On April 7, the State Board of Education is set to give its final approval to new Social Studies Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), a much-needed reform to the standards that determine what educators teach. Here’s what you need to know: The current Social Studies TEKS are profoundly inadequate. The flaws of the K-8...
Texas local governments use taxpayer dollars to hire lobbyists to influence state legislation—creating conflicts of interest, distorting democratic accountability, and undermining the interests of Texas taxpayers. Key points: Taxpayer-funded lobbying expenditures more than doubled from the 85th to the 89th Legislature, now reaching as high as $111.5 million. Taxpayer-funded lobbyists consistently opposed legislation involving property...
The highly publicized “Mississippi Miracle” — the implementation of teacher training, literacy coaches, and grade retention for struggling students that skyrocketed the state’s ranking from 49th in 2013 to nineth in 2024 — has created a well-earned outpouring of praise. Here at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, we have taken notice. In fact, the Lone...