Good morning!

The Communist Party of China has set its eyes on Texas and is steadily advancing its political interests here – engaging in federal, state, and local politics. Our series on the Chinese infiltration of the politics in Lone Star State is underway.

Also… readers sound off on proposals to remove the teaching licenses of educators who intentionally expose children to pornographic materials. 

Here is the Texas Minute for Wednesday, August 24, 2022.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Parents Score Win Against Indoctrination

• At a packed school board meeting last night, Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District’s board of trustees passed new policies banning critical race theory, prohibiting the promotion of LGBT ideologies, and adding to the library book review process. As Katy Drollinger reports, the policy shift was the result of years of effort by parents and taxpayers.

      

• The fight in GCISD began after virtual schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic allowed parents more access to materials assigned to their children. They soon discovered the district spent thousands of taxpayer dollars on teacher training and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curricula promoting CRT.

      
• GCISD had long been at the center of the push for leftist ideologies. Back in 2013, the district created a council to “promote diversity and inclusion by suggesting strategies, activities and educational resources” and “empower students to achieve their full potential in a global society.” Parents have found that the innocuous words hid a hard push against the values of the community.
          

• The pro-parent movement first saw progress in 2021 when pro-parent candidate Shannon Braun won a seat on the school board. In May, citizens elected conservative-backed candidates Kathy Florence-Spradley and Tammy Nakamura.
       

• “I am proud to say that with this package of reforms we have neutralized the classroom at GCISD–teachers have been unleashed to focus on core instruction and invest in the lives and education of their students,” wrote Braun on social media following the meeting this week. “The days of adults pushing their worldview and propagandizing our children, at taxpayer expense, are over.”

Church Hosts ‘Drag Bingo’ For Kids

• The push to hold drag shows for children has extended past bars and restaurants, with a church in Katy, Texas slated to hold a “drag bingo” event for all ages next month. Brandon Waltens reports First Christian Church of Katy, part of the Disciples of Christ denomination, is hosting the gathering on Sept. 24.
      
• The church advertises that the event will be “family-friendly” and hosted by  their “favorite” drag queen Kiki Dion Van Wales.
     

• While the “family friendly” portion of the event begins at 5pm, the advertisement states that after 8:30pm it becomes an adults only affair.
     

• At a church…
     

• Drag shows for children have been on the rise in Texas, as various bars and restaurants have begun hosting “drag brunches” and other events in which scantily clad men dressed as women dance provocatively in front of young children. 
     

• “Beware of church leadership who cave to the woke ideological cesspool,” said Chris Hopper of Texas Family Project. “It’s one thing for a bar or secularist organization to host a drag event, it’s a whole other monster for a so-called church to host such an event.”

🇨🇳 China’s Political Infiltration of Texas

• The Texas Scorecard investigative series on China’s infiltration of Texas continues this week, looking at the way the communist government in Beijing has been working to impact politics in the Lone Star State. The latest report, authored by Robert Montoya and Darrell Frost, presents an overview of the evidence of CCP political activities in Texas.
      
• Previous installments of this series have looked at operatives for the Communist Chinese Party buying up Texas land and infiltrating the state’s schools and universities.
   
• “States are unprepared for the magnitude and persistence of China’s influence operations, which far surpass those of previous geopolitical rivals, such as Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.” – Michael Cunningham, visiting fellow in The Heritage Foundation’s Asian Studies Center
      
• There is a trail of money flowing from Chinese interests into efforts to influence state senators and representatives, thanks to research by Transparency USA.
      
• “For too long, left-wing think tanks have influenced American politics while taking money under the table from the CCP and other foreign adversaries,” explained U.S. Rep. Lance Gooden, a Texas Republican. He has pointed to the Sierra Club, Sea Change Foundation, and the Sunrise Movement as among the groups that should be investigated.
     
• Since 2015, the Sierra Club’s Texas political action committee has spent more than a half-million dollars in the Lone Star State on political activities.
     
• PACs with ties – directly and indirectly – to Communist China have given to Texas Republicans like U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, State Rep. Matt Shaheen (Plano), and former House Speaker Joe Straus (San Antonio), as well as to Democrats like State Reps. Erin Zwiener (Driftwood), Ana-Maria Ramos (Richardson), and Victoria Neave (Dallas).
     
• The Communist Chinese Party’s attempts don’t end at Congress and the Legislature. A report in Axios cites an FBI official’s 2020 threat assessment: “China’s malign influence activities are global in scope and reach all the way to local governments, even town councils in some cases.”
     
• The next article, available this afternoon, takes a closer look at China’s efforts to influence the Texas Legislature.

Can Arizona Save Texas?

• Not long ago, such a question would be unthinkable. In the latest edition of his podcast, Luke Macias visits with Tyler Bowyer, the RNC committeeman for Arizona and Turning Point Action’s chief operating officer.
      
• You will enjoy their conversation!
     
• The Luke Macias Show is available everywhere you listen to podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.

Support Texas Scorecard!

We don’t take government grants, sell advertisements, or put our content behind a paywall. Your tax-deductible donation makes Texas Scorecard possible! Will you contribute today…

Y’All Answered

In yesterday’s Texas Minute, we asked if readers thought teachers who intentionally expose children to pornographic material should have their teaching license permanently revoked. 

The response was nearly unanimous: 99.5 percent of readers said “yes,” leaving only 0.5 percent who would allow those teachers to keep their license.

Here’s a sampling from the inbox…

• “As a retired teacher, I felt compelled to comment on this one. When I was teaching, I felt that I had a very special and important job to do in educating children and helping them to be productive members of society who can think on their own, NOT indoctrinate them. Anyone who has charge of our precious children should never even consider pushing things on them which would be pornographic or remotely inappropriate. There is such a plethora of really good literature that there is NO excuse for forcing this garbage on impressionable minds. Yes, take away the license/ certificate of any person who does this.” – Andra Haney
      

• “The vast majority of teachers are passionate about their subjects and desire parental support.  Removing those who wish to undermine the family unit can only enhance the quality of education.“ – Arthur Potter

       
• “Teachers that purposely expose children to pornography should not only lose their credentials, they should be prosecuted just like any other citizen would be! It is shameful. God have mercy on our children.” – Lynn Tannehill
      
• “License revocation is not a sufficient deterrent. They should likewise be criminally charged. If there isn’t a basis in law, then pass one!” – Jack Boteler
      
• “With school-age nieces and nephews, it's disturbing to me that today's one-click survey is even a question.” – Hilda Maria
     
• “Revoke their license and suspend the head of HR, principal, and superintendent pending an investigation into the hiring of the teacher in the first place.” – Spencer Siino
      
• “Any teacher that intentionally harms a student in any way, including exposure to graphic material, should be fired and prosecuted. Mental abuse is just as damaging as physical abuse, if not more.” – Dawn Martin 
     
• “Teachers should be held to the same standards and be prosecuted as child sex offenders when these situation arise.” – Thomas Williams
     
• “Yes, they should be treated as sexual predators grooming our children. They should also go to jail.” – Pamela Millisor
     
• “If teachers intentionally expose children to pornographic materials, then they don’t have the children’s best interests at heart and are thus disqualified from teaching our kids.” – Greg Milner
     
• “I'm tired of teachers and administrators deliberately subverting parents and citizens in what our children are to be taught.” – Laura Morton

     

• “A teacher involved in these issues is no different than someone trying to lure a child into a van with candy.” – Steve Crevier
     
• “To me, that opens the door to pedophilia and opens the mind of a child to think it’s acceptable behavior.” – Jan Goria
      
• “Of course, the question remains as to who determines what is pornographic.” – Steve Price
      
• “Polluting a child's mind is evil, and it would stop quickly with the right punishments.” – Dottie Barnes
    
• “Exposing children to pornography is every bit as bad as exposing them to illicit drugs.” – Ken Bintliff
     
• “These so-called teachers are no longer teaching; they're attempting to indoctrinate.  Accordingly, they no longer need nor deserve a teaching license.” – Terry Fokas
     
• “Teachers who intentionally expose children to pornographic material should be prosecuted for child sex crimes and imprisoned.” – Rick Palmer
      
• “Teachers who willfully expose children to pornographic material are GROOMERS! Period. They should not have ANY job around children, especially not a job in which the children have absolutely no authority to push back.” – Kristen McCarty

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.