Border Security

How migrants become victims of human-trafficking

January is National Slavery and Human-Trafficking Prevention Month.  It’s estimated that there are 25 million victims of human trafficking around the world and that human trafficking is a $150-billion-per-year industry globally.  In the U.S., the National Human Trafficking Hotline has received almost 300,000 contacts, and around 52,000 cases of human trafficking have been reported since 2007 While human-trafficking — also known as modern-day slavery...

February 1, 2020

Family

Community Based Care is answer to unsafe foster placement

A recent article published by the Austin American-Statesman reported that 678 foster children did not have a home for two or more nights in 2019, leaving children to sleep in state offices or hotels. This number reflects a 49% increase since 2018, and can be attributed to the state’s struggle to recruit foster families, along with the...

January 31, 2020

Economy

The Coronavirus Outbreak Is Now A Crisis, How Might That Affect The Economy?

Economists used to that say “when America sneezes, the world catches a cold.” Could the same apply to China—as it struggles to contain the fallout from the coronavirus? After days of paralyzing dithering, the U.N.’s World Health Organization (WHO) finally declared a Global Health Emergency yesterday over the Novel Coronavirus, a week after failing to...

January 31, 2020

Higher Education

New Study: Despite Nonstop Talk Of ‘Making College More Affordable,’ Tuition Continues To Outpace Inflation

Many universities today, stung by growing public criticism of college tuition hyperinflation, have engaged in public relations efforts highlighting their attempts to curb tuition growth. This is understandable. There is only one problem: A new study argues that tuition increases nationwide continue nonetheless to outpace inflation. According to the study, performed by the tech finance outfit, Self, “in...

January 29, 2020

Local Government

Transportation plan is stuck in the past, a burden on the future

Leave it to Austin’s single-minded central planners to pitch a transportation plan that is both rooted in the past and a burden on future generations. While the newly unveiled proposal is still in its infancy, it aims to bring 18th-century technology back with a vengeance by adding and expanding fixed rail systems. That could include...

January 27, 2020

Economy

Will Texas flip because of blue state migrants? Don’t bet on it

An entire cottage industry has sprung up around the nation, with books, articles, and pundits warning about an impending Electoral College blue shift. The theory is simple; blue-state economic migrants, in search of the opportunity they can’t find in their high-tax states, bring their liberal voting attitudes to their new homes, and then vote to enact the...

January 23, 2020

Other

Superintendents Paid Better than You Think

Public education advocates regularly criticize the Legislature for what they perceive as limited resources, tight budgets, and low salaries within the education system. But that narrative often doesn’t quite align with the facts. Case in point: sky-high superintendent pay. As the Foundation has noted in the past, superintendents in Texas frequently bring home six-figure salaries...

January 21, 2020

Local Government

New Law Helps Answer Old Question

New open government legislation went into effect recently, letting the public finally get answers to some long-lingering questions, like how much did the city of McAllen pay entertainer Enrique Iglesias for a 2015 concert? According to the Texas Tribune, Iglesias was paid $485,000 for his performance and “provided with a chartered flight from Guadalajara, Mexico;...

January 21, 2020

Economy

Trump: Free The Dishwashers!

John Merline, writing in Issues and Insights notes the elite left’s “apoplectic fit when President Donald Trump started talking about dishwashers at his Milwaukee rally this week.” This isn’t the first time Trump talked dishwashers and it likely won’t be the last. Republican electeds and their consultants have been openly fretting about professional suburban women. These largely...

January 16, 2020

Other

No, the Conservative Woman’s Future Is Not Bleak

Last week, the New York Times published an editorial declaring the seemingly imminent extinction of Republican women at multiple levels of government. Largely crediting the rise of Donald Trump, the article ends with a discouraging statement — and thinly veiled wishful thinking — that the “future for Republican women in politics looks very bleak indeed.” While unquestionably...

January 16, 2020

Higher Education

Two Tsunamis are About to Hit Higher Education

In November, the Department of Education released post graduate earnings and debt data broken down by college program — which will have a revolutionary impact on higher education. Students (and policymakers) can now get accurate information about how much recent graduates earned by college and degree (e.g., a Bachelor’s in Physics from Ohio State University). While the...

January 15, 2020

Higher Education

State-Funded Colleges Are Still Well Funded

I have a confession to make. My recent study on state funding of higher education was about the simplest piece of research I’ve done in a dozen years. So was the finding; there’s been no trend of state disinvestment in higher education. But what a ruckus it caused. The key finding entailed simply downloading and graphing data...

January 14, 2020