May 16, 2022

School Choice, Texas Style

Empowering parents: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is calling for comprehensive education reform that would let education dollars follow children to learning options of their parents’ choice.

Why it matters: All parents, not just the rich, should be able to find options that meet their children’s educational needs and uphold their values.

Our take: “What Governor Abbott is advocating is exactly what school choice looks like,” says Lindsey Burke, the Mark A. Kolokotrones fellow in education and director of Heritage’s Center for Education Policy. Learn more about what Texas is doing.

Thank you, Gov. Abbott: Starting today, Heritage is launching a billboard advertising campaign in four Texas cities that highlights the importance of giving families more education options. Show your support here.

Heritage Gets 3 ‘Woke’ Books Kicked Off Navy Reading List

The news: The Navy’s decision to drop three “woke” books from its Professional Reading Program made the news last week. What didn’t get reported was Heritage’s role in making it happen.

The background: Last year, we learned that three of the books on the reading list were explicitly anti-American, including one by the leading proponent of critical race theory. We brought this to the attention of several members of Congress who, with our help, wrote a letter to the Pentagon in March 2021 condemning the books.

Raising the stakes: After the letter went out, Heritage wrote a piece for The Hill about the controversy.

Results, finally: When Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday sent out his updated list earlier this month, those books weren’t on it. You can read the Fox News story here, and last year’s op-ed here.

Daily Signal Coverage of Supreme Court Protests Goes Viral

Bringing the news to you: Last week, The Daily Signal’s Doug Blair did what other news outlets didn’t bother to do. He followed protesters to the homes of Supreme Court justices.

Capturing national attention: The Daily Signal’s video coverage went viral, garnering more than 10 million views online—one of the videos has been watched 6.5 million times on Twitter alone. The videos were also featured dozens of times on Fox News, Fox Business, and Newsmax.

Why it matters: Shining the national spotlight on these protests reveals the radical leftist agenda for what it is—a shameless attempt to undermine our judicial system in the name of killing the unborn.

Learn more: Read the full account of what happened and watch his videos.

YouTube Censors Trump’s Heritage Speech

Back at it again: Big Tech is once again shamelessly censoring conservative voices. This time, YouTube took down a video of former President Donald Trump’s speech at Heritage’s Annual Leadership Conference in Florida.

Trumped up charges: YouTube claims that the video “violated our policies pertaining to elections misinformation.”

Our response: “Why is the radical left so insecure that they cannot even stand to let others report the words of a former president?” writes Heritage President Kevin Roberts.

Learn more: Read our full response to YouTube here. You can also find the video in question here.

NEW RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

• Can We Revive the Old Constitution?
• Critical Race Theory and Small-Town America
• Congress Must Stop Biden’s Misuse of U.S. Foreign Aid to Impose His Radical Social Agenda on the World
• Biden Administration Sneaks Unlawful Immigration Benefits Into Ukraine Aid Request
• Janet Yellen Is Wrong. Protecting Life Could Never Damage the Economy
• It’s Illegal, but Pro-Abortion Protesters Still Target Justices’ Homes

DID YOU KNOW?

The Daily Signal is Heritage’s own multimedia news and commentary site that covers the stories the legacy media won’t and attracts millions of pageviews each year. Check it out here.

Classical Education and the Pursuit of Truth in an Age of Folly, Wednesday, May 18, 11 a.m. Speakers include:

• Anika Prather, founder, Living Water School
• Soren Schwab, vice president of partnerships, Classic Learning Test
• Robert Bortins, CEO, Classical Conversations
• Robyn Burlew, head of upper school, Veritas School

Register here.

Another Republican Revolution? Lessons from the 1994 Congressional Triumph, Wednesday, May 18, 5 p.m. Speakers include:

• Dick Armey, former House majority leader
• Phil Gramm, former U.S. senator
• Ed Feulner, Heritage founder and past president

Register here.

Bitcoin and the American Experiment, Monday, May 23, 6 p.m.

Experts discuss how Bitcoin fits into America’s past, present, and future. Speakers include:

• Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex.
• Michael Saylor, chairman and CEO of MicroStrategy
• Caitlin Long, founder and CEO, Custodia Bank

Register here.

“The Kevin Roberts Show”: The left is hell-bent on tearing down our institutions, and their current target is the Supreme Court. On this week’s episode, Mark Paoletta, attorney, author, and personal friend of Justice Clarence Thomas, talks with Heritage President Kevin Roberts about the left’s assault. Listen to the podcast.

“Heritage Explains”: Under the umbrella of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) activism, corporations have become unimaginably woke! They are weaponizing capital, and it is promoting nearly every left-wing policy issue they care about. So what does it mean to say the left is weaponizing capital, and what are the implications? On this episode, Heritage visiting fellow Andy Puzder joins us to examine the consequences of ESG activism, what it’s doing to American culture, and our 401(k)s. Listen to the episode.

The Daily Signal’s Doug Blair joined “Fox & Friends” to talk about his coverage of the protests at Supreme Court justices’ homes. Blair’s video went viral, attracting millions of views. Watch the news segment here.

Follow The Heritage Foundation and The Daily Signal on Instagram.

Email us your thoughts and questions at [email protected].