Good morning –

What should happen to schools pushing leftwing agendas? Find out what readers told us.

Here is the Texas Minute for Wednesday, March 23, 2022.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

A.G. Paxton: School District Is “Breaking State Law”

• Yesterday morning’s Texas Minute led with a distressing report that Austin school officials are dedicating this entire week to promoting hazardous sexual behaviors and gender confusion to children—and instructing them to keep quiet about some of the activities.
       
• Late yesterday, Attorney General Paxton sent a letter to the school district challenging their program.
      
• “The Texas Legislature has made it clear that when it comes to sex education, parents – not school districts – are in charge,” wrote Paxton to Austin ISD Superintendent Stephanie S. Elizalde. “By hosting ‘Pride Week,’ your district has, at best, undertaken a week-long instructional effort in human sexuality without parental consent. Or, worse, your district is cynically pushing a week-long indoctrination of your students that not only fails to obtain parental consent, but subtly cuts parents out of the loop. Either way, you are breaking state law.”

A $25 BILLION Surplus

• With Texans reeling from high inflation rates and skyrocketing gas prices, Katy Drollinger reports word is circulating among lawmakers that the next legislative session could have a $25 billion surplus.
     
• This surplus was created in part by a bill passed during the 2021 session that capped the growth of state spending to a rate that is in proportion to both Texas’ expected population growth and future inflation rates.
     
• As Texans for Fiscal Responsibility points out, lawmakers often use surpluses to continue spending exorbitant amounts of taxpayer money on government programs with little return. According to TFR, lawmakers could use the $25 billion surplus to eliminate property taxes. “Texans do not need their tax dollars going to fund more government; they need more freedom and less government. The conservative decision, when faced with the possibility of a $25 billion surplus, is for lawmakers to commit to giving EVERY SINGLE CENT back to taxpayers in the form of tax relief.”
     
• The Texas Public Policy Foundation reports property taxes have risen 181 percent over the past two decades.

Texas’ Most Liberal Republican In Runoff

• With the dubious distinction of being the “most liberal Republican” in the Texas House, State Rep. Kyle Kacal (R–College Station) has the legislative history to prove it. Sydnie Henry reports Kacal couldn’t garner more than 50 percent of the vote in the March 1 primary.
       
• Kacal faces Huntsville businessman Ben Bius in the May 24 runoff election.

Runoff Candidates Meet in Fort Worth

• Join us at 12:00pm on the Texas Scorecard Facebook Page for a Texas House runoff candidate forum live, hosted by the Fort Worth Republican Women. 
      

• Two races will be featured:
  House District 91… where incumbent Stephanie Klick faces challenger David Lowe.
      
  House District 93… an open seat, where Nate Schatzline is squaring off against former Southlake mayor Laura Hill.

More Trouble In Corrupt School District

• With federal and state authorities scrutinizing La Joya ISD, Erin Anderson reports the south Texas school district may be headed for a takeover by the Texas Education Agency.
      
• Just this year, two of the district’s seven elected school board members and a former administrator have pleaded guilty to federal bribery and corruption charges.

No Protections For Women’s Sports

• As young women across the country lose athletic scholarships and opportunities to men pretending to be women, Republican State Rep. Bryan Slaton is rebuking top state officials for refusing to act. Jacob Asmussen has the story.
      
• The nationwide issue was most recently evidenced last week at the NCAA swimming competitions, when University of Pennsylvania student Lia Thomas—a biological man—was permitted to swim in the women’s events and won the 500-yard freestyle national championship.
      
• “Males competing against women in sports is wrong,” wrote Rep. Slaton on social media, explaining how the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature turned down proposed legislation last year that would protect college women athletes.
     
• Notably, the NCAA had threatened to move championship games away from Texas if state lawmakers chose to also enact the protections for college women. (Texas Scorecard previously detailed that story.) Under that pressure, Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Legislature crafted a law only applying to high school sports.
     
• Meanwhile, Florida’s Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis passed a state law to protect both high school and college women’s athletics.

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Y’All Answered

In yesterday’s Texas Minute we asked what should be done when schools continue to push Critical Race Theory, allow pornography in schools, or push sexual content on minors.

Readers responded:
0.38% – Fire the teachers
5.8% – Fire the administrators
4.58% – Defund and reorganize the district
13.89% – Let parents take kids (and the money) to private, charter, or other public schools
74.27% – All of the Above 
1.07% – None of These

• “We waste billions of dollars on education that is failing, yet the general answer has always been to spend more money on it...to the point that people are being driven from their homes!  That is crazy!” – Roger Taylor

      
• “I took retirement 7 years before I had planned because I could not continue to UNeducate my students per the administration in my school district. I figured I could eat beans before I would continue following the mandates that were being handed down.” – Eleanor Edmondson
       
• “Texas public schools are not going to quit their desire to push far left liberal ideas on our children as long as Texas universities and colleges continue to be allowed to spit out brain-washed and compliant comrades.” – Patricia Forsythe
         

• “It is a national disgrace that the question has to be asked.” – Bob Hooton
        

• “There are 117,000 students in the 3rd largest district in Texas, Cy-Fair ISD.  Yet, only about 10 to 30 parents and community members show up at the school board meetings each month to speak against (or support those speaking against) the teaching of CRT, social emotional learning and graphic sexual content to elementary students.  Where is the outrage from parents?” – Melissa Rowell
     

• “Since the schools cannot teach basic academics, insist on peddling porn and other liberal ideologies, and do not keep children safe, parents should remove their children immediately and consider homeschooling or other educational choices.” – Cathy Blake
       

• “There needs to be swift and decisive action taken to clean house and get their district in order, including any teachers, administration and board members who support this criminal activity.” – Jeff Kroyer
       

• “One click should have been ‘Arrest and prosecute any school officials that contribute to the delinquency of a minor.’ That is anyone pushing these radical ideals.” – Mike Conway
      

• “The only way to stop this madness is to let parents vote with their feet. School Choice needs to be a priority for the Texas legislature.” – Thomas Camardo
       

• “Private schools know who they work for - the parents. Those same parents in private school seek consequences for their students poor behavior. Here in public school we are required to coddle and overlook laziness and bad behavior.” – Greg Reinhart
       

• “Schooling is the business of parents, not the state (Deut. 6:4-7).” – Carolyn Brent
     

• “We, the people, need to take back control of education.” – Ken Marx
     

• “In other contexts those who distribute pornography to minors are TRIED AND IMPRISONED. The same should apply to superintendents, administrators, and teachers who do this!” – Cheryl Alexander

Your Federal & State Lawmakers

The districts displayed here should reflect those recently redrawn by the Legislature. Though the new lines do not take representational effect until 2023, they will appear on the 2022 ballot. Please note that your incumbent legislator and/or district numbers may have changed.