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Connecting today’s news with the research & opinion you need.

Raise You

What to Know: Travis County officials want to give themselves big pay raises.

“Travis County commissioners plan to give raises to all elected officials that amount to nearly $650,000 in new spending in the 2020 fiscal year,” the Austin American-Statesman reports. “Commissioners plan to give themselves a $32,309 boost, which would bring their annual salaries to $151,817 from $119,508, a 27% pay increase. Other increases include a $6,544 raise for some county constables, a $13,000 raise for the district and county clerks, $19,427 more for the sheriff and $31,371 in additional pay for the county judge, who presides over the commissioners court as the county’s chief administrator.”

The TPPF Take: Even as they hand out cash, local government officials are complaining about new limits on their largesse imposed by the Legislature in Senate Bill 2.

“Travis County officials are caught in a contradiction,” said TPPF’s James Quintero. “On the one hand, county commissioners are outraged over the new 3.5% property tax limit, suggesting it would ‘hogtie them during difficult economic periods like recessions and force them to make drastic cuts in services.’ On the other hand, commissioners are planning to give themselves a 27% pay raise. That's both puzzling and troubling.”

Seeking Asylum

What to Know: America’s asylum system for refugees fleeing real threats is profoundly broken, The Atlantic contends.

“Here’s the story of the Punjabi family that lost their daughter in the Arizona desert,” writes David Frum. “The father, known as A. Singh, made his way to the United States in 2013. He filed an asylum petition. This was not a promising plan. In 2013, U.S. courts rejected 97 percent of asylum requests filed by Indian citizens. But after rejection, there’s appeal. If you lose on appeal, you can just stop showing up. The authorities are unlikely to find you, and even if they do, they are unlikely to send you home. Six years later, A. Singh is still in the United States, his asylum case still unresolved.”

The TPPF Take: Congress must reform our asylum system to meet 21st-Century realities.

“The current U.S. asylum system was designed for the Cold War and the exigencies of that era,” says TPPF’s John Daniel Davidson. “Today we face new challenges, and we need an asylum system that above all serves the national interest first. Enhanced border security measures and strict immigration enforcement will not, on their own, significantly reduce the number of migrants crossing the border. Without reforming the asylum system, the incentive to cross the border illegally will remain strong.”

Grade Inflation

What to Know: Why are standardized tests important? Ask parents in some New York City schools, where virtually all students pass, even if they haven’t learned a thing.

“At the Science School for Exploration and Discovery, MS 224 in the Bronx, an impressive 94 percent of students in grades 6-8 passed their math classes in the 2017-18 school year,” the New York Post reports. “But how much math they actually mastered is questionable. Only 2 percent of those same Mott Haven students — nearly all Hispanic and black from poor or low-income families — passed the state math exams, which measure skills that kids should have at each grade level, according to city data reviewed by The Post. At Harbor Heights middle school in Washington Heights, an awesome 100 percent of kids — all Hispanic — passed their state English Language Arts classes. But only 7 percent of those kids passed the ELA exams, the data show.”

The TPPF Take: Though it is much criticized, standardized testing is an invaluable tool for ensuring that schools are providing a solid education to every student.

“No one likes high-stakes testing, and no test is perfect, but we must have some way of determining whether our children are learning,” says TPPF’s Kara Belew. “We must be sure kids are reading and doing math at grade level—and are being prepared for their lives and careers.”