Good morning,

After pushing to keep secret a report on a sex-abuse scandal and coverup, the president of a North Texas school board was arrested yesterday for indecency with a child.

Here is the Texas Minute for Thursday, January 26, 2023.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Abbott Pushes School Choice

• With Republican lawmakers in both the House and Senate having already filed at least three bills to create school choice programs in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott is highlighting the GOP priority this week. Darrell Frost has the details.
     
• "Parents know what is best for their children’s education," Abbott posted to social media. "This session, we will empower parents to choose the education path that best fits their child’s learning needs."
     
• His message came as part of National School Choice Week, established in 2011 by the Florida-based National School Choice Awareness Foundation.
      
• School choice is one of eight legislative priorities set by the Texas GOP. Efforts to pass school choice legislation in Texas have failed repeatedly since the mid-1990s.
      
• Gov. Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have indicated they expect lawmakers to deliver on school choice this year, while Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan and the Texas Association of School Boards have expressed varying degrees of opposition to the effort.
       
• Speaking of the need for school choice...

Prosper ISD Extends Contract of Scandal-plagued Superintendent... Just Before Board President Is Arrested

• At the end of a six-hour board meeting, much of which took place behind closed doors, trustees in Prosper Independent School District gave scandal-plagued Superintendent Holly Ferguson a vote of confidence this week, unanimously approving a new contract Monday night that extended her 2022-2027 contract through 2028. Erin Anderson has the rundown.
       

• The board also declined to share a much-anticipated report on a probe into how Ferguson and other district officials handled the sexual abuse of elementary school students by a Prosper ISD employee. Among other things, that lawsuit alleges Superintendent Ferguson told the victims’ mother to keep quiet about the abuse to protect the district from media attention.
        

• Yesterday afternoon, Prosper ISD's board president – Drew Wilborn – was arrested by the Dallas Police Department on the charge of indecency with a child. He has served as a Prosper ISD trustee since 2021. 
     

• Maybe now we have a hint as to why Wilborn was so insistent on covering up child molestation in Prosper ISD... What is the excuse for the other board members?

Suing Biden Over The Border

• Texas is leading a coalition of 20 states suing the Biden administration over a plan that would see 36,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela enter the country each year. Sydnie Henry has the story.
      

• The administration is doing this through an existing "parole" program designed to give entry to criminal trial witnesses or for the funerals of loved ones. It was not intended, experts say, as a mass-entry program.
      
• “The Biden open borders agenda has created a humanitarian crisis that is increasing crime and violence in our streets, overwhelming local communities, and worsening the opioid crisis. This unlawful amnesty program, which will invite hundreds of thousands of aliens into the U.S. every year, will only make this immigration crisis drastically worse.” – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton
       

• Chris Russo, president of Texans for Strong Borders, told Texas Scorecard: “These categorical parole programs are blatantly illegal and must be stopped.”

Proposed Law Would Restrict 'All-ages' Drag Shows

• Those so-called “family-friendly” drag shows would be banned in Texas under legislation filed by State Rep. Nate Schatzline (R-Fort Worth). As Emily Wilkerson reports, the legislator's proposal would amend the Business and Commerce Code to define drag shows as a sexually oriented business, meaning minors would no longer be able to attend.
   
• “With HB 1266, Texas children will be prevented from being exposed to overly sexual content that will rob them of their innocence for the sake of furthering radical ideologies,” explained Schatzline.
      
• Earlier this month, Texas Scorecard released a documentary titled “It’s Not Gonna Lick Itself,” which covers the recent eruption of hyper-sexualized drag shows targeting children around Texas.

A Conversation With Sara Gonzales

• This month's Conversation is with Sara Gonzales. She's a successful entrepreneur, host of a popular show on TheBlaze, and a mom fiercely protective of her kids.

• Sara Gonzales is also the host of Season 4 of our successful serial podcast EXPOSED; this season is titled "The War on Texas Kids." The first two episodes were released earlier this week, and the next episode will be available on Monday. 

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