Good morning!

This is the Texas Minute for Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022, continuing our Year In Review.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

2022 In Review

• The Year In Review explores the most-read storylines from the last 12 months. 
     
• It began on Monday, tackling the woke academics infiltrating Texas’ public schools… and the invasion taking place at the southern border.
           
• Tuesday, we focused on the increasing number of “drag shows” targeting kids and the growing outrage from parents and community activists.
     
• Wednesday, the series reviewed the education in corruption that Round Rock ISD has provided in 2022.
      
• Today, Erin Anderson looks back on the horrible acts perpetrated by predator-educators on children...

Sexualizing Kids

• Texas parents have grown increasingly concerned about the public education system sexualizing children by exposing students to sex-related topics and explicit materials that are inappropriate for school-age kids.
     
• Even more disturbing is the latest string of school employees charged with sex crimes against students. While these bad apples represent a tiny fraction of Texas educators, the incidents reveal just how many school districts are failing to protect children from sexual predators.

It Is A Crime

• Under Texas law, it is a second-degree felony for any public or private school employee to engage in sexual contact with a student. It is also a second-degree felony for any adult to solicit a minor for sexual activity using the internet or other electronic messaging.
     
• Texas’ “pass the trash” law obligates school superintendents to report inappropriate student-teacher relationships to the Texas Education Agency and State Board for Educator Certification, so offenders can’t simply move to other districts.
     
• It's not just a Texas problem. Fox News reported in October that at least 269 educators nationwide had been arrested for child sex crimes in the first nine months of 2022, and 74 percent of these crimes involved students.

Social Media Sinkhole

• “We’re seeing many cases in which teachers send students text messages with nude pictures of themselves or inappropriate video,” said Terry Abbott, a former chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Education.
     
• A number of Texas teachers have been caught using the internet to initiate sexual relationships with students or try to hook up with minors. 
     
• Tomball ISD intermediate school teacher Marka Bodine, 32, admitted she had a three-year sexual relationship with a student starting when he was just 13. Police said Bodine used social media and text messages to groom the boy. In August, she was sentenced to just 60 days in jail for her crime.
      
• Lovejoy ISD teacher Ray Cooper was allowed to resign after he was caught sending sexually suggestive text messages to a 17-year-old male student. Cooper’s teaching certificate shows a “reprimand,” which TEA says “does not affect the validity of an educator’s certificate.”
     
• Mesquite ISD teacher’s aide Bryan Garcia, 22, was arrested in September and charged with two counts of sexual assault of a child and one count of indecency with a child, following accusations that he engaged in improper relationships with students he had communicated with using cellphone apps.

Sting Videos... And More

• Garland ISD teacher Christian Ayala, 28, was let go in July after a sting video caught him trying to meet a 14-year-old boy for sex.
     

• Allen ISD Foundation board member Neil Riddick, 61, resigned in November after he was caught on a sting video trying to meet a 14-year-old boy for sex.

        
• Keller ISD middle school band director Jedidiah Maus, 36, was charged in March with multiple felony counts of indecency with a child for acts spanning several years. Maus was first arrested last year for exposing himself to male students in school bathrooms.

Just In December 2022

• Hale Center ISD teacher Amy Gilly, 46, was arrested and charged with having an improper sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student. The two had been texting each other and reportedly had a sexual encounter in Gilly’s vehicle.
     

• Comal ISD teacher Emily Anderson, 35, pleaded guilty to having sex with a 15-year-old student in a biology classroom closet. Anderson was charged in 2021 with sexual assault of a child and improper relationship between an educator and a student, after the boy’s mother found sexually explicit text messages from the teacher on her son’s phone.
     

• Grand Prairie ISD teacher and football coach Kenrick Burns, 28, was arrested for having an “intimate relationship” with an 18-year-old female student. Burns was charged with improper relationship between an educator and a student.
     

• China Spring ISD teacher and girls’ sports coach Keneth Lamadrid, 41, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor prostitution charge, after being arrested last year on felony charges for soliciting two females for sex—one a 16-year-old girl.
     

• Seagraves ISD Superintendent Joshua Goen, 43, committed suicide after being arrested for secretly recording female students in their locker rooms.

Texans Are Fighting Back

• We will conclude the Year In Review tomorrow with our most-read and forwarded story of 2022 – one in which Texans fought back against the madness... and won!

Challenging The Cronies

• At Texas Scorecard, our mission is to provide citizens the knowledge they need to effectively dominate government and culture. That means we are going to upset the status quo and challenge the liberty-stealing cronies. 
      
• We don't put our content behind a paywall, we don't ask for government grants or take advertising. Texas Scorecard is funded by our readers.
         
• This work is possible only with the support of thousands of Texans – including a great many who make monthly contributions. As 2022 winds down, I hope you will consider a special year-end gift to help us start 2023 strong.

Today In History

On Dec. 29, 1845, the U.S. Congress voted to annex Texas into the United States. This followed a popular vote of Texans earlier in the fall approving the move from independence to statehood.

Your Directory State & Federal Officials

The districts and names displayed here should reflect those taking representational effect on January 1, 2023.