment for a documentary filmmaker.

You even had, you know, Tom Markusic's wife on camera in the bathroom saying how nervous she was before a launch, and that is really gripping.

Though, you know, with all these issues that they were plagued with, did you ever wonder though over these years, is this company even going to exist by the time this documentary airs?

- I definitely wondered if they would get to space.

I definitely wondered that.

I felt as a document... the story was going to work if they won or lost.

So if they failed to get there, I thought, this is still going to be a great story.

I wondered if it would ever resolve, conclude, if this would take forever, if I would give out.

I was doing this independently on my own time and my own dollar, and I found it really difficult to keep going.

I tell people it was like a poker hand, you know?

Once you're one year in, two years in, you're so far in, you can't fold.

And it was never my intention to follow them for six years.

They were always a couple years away from launch.

So I knew that they would give us an ending, I thought.

I needed them to get to launch.

If they failed on launch, that's an ending.

If they succeed on launch, that's an ending.

I just needed them to get there, and I needed to get there.

- Well, I'm sure, too, their spirit of perseverance was infectious.

It's like, you know, you're getting to document history.

They're working towards this goal, and it would be hard not to be like, "Okay, I have to be in the weeds with them, too."

So you followed Firefly's rise and fall and rise and fall and then rise again.

But in the middle of that, you also feature some recurring Texas characters, non-scientists that I gathered, people who live around Firefly voicing their thoughts.

They had some of the best sound bites in the whole thing.

Why was it important for you to include their perspective and kind of ground the story in that sense?

- I love that question.

Rockets, I'm not particularly interested in rocket science.

I'm not a space geek.

I like stories.

I like drama.

I love watching people do really difficult and challenging things.

And so that's what drew me to the story.

Now the problem I had is, how do I convey rocket science to people?

Rocket science is not entertaining.

Rocket science is cumbersome and arduous and difficult and hard to understand.

So one of the ways I went about that was there's a clash of cultures up in Briggs where this company has a test site.

This is 20 minutes north of Cedar Park in everyone's backyard up here.

And what you have is rural cattle ranchers, and then you have a rocket test site led by a Princeton graduate, you know, elite NASA space professional, Tom Markusic.

And here you've got the rural country, and then you've got, you know, a rocket scientist.

So this is a fun clash.

So I went and interviewed the neighbors and got to know the people in the town.

And they would comment on how Firefly's doing.

And they're actually, some of them are well-read.

They'll read the newspapers and they'll comment on whether, you know, Firefly will ever catch up to SpaceX or not.

And they all had their views and they all had their complaints about the noise.

And then along the way, you know, there's a little heart where they say, you know, "I hope these guys make it."

And so it's fun.

And that was important to me because I knew this film needed to be for all viewers.

I didn't want to make it just for space people.

I always set out, I thought, "I want to make something my wife would enjoy."

It's just human drama, stuff we can all relate to.

And these people help us relate to that.

- Well, they're kind of our ambassador in the story.

And that is such a Texas juxtaposition.

You've got like the cattle ranch and then the rocket.

That is like a uniquely Texas story right there.

"To the Black" will be out on Amazon Prime and Apple in September.

Director Scott Edwards, thank you so much for sharing your behind-the-scenes story with us.

- Thanks, Laura.

(lively music) - From the space race to a race to the top, an attempt to summit the highest point in all 50 states faster than anyone ever has.

That's how a staff member at Southwestern University in Georgetown spent his summer.

I'm clearly not doing enough.

We previously spoke with Brandon Bargo, Southwestern's Assistant Director of Outdoor Adventure, to find out how it went.

- Well, I ended up doing 46 successfully.

Climbed 51 mountains.

I had to climb several twice.

And the goal was to do it in 20 days or less, which sounds impossible.

- Yeah, it does.

I still can't fathom that.

- And the way that I was thinking about it, I was like, it's hard enough to visit all 50 states, and then visit all 50 states in the most remote areas and then try to climb these mountains.

And so I got really, really close.

In the end, it was because of the weather that stopped me from making it to the top.

But I'm still pretty proud of what we were able to accomplish.

- You also went with other Southwestern departments, like the kinesiology department and the psychology department.

And I would personally need a psychologist if I were to do this, because I'm deathly afraid of heights.

So can you talk about their involvement and how all of y'all did this together?

- Yeah.

Well, you kind of asked, you know, what was kind of the reason for doing this, or what was one of the goals?

And one of the goals was to try to include some science into it.

I'm like, "If I'm going to do this, it's probably worth studying what I'm doing psychologically and physiologically."

And so I started reaching out to other departments, reached out to the professors, and said, "Hey, I'm going to go do this crazy thing.

Like, what could we study, and what kind of science can we find?"

And so the kinesiology professor, Dr.

Ed Merritt, and the psychology department, they created this questionnaire.

So every time I climbed a mountain, I had to fill out these different things that were, you know, asking me how I'm doing physically, how I'm doing emotionally.

And at first I was a little bit annoyed by it because I'm like, "I don't have time to do this."

But it was a really interesting thing to be able to do this before every mountain because it started really having me kind of check in.

I was like, "Man, I'm actually feeling kind of irritable today."

And it was because I was sleeping two or three hours a day.

- Naturally.

- Right?

So I'm not sleeping very much because I'm moving and I'm climbing mountains in the middle of the night over and over and over again.

- In low-oxygen air.

- Yeah.

And so having this questionnaire that I had to check in with really was just this added extra thing that I got to do that it wasn't just doing this, "Hey, let me do this cool record," but it was actually being able to, I think, contribute towards science.

And students are involved in getting to be part of the research.

And so I did a VO2 test before, which is kind of an endurance test on a treadmill where you have a face mask.

So I did that before and after the trip, and students were participating in that research.

- That is seriously so cool.

And speaking of cool, before we go, from UT Austin's Minister of Culture to Austin FC co-owner, and now his own movie theater.

Local legend Matthew McConaughey received a special honor last week that even he thinks is "all right, all right, all right."

- Now therefore I, Kirk Watson, mayor of the City of Austin, Texas, do hereby proclaim August 10th, 2026, as Matthew McConaughey Cinema Day in Austin, Texas.

(crowd cheering) - [Laura] The Alamo Drafthouse has officially renamed its Mueller location Matthew McConaughey Cinema in honor of the Academy Award-winning actor and longtime Austin advocate.

The celebration included a plaque unveiling and a proclamation from the mayor.

McConaughey joins an exclusive list of Alamo Drafthouse honorees, including filmmakers Christopher Nolan and Spike Lee.

- This one came out of nowhere.

Feels like I started "Dazed and Confused" like five years ago.

No, it was 34 years ago.

And I've been making a lot of movies since.

You got enough of a library to have a theater cinema named after you.

In Austin, Texas, where it all started for me.

Very cool.

So I've got a good rhythm here.

I like the rhythm that Austin gives back to me.

We do, we make good music together.

You know what I mean?

And it's one of those towns and cities where, if you follow your ears, you're most likely gonna like what you see.

- [Laura] The special ceremony was followed by a screening of McConaughey's new movie, "The Rivals of Amziah King."

It's his first film in six years.

You know, maybe the next thing on his Austin bucket list is taking the stage and performing at a taping of "Austin City Limits."

I'd love to see that happen.

That's our show.

If you want to see more "Austin InSight," you can catch up on all our episodes on the Austin PBS YouTube channel and in the PBS app anytime for free.

Thanks again for watching.

We'll see you next time.

(lively music) (lively music continues) - [Announcer] Support for "Austin InSight" comes from Sally & James Gavin, and also from Daniel L. Skret.

(bright music)