Good morning!

In public education, rubber-stamp school boards team up with administrators against voters, taxpayers, parents, and students. Bad governance produces bad results. Fixing it requires an engaged citizenry.

But first, here is the Texas Minute for Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

So, About That Property Tax Relief…

• At a press conference yesterday, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick threw some cold water on Gov. Greg Abbott’s push for using half of the $27 billion budget surplus for property tax relief. Patrick warned using the surplus for tax relief would “bust” the state’s spending limit and set a “dangerous precedent.”
      
• Never mind that state lawmakers routinely bust the spending limit to grow government…
     
• Patrick’s current property tax proposal would merely increase the homestead exemption and expand the “personal property exemption” for businesses.
     

• “We need to do more than just the homestead exemption, whether it’s a one-time dividend to taxpayers and that’s a little difficult to do constitutionally,” said Patrick. “But we need a robust property tax cut for everyone in the state.”
     

• Back in the summer, Patrick endorsed Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan to use half of the projected surplus to provide substantial property tax relief and put the state on a path toward eliminating school “maintenance and operations” property tax levies. 

Patrick’s Other Priorities

• The lieutenant governor’s comments were made as he unveiled his priorities for the 88th Session of the Texas Legislature, which begins in January. Brandon Waltens was there and has all the details.
      
• Patrick wants to tackle the electric grid by building more natural gas power plants. “We can’t leave here next spring unless we have a plan for more natural gas power.”
     
• His “Border Security and Law Enforcement” plans range from imposing a 10-year “minimum sentence” when a gun is used in the commission of a crime, to increasing pay for county sheriffs. 
     
• On education, Patrick wants to increase teacher pay and send extra checks to retired teachers, while also “giving [parents] a voice in their children’s education.”
     
• In a swipe at the Texas House, Patrick says he wants to “restore voter fraud to a felony.” In 2021, the Texas House lowered it to a misdemeanor – and the Senate went along. When Gov. Abbott asked for a reconsideration, the Senate was willing but the House was not. 

State Spending Limit Set

• The Legislative Budget Board met yesterday to set the spending cap for legislators ahead of the regular session. Sydnie Henry reports lawmakers will be allowed to spend no more than $131 billion – up 12 percent from the previous budget.
       
• It takes a two-thirds vote of both the House and Senate to “bust” the spending limit cap. Texas’ budget is set for two-year increments, beginning in September of the odd-numbered years.
         
• A permanent joint committee of the Texas Legislature, the LBB drafts the state budget and provides fiscal notices for legislative committees. It is composed of 10 members from the House and Senate—including House Speaker Dade Phelan (R–Beaumont) and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

Senator Seeks To Prohibit Gender Mutilation in Minors

• State Sen. Bob Hall has introduced legislation ahead of the 2023 session 

  designed to crack down on gender mutilation, hormone suppressants, and cross-sex hormone procedures for minors. Emily Wilkerson has the report.
      

• Hall notes that transgender surgeries are a huge money-maker for hospitals. He believes they are doing it not for the benefit of the child, but to create patients for life. “Children who are experiencing gender dysphoria need compassionate help as their body matures, not irreversible surgeries that they will later regret.”

      

• Senate Bill 249 would make it an offense for a person to facilitate genital mutilation procedures on a minor or if a parent or caregiver knowingly consents or facilitates such a procedure.

      
• Senate Bill 250 would revoke any physician’s medical license if they were to perform gender reassignment surgeries or prescribe puberty blockers to minors. (A similar measure by Hall passed the Senate in the 2021 session, but it died in the House.)

MACIAS: Organizational Donations

• In the most recent edition of his podcast, Luke Macias walks through the politically oriented organizations he supports financially and explains why. Whether or not you’ll support the same groups he does (and he hopes you will!), Macias offers the questions and guideposts he uses when making donations.
      
• Find the Luke Macias Show on our website, or anywhere you consume podcasts.
   
• This seems like a good time to mention that you can support the work of Texas Scorecard by making a tax-deductible contribution right now!

Training The Next Generation

• We’re taking applications for our Spring, Summer, and Fall 2023 paid Texas Scorecard Fellowships designed for 18- to 25-year-olds with an interest in public policy, political accountability, and Texas history. The program offers three tracks: writing, research, and administration. Learn more.

Sexually Explicit Books Found In School Libraries

• An activist in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District has discovered more than 20 books with sexually explicit content in local middle school libraries. Sydnie Henry has the details.
     
• “HEB ISD is one of the most diverse districts in Texas, a fact many, including myself, are proud of,” explained Sheena Rodriguez, a Tarrant County Republican Party precinct chair. With growing concerns over what is available to students in the libraries, Rodriguez began searching two of the five junior high schools and discovered “several highly concerning books listed as appropriate for YOUNG ADULTS.”
      
• Among the titles she found were “The Bluest Eye,” which depicts child molestation, rape, and incest, and “Speak,” which includes self-harm, suicidal ideation, and rape. Rodriguez expanded her search to the more than 800 books listed by State Rep. Matt Krause (R–Haslet) in a letter sent last year to multiple Texas school superintendents.
     
• Nearby Keller ISD recently approved content guidelines that protect children from dangerous gender ideologies in school libraries, after parents elected a pro-family school board majority this past year.

Allen ISD Trustee Resigns From School Board Over Rezoning

• A fight over an unpopular school rezoning plan that will impact hundreds of Allen elementary students and their families has ended with one trustee resigning over how the district handled the process, reports Erin Anderson.
    
• During a packed school board meeting this week, Allen Independent School District trustees voted 6-1 to approve a controversial “attendance boundary adjustment” plan that has been in the works since September. Allen ISD’s overall enrollment growth is less than 1 percent, leaving the district with 3,000 open elementary school seats that aren’t bringing in state-allocated revenue.
      
• The lone “no” vote was cast by trustee Vatsa Ramanathan, who confirmed a troubling rumor that had circulated within the community. He said he had been told not to talk to parents or teachers about the plan in advance of the vote – but did so anyway, believing it was his duty to do so as a trustee.
     
• He also spoke with members of a district steering committee tasked with providing input on the attendance zone proposals; one member told Ramanathan, “We were steered to make this decision.”
     
• In addition to what he described as the unethical nature of the plan’s development, he said the student moves didn’t make sense and the district needed to keep working on the plan.
     
• After the lopsided vote, he announced his resignation and left the meeting.

Bad School Governance On Display… Everywhere In Texas

• Texas school boards are an absolute mess. In part, it is because the publicly elected trustees act as guardians of the administration rather than advocates for their voters, parents, taxpayers, and students.
     
• For example, Allen ISD uses what they call the “Team of Eight” approach to governance – that would be the seven elected members of the school board and the unelected, overpaid bureaucrat known as a superintendent. The board rules put the superintendent on the same footing as the elected officials – and in effect subjugate all board members except the board president below the hired help.
     
• School board members are supposed to exercise accountability over the district employees – not be rubber stamps.
     
• In districts all around the state, the “Team of Eight” is teamed up against parents, students, and taxpayers. That won’t change until more voters and taxpayers are consistently participating actively in school board elections – and demanding answers at school board meetings.