Good morning, 

Here is the Texas Minute for Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Texas Opposes Biden Proposal Attacking Christian Foster Parents

• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has joined 18 other state attorneys general in opposing a recently proposed rule that would prevent Christians from becoming foster parents unless they affirm LGBTQ lifestyles. Will Biagini has the details.
       
• The rule was proposed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on September 28. It is called the “Safe and Appropriate Foster Care Placement Requirements for Titles IV-E and IV-B.” 
   
• Paxton and the other attorneys general note the proposed rule is discriminatory and undermines the individuals and organizations of faith that are a critical part of the foster care system.

Professors Push Pro-Palestine Stance for UT

• Faculty throughout the University of Texas at Austin are pressing UT President Jay Hartzell to support pro-Palestine speech. Sydnie Henry reports more than 100 members of the UT faculty signed the letter.
          

• At issue for the faculty and the impetus for the letter was the suspension of two teaching assistants “in retaliation” for expressing support for Palestine to students and acknowledging the “‘mental health implications’ of the violence in Gaza and the University’s silence on student suffering, and directing them to mental health resources on and off campus.” 

       
• The university has defended its suspension of the pair, saying they “unprofessionally misused the official University classroom communication platform to send a personal political message to the students in a course.”
       
• Notably, the faculty letter did not reference the October 7 attacks where Hamas murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 240 others, prompting Israel’s war on Hamas. 
      
• Meanwhile, the student-led Palestine Solidarity Committee has similar demands as the faculty and similarly refuses to acknowledge Hamas' terrorist attack. The "committee" is composed of far-left organizations, including the Queer Trans Black Indigenous People of Color Agency, Gender Violence Law Caucus, Students for Revolution, Getting Radical in the South, Students Fighting Climate Change, and the UT Young Democratic Socialists of America.

'Choice' Plans Would Have Meant Massive Spending Boosts For Public Schools

• A new report by the Huffines Liberty Foundation shows that public schools would have been the biggest financial beneficiaries of the "school choice" plans put forward this year in the Texas Legislature. Brandon Waltens has the story.
   

• While the Senate passed school choice numerous times, the House voted to kill a school choice proposal that was included as part of omnibus school spending legislation.

        
• A report from the Huffines Liberty Foundation criticizes all of the plans for putting “billions of taxpayer dollars more into public education than they did into school choice.”
       
• The House proposal would have put nearly $30 billion over the next five years towards increased government school spending, compared to less than $7 billion for the actual school choice program.
     
• The Senate’s most recent proposal would have placed an extra $14 billion towards public education, with a one-time $500 million expenditure on school choice that would need to be appropriated every two years.
        
• “This fight is not about what’s best for the teachers, superintendents, or school districts. This is not even about ‘school choice.’ This is a coordinated effort by elitists in Austin to limit parental choice. To crush potential competition and further empower a government monopoly,” said Don Huffines, one of the study's authors.

Spring Branch ISD Teacher Accused of Sexual Relationship with Student

• A Houston-area teacher who was placed on leave over allegations of “inappropriate conduct” with a student has now been identified and arrested. Erin Anderson has the details.
       
• Stephen Griffin is accused of having sex with an 18-year-old student in his Spring Branch ISD science class during the 2022-23 school year while he was going through a divorce. Sex with a student is a crime regardless of the student’s age.
        
• The victim said Griffin gave her gifts, including his staff jacket, and also gave her test answers and grades of 100 on her assignments.
     
• Yet state records show Griffin's Texas educator certificate is valid through September 2025.

Austin ISD Tutor Arrested For Inappropriately Touching Student

• An employee in the Austin Independent School District has been arrested for allegedly inappropriately touching and grooming a teenage student. Emily Medeiros has the full story.

        
• Isaiah Xavier Smith, a college readiness tutor at Akins High School, was arrested last week for indecency with a child by sexual contact, a second-degree felony. He was employed with the district until the incident was reported by the student’s parent. 
   
• According to documents filed in the case, Smith allegedly grabbed the minor’s genitals twice while they were alone in a computer lab.

Katrina Pierson to Challenge Justin Holland for Texas House

• Katrina Pierson, a former spokesperson for President Donald Trump, has announced she is launching a campaign for the Texas House.

        
• Pierson is challenging incumbent State Rep. Justin Holland (R–Heath) in the GOP primary.
       
• Holland has drawn the ire of conservatives with a series of high-profile votes in contradiction to the party’s priorities this year. He has taken positions in opposition to Second Amendment rights, voted to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton, and was one of 21 Republicans to join Democrats in killing a school choice proposal last month.
       
• “The Texas House has been a bottleneck for conservative priorities for too long, and it must be reformed,” said Pierson.
       
• Businessman Dennis London is also running in the Republican Primary for HD 33.

Quote-Unquote

"Without God, there could be no American form of Government, nor an American way of life. Recognition of the Supreme Being is the first—the most basic—expression of Americanism. Thus the Founding Fathers saw it, and thus, with God's help, it will continue to be."

– Dwight D. Eisenhower​

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