Witch Hunt Takes Down CSCOPE

by: Texas Freedom Network

Mon May 20, 2013 at 03:44 PM CDT

Cross-posted from TFN Insider.

Once again, politics trumps education in Texas.

State Sen. Dan Patrick, the Republican chairman of the Texas Senate Education Committee, sounded downright gleeful today in making a surprise announcement that the state's Education Service Centers will no longer provide lessons in their CSCOPE curriculum management system.

“The era of CSCOPE lesson plans has come to an end,” Sen Patrick declared at a Capitol press conference this morning. What remains of CSCOPE will essentially be a guide to scheduling instruction on the curriculum standards. The hundreds of small school districts that use CSCOPE will now have to find other resources for developing lesson plans for teaching those standards.

Officials with the Education Service Centers that created and managed CSCOPE released a letter at the press conference agreeing to stop providing lessons to school districts. The letter came after increasing pressure from Sen. Patrick, the Texas Attorney General's Office and an assortment of Tea party and other right-wing pressure groups.

Those critics have been absurdly claiming that CSCOPE has been indoctrinating students into Islam and Marxism and undermining Christianity and patriotism. (Current and retired teachers had been writing those lessons for CSCOPE. Who knew that so many Texas teachers were Marxists and Islamists? Shocking!)

Read more below the jump.

Texas Lunch Links: Tornadoes, Charter Schools and the Economist on Julian Castro

by: Nick Hudson

Thu May 16, 2013 at 00:00 PM CDT

TORNADOES: An estimated 10 tornadoes ripped through north Texas on Wednesday, devastating entire neighborhoods, injuring dozens and killing at least six people.

JULIAN CASTRO: The Economist has a political profile of Julian Castro and speculates that by 2018, he might have a real shot at Governor.

TERM LIMITS: The Texas House of Representatives rejected, by a vote of 80-61, a resolution that would have limited statewide officeholders to two consecutive terms.

WEST, TEXAS: The folks at the Texas Tribune have produced a great interactive map of the known 110 facilities that work with ammonium nitrate in Texas, along with esimates of those facilities' proximity to schools and hospitals.

Marc Ott: City of Austin Upholds Domestic Partner Benefits

by: Edward Garris

Tue Apr 30, 2013 at 04:40 PM CDT

The fallout from yesterday's opinion on domestic partner benefits by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott continues.  Equality Texas this morning issued a press release arguing that the opinion letter had, in fact, given a domestic partners and their public employers a way forward - a roadmap for how to achieve their aims while complying with the laws of the state of Texas.  

This afternoon, Marc Ott, City Manager for the City of Austin, responded with a resounding "whatever."  In an open memorandum, Ott stated:

"While we will continue the evaluate the Attorney General's opinion, it continues to be our belief that the City's domestic partner group benefits program is not prohibited by the Texas Marriage Amendment, and that the Texas Legislature did not intend the Amendment to have that effect when it was placed before the voters in 2005."

"The Attorney General's opinion does not require the City to take any specific, action, and we do not intend to change domestic partner eligibility for our benefits program at this time."

Notably, the City of Austin and its domestic partner eligibility program had been one of the specifically enumerated programs in State Sen. Dan Patrick's request for an opinion to the Attorney General.  The full text of Marc Ott's response can be read here.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott Denies Benefits for Same Sex Couples in Austin

by: Edward Garris

Mon Apr 29, 2013 at 04:54 PM CDT

April can be the cruelest month.  In a defeat for civil rights and home rule in Texas, Texas Attorney Greg Abbott scaled back rights for same-sex couples in cities such as Austin, Pflugerville, El Paso, Fort Worth, and others.

In November, State Senator Dan Patrick sent a request  for an official opinion to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, asking this question:

"Does Art. 1, §32 of the Texas Constitution that defines marriage as one man and one woman and prohibits government recognition of any legal status identical or similar to marriage preclude political subdivisions of Texas from providing so-called domestic partnership benefits to their employees?"

Today, in a six-page opinion , Greg Abbott struck down advances in civil liberties for same sex couples in Texas, and answered Patrick's letter stating that it does.

Patrick had been upset that insurance benefits were offered to members of same-sex couples in Travis County, the City of Austin, Pflugerville ISD, El Paso, Fort Worth, the City of San Antonio, and El Paso County.  

Abbott's letter first argues that Section 32 - the section in question - applies to Texas cities, counties, and school districts (no word yet on municipal utility districts or MUDs).  It then asks whether these political subdivisions have created or recognized a legal status, and, if so, whether that legal status is identical or similar to marriage.

Abbott's letter answers  "yes" to both questions, at the end stating that Section 32 "prohibits political subdivisions from creating a legal status of domestic partnership and recognizing that status by offering public benefits based upon it," but not before cautioning that the U.S. Supreme Court's upcoming rulings on DOMA and Prop 8 might make this very letter unenforceable.  

Texas Lunch Links: Private Schools, Gun Manufacturer Incentives, and the Romeo and Romeo bill

by: Nick Hudson

Wed Apr 10, 2013 at 00:00 PM CDT

PRIVATE SCHOOLS: Despite a show of organized support by proponents of private schools and charter schools at yesterday's Senate Eduction Committee hearing, the future looks bleak for separate bills by Republican state senators Dan Patrick (Houston) and Donna Campbell (New Braunfels) that would have paid for private school educations with money from Texas taxpayers.

TORT REFORM: Challenging the veracity of claims in an opinion piece authored by Brooke Rollins of Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank (...), a forthcoming article finds "no evidence that physicians fled Texas in great numbers prior to tort reform or returned in droves thereafter. To the contrary, by comparison to other states, Texas had a below-average physician-to-population ratio before tort reform and has a slightly worse ratio today."

PRISONS: A bill that would form a committee providing, "continuing inspection and oversight" for TDCJ correctional facilities is stalled in the House Corrections Committee.

AUSTIN ENERGY: A proposal by Austin's Electric Utility Commission to shift control over many Austin Energy matters from Austin City Council to a standalone board of "public-power experts" will get a hearing at Austin City Council's Thursday meeting.

EQUALITY: Democratic state Senator John Whitmire's bill that would give gay and lesbian teens over age 14 the same ability to escape prosecution for consensual sexual conduct as straight teens, dubbed the "Romey and Romeo" bill, won committee approval yesterday.

GUNS: A bill that singles out gun manufacturers for tax incentives to encourage their relocation to Texas was approved on Tuesday by the Texas Senate.

SCHOOL-TO-PRISON PIPELINE: A bill that would prevent ticketing of students for Class C misdemeanors such as juvenile delinquency (e.g. cussing, shoving, writing on a wall, chewing gum), was approved unanimously by the Texas Senate last week.

VETERANS: The Statesman Editorial Board praises a successfulpeer-to-peer counseling programs for veterans who are battling mental health problems.

This Week in Republican Fascism: Actual Honest-to-God Fascism!

by: Katherine Haenschen

Fri Mar 22, 2013 at 02:00 PM CDT

fascism (n):

1 : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition

2 : a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control

The Texas Tribune reported this week that James Ives, a prominent Tea Party activist in Texas, was director of propaganda for the American Fascist Party in the early 2000's.

Ives wrote on the Fascist Party's message boards, "Tell me what I can do in Texas for you and I will try my utmost to comply," so it's no surprise that he later became president of the Greater Fort Bend Tea Party.

Ives has claimed that he was actually a mole trying to expose the group for a "novel" he was working on, and released a response on his organization's website, trying to paint the American Fascist Party as "left-wing," which is funny coming from a group that loves Ron Paul, hates globalization, and doesn't believe in class struggle.  

Ives was a regular on Senator Dan Patrick's radio show. Patrick is now distancing himself from Ives, and described videos of Ives participating in fascist activities "very disturbing, no matter how far in the past it is." When you're too extreme for Dan Patrick...

In other news, Josh "Secret Malaysian Man" Treviño was busted by Buzzfeed earlier this month for his paid work on behalf of the Malaysian government to produce propaganda, including attacks on a pro-democracy leader. Treviño had previously lied about being on the take for Malaysia, failing to disclose the agreement to Politico in 2011, stating "I was never on any 'Malaysian entity's payroll,' and I resent your assumption that I was."

As Forrest Wilder puts it, "Treviño: a) Worked for a foreign government with a sketchy human-rights record; b) produced paid propaganda for that government; c) failed to disclose his dealings with the Malaysian government; d) lied about his involvement to a reporter when directly questioned."

When Treviño wasn't providing Malaysia with anti-democracy propaganda he was busy trying to suppress the citizenry here at home as a staff member for the Texas Public Policy Foundation. In fact, he was on contract with TPPF while also working for the Malaysian government. That's some impressive anti-democratic multitasking right there!  

Guest Post: Mother of Gay Son Reaches Out to Senator Patrick Staffer After Rude Treatment

by: Katherine Haenschen

Tue Mar 19, 2013 at 10:28 AM CDT

Mother of Gay Son reaches out to Capitol Staffer After Rude Treatment
By Daniel Williams

Equality Texas held our Lobby Day last Monday, March 11. Equality Texas seeks to build a state of equality in Texas where all people are treated equally regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. We had almost 500 people at lobby day from 103 House Districts and all 31 Senate Districts.

Burnt Orange Report was kind enough to ask us for a report of the day. As I sat down to write this e-mail popped up on my screen. It's from a mother from Spring. She participated in Lobby Day with a group of parents and grandparents of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender kids. Some members of the group had been treated rudely by a staffer for Sen. Dan Patrick. The staffer told the group that "homosexuals" were seeking "special rights," compared homosexuality to "bestiality" and said that she would be disgusted if her child or grandchild was gay. The group of constituents she spoke with, all straight, was so upset that one of the mothers wound up in tears.

After reading the response from this mother I couldn't think of a better explanation of why we do
what we do at Equality Texas.

Read her letter below the jump.

Democratic Senators Call For Rainy Day Funds To Restore Education Cuts, Expand Medicaid

by: Katherine Haenschen

Mon Mar 11, 2013 at 11:11 AM CDT

Together, the two bills, SB1377 and SB1378, use the $12 billion dollars to restore funding that was cut in 2011. The bills draw $4 billion from the fund and add it to the Foundation School Program, draws $500 million for TEXAS Grants and other financial aid programs, and uses $50.4 million to expand Medicaid.

Best of all, the voters agree. A poll commissioned by the Texas State Teacher's Association found overwhelming support amongst Republican and Democratic voters for using the RDF to fund education. As the graphic at left shows, restoring funding for education outpaces support for funding water and road projects.

Bottom line: Texans want the Rainy Day Fund to be spent, and education is their top priority for where it should go.

Restoring funding to our public education should be top priority for the Legislature this year. Educating a strong home-grown workforce is critical to the short- and long-term economic success of Texas. Our Texas children must not be short-changed.

It's clear now that the Republican Legislature didn't need to cut $5.4 billion dollars from public education last session -- we ended up with more than enough revenue to maintain the 2009 funding formula and provide for enrollment growth.

We need to fight back against using the 2011 public education funding formulas as the "new normal" that ignores two years' worth of enrollment growth -- i.e. fails to account for the new students who were not factored into education funding in 2011 -- and go back to the 2009 formula, and start building again from there.

This is a winning issue for Democrats, so it's great to see four of our Democratic state senators standing up for our values and calling for education funding, TEXAS Grants, and a Medicaid expansion.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the aisle, Republican Senator Dan Patrick filed SB 1410, the largest single voucher program we've seen this session, which serves as a means of letting businesses take a 15% cut on their franchise taxes and letting insurance companies take a tax credit against what they owe the state. In one fell swoop Patrick is taking revenue from our state coffers and using it to subsidize corporations by giving them a tax break that defunds public education. That's what conservatives stand for: massive tax breaks on the backs of our public school children and teachers, all with no accountability.

These bills offer a compelling choice for how to address the needs of our growing public school population, and how to train the next generation of Texas workers to compete in a 21st Century economy.

It's a simple choice: folks are either with Senators Davis, Ellis, Lucio, and Rodriguez in their fight to restore funding and put Texas kids first, or they're with Dan Patrick's efforts to provide corporate subsidies that further rob our Texas schoolchildren of the chance to achieve their fullest potential.

The full release sent by Senator Ellis's office is below the jump.  

The Implications of State Senate Terms on 2014 Statewide Races

by: Burnt Orange Report

Thu Jan 24, 2013 at 10:23 AM CST

The draw has some major implications for our 2014 statewide races here in Texas on both sides of the aisle, starting, of course, with State Senator Wendy Davis of Fort Worth, a tireless campaigner who drew a 2-year term.

Many Democrats were eyeing Davis as a potential gubernatorial candidate in 2014 owing to her fundraising prowess and staunch support of education. Had Davis drawn a 4-year term, thus giving her a "free pass" to run statewide in 2014 without giving up her senate seat, she would have had tremendous encouragement to take the leap and run for governor. Now, her decision becomes somewhat more complicated.

Here are the results from SD-10 in the 2010 and 2008 statewide elections, courtesy of the Texas Legislative Council:

Davis won election in 2008 by 2.4% over a Republican incumbent, and won re-election in 2012 by 2.3% over a former State Representative.

Below the jump, find out why Democrats should still be optimistic about Davis in 2014, and what the implications are for the Republicans.

Hearings on the Horizon Foretell 2013 Battle Lines at State Legislature: Vouchers, Budget, Revenue

by: Jamie Sanderson

Fri Aug 10, 2012 at 11:16 PM CDT

Senate Education Committee, August 24:  Sen. Dan Patrick, Republican of Houston, will chair this interim hearing on performance, accountability, and expansion of charter schools; also on the agenda:  private-school vouchers and other variations on the theme of "school choice," with special attention to possible funding of vouchers via tax credits and "taxpayer savings grants."

Senate Finance Committee, August 29:  This hearing, chaired by Republican Steve Ogden of Bryan, will focus largely on current spending limits in state law and possible new measures to "continue restraint of spending growth below the rate of inflation plus population growth." Also on the agenda: equity of taxation among industries.

Legislative Budget Board, August 30:  The staff of the Legislative Budget Board will hear agency and public testimony on the 2014-2015 budget request of the Teacher Retirement System, including pension and health-care funding for school retirees.

House Pensions, Investments & Financial Services Committee, September 12: This hearing, chaired by Rep. Vicki Truitt, Republican of Southlake, will consider measures "aimed at curbing rising pension costs to local governments" and also will look at studies due by September 1 from the state Employees Retirement System and Teacher Retirement System of Texas concerning "the viability of the current defined benefit plans as well as the implications and feasibility of creating a defined contribution or hybrid plan."

Senate Higher Education Committee, September 12:  This panel, chaired by Sen. Judith Zaffirini, Democrat of Laredo, will address "more cost-effective" college financial aid and "the efficacy of current exemptions and waivers offered to students," including in-state tuition for undocumented students. Also covered will be the implementation of existing law on "success-based funding" for colleges and universities.

Senate Education Committee, September 13:  Democrat Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio will chair the first part of this hearing, on virtual schools in Texas-"the growing demand for virtual schools in Texas," plus "the benefits of virtual schools, related successes in other states, and needed changes to remove barriers to virtual schools." The second part of the hearing, with Democrat Royce West of Dallas presiding, will study the impact of extended learning time on school success, including "the effect of after-school programs on academic performance, school attendance, behavior, and promotion to the next grade level, and the relationship between the availability of after-school programs in an area and the high school dropout rate."

Legislative Budget Board, September 24:  The staff of the Legislative Budget Board will hear testimony from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board regarding its budget request for 2014-2015, as well as from public witnesses concerned with THECB programs. The LBB staff also will take testimony on the budgets for public community and junior colleges.

Source: Texas AFT