Mandy Drogin is one of the top education reform leaders in Texas with experience managing grassroots, marketing, election and legislative campaigns. Prior to joining TPPF she was at the American Federation for Children for nearly eight years where she served as the State Director for the past three years and helped make important gains in Texas. She has a talent for organizing complex coalitions and factions, motivating people, understanding and communicating policy, image and branding, and running campaign teams.
Politics is often hard to follow. This year, more than 7,000 bills were filed in the Texas Legislature, and a lot can get lost in that mix. For the average parent or teacher, tracking education legislation is simply not possible—we have more pressing things to do, like work, raise our children, and teach them to...
Texas parents are making gains in the legislature to retake control of their child’s education, and we are within reach of the education Holy Grail—education savings accounts (ESAs). Never before have we been so close to empowering parents with the ability to select the best school for their child, rather than be assigned a school...
Earlier this year, the Texas Public Policy Foundation published a video that highlighted the woke indoctrination that’s going in in Texas schools—even, and especially, in rural Texas. I’m sad to say that in the short time since we published that video, we’ve uncovered more than enough additional evidence of indoctrination to publish another video—or two. The next...
Empowering parents in rural communities with Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) will give them the freedom to choose the best school for their children, according to Mandy Drogin, campaign director for Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Next Generation Initiative. Drogin cites examples from other states that have introduced school choice programs and seen an improvement in education...
When Texas Gov. Greg Abbott visits Tyler Thursday evening, he’ll bring a clear and simple message: Texas parents have the right to direct the upbringing—and education—of their children. There’s much, much more to the governor’s plan—and for the future of Texas education. Yet despite the vast body of evidence demonstrating that parent empowerment improves education...
Doom! That’s what Democrats and their allies in the media predict if Texas lawmakers empower parents to make the key decisions in their children’s educations. An “astroturf” group (that means fake grassroots) says parent empowerment is “morally unacceptable,” will replace Texas public education with “Christian Nationalism & Religious Fundamentalism,” and ultimately it’s all “designed to...
A recent Houston Chronicle editorial claims that empowering parents to choose their own children’s education (yes, including low-income parents) would upset the First Amendment’s Establishment clause. Sure, some schools with a religious focus can provide kids with a solid education, the editorial board admits. “But when it comes to the constitutional separation of church and...
It’s time for some hard truths about education. Our current system is failing too many Texas students, especially low-income and minority children. This has been the case for a long time, but the current coronavirus situation has shined a much-needed spotlight on the problem. Unfortunately, Texas isn’t prepared for the fall semester because no matter...