Texas ObserverOut today: “Counties use tax breaks to try to get a commitment from the developer that they’ll use a closed-loop cooling system instead of evaporative cooling. I’m glad counties are using the tools they have, but we only have carrots. We only have incentives.” https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-legislature-data-center-boom-water/
Top story: Applications had been submitted for about 275,000 students as of late March. But just 25% were for students currently enrolled in public schools.
That amounts to about 1% of the state’s 5.5 million public school students. https://www.texasobserver.org/school-vouchers-discrimination-brouhaha-abbott/
#education #schools #vouchers #TXlege #racism #politics #USpol #news
Top story: What would’ve been school-choice proponents’ triumphant publicity tour was instead consumed by catty finger-pointing over who’s to blame for the seemingly botched attempt to religiously discriminate against some program participants. https://www.texasobserver.org/school-vouchers-discrimination-brouhaha-abbott/
#Texas #politics #USpol #news #vouchers #education #schools #news #TXlege #racism
From Justin Miller: GOP legislators repeatedly insisted that “Texas Education Freedom Accounts” would be open to any and all types of private #schools—of all creeds and persuasions.
In predictable fashion, they haven't quite lived up to that promise. https://www.texasobserver.org/school-vouchers-discrimination-brouhaha-abbott/
Applications had been submitted for about 275,000 students as of late March. But just 25% percent were for students currently enrolled in public #schools. (That amounts to about 1% of the state’s 5.5 million public school students.) https://www.texasobserver.org/school-vouchers-discrimination-brouhaha-abbott/
New from Justin Miller: What would’ve been school-choice proponents’ triumphant publicity tour was instead consumed by catty finger-pointing over who’s to blame for the seemingly botched attempt to religiously discriminate against some program participants. https://www.texasobserver.org/school-vouchers-discrimination-brouhaha-abbott/
#vouchers #Politics #USpol #Republicans #Texas #TXlege #news #education #schools
Out today: SB 13 neutered librarians’ authority over their collections. I no longer determine what goes into my collection. I make recommendations, and a council of parents called a School Library Advisory Council (SLAC) decides whether or not to recommend approval. https://www.texasobserver.org/abilene-isd-librarian-book-ban/
#books #education #Library #censorship #Texas #TXlege #Politics #USpol #News
"The power of that office is to say 'This is how much revenue you have. And here are the long-term investments of the State of Texas, and here’s who’s benefiting most, least, and not at all from those investments.' And the comptroller has not done much of that in the last several years." https://www.texasobserver.org/sarah-eckhardt-texas-comptroller-bob-bullock/
Out today: "We’ve not heard analysis of what happens economically long-term if we fail to invest in universal public #education. The comptroller’s office has not provided analysis of the economic cost to people and to the public of the largest uninsured population in the United States." https://www.texasobserver.org/sarah-eckhardt-texas-comptroller-bob-bullock/
#healthcare #politics #USpol #schools #Texas #TXlege #news #Democrats #midterms #elections
Blue-county DAs have increasingly prompted legislative and political backlash –including with the Republican-held Texas Lege passing a so-called rogue DA law that allows the state to recall and replace elected local prosecutors for not pursuing charges for certain types of crimes like low-level drug possession, or refusing to prosecute abortion providers. https://www.texasobserver.org/bexar-county-district-attorney-dem-primary/
