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Several school districts have taken the ethically questionable step of using public resources to lobby against school choice. Plano ISD posted a one-sided piece on its website and the superintendent of Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD sent out an email parroting anti-school choice talking points. Belton ISD also blasted an email to its list, as did Alamo Heights ISD. I have personally been forwarded similar emails from other districts that have not been publicly reported.
It’s unclear if using a district email list paid for by tax dollars to lobby against legislation is illegal, but it certainly doesn’t pass the smell test. For starters, some of the information they spread is inaccurate. Parents didn’t sign up to get false, misleading, and disingenuous propaganda from school officials.
Also, there’s no regard for public sentiment about school choice in these communities. Mansfield ISD, for example, posted a video with more false information and attacked education savings accounts. Mansfield is in HD 96, which is so Republican the GOP state representative ran there unopposed. In 2022, 87.7% of GOP primary voters supported Prop 9 school choice. So while the people who run the schools oppose choice, the voters overwhelmingly support it.
Maybe this will explain what’s going on:
This week the Texas Democrat Party announced a new coalition to elect Democrats in the next election. Among the founding members, only three are not explicitly affiliated with the Democrat Party: the Texas State Teachers Association, American Federation for Teachers – Texas, and Planned Parenthood.
So if maybe you thought those emails and posts amounted to district officials using taxpayer resources to send thinly veiled political communication on behalf of the Democrat Party, you might be on to something.