A Martyr
What to know: Conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk’s funeral will be held this week. President Donald Trump has pledged to attend.
The TPPF take: Charlie Kirk is a martyr to his faith—and to common sense.
“In this way, Charlie Kirk was perhaps the closest thing to Socrates in the American public square,” says TPPF’s Joshua Treviño. “The leftist intellectuals who sneered at him—the rube peddling his simple lines, his crass sophistry, his heartland aw-shucks certainties—would guffaw at the parallel, but it is no less true. He argued—amiably, fairly, relentlessly—until they couldn’t stand it any longer. And like Socrates, they had him killed.”
For more on Charlie Kirk, click here.
A Win, for Now
What to know: On Tuesday, the Whitesboro city council tabled a “proposed 51% property tax hike,” after residents packed the meeting in protest. Had the city adopted the proposed tax rate, the average homeowner’s tax bill would have increased by $500 per year.
The TPPF take: Residents won the day, but there’s nothing stopping the city from attempting a similar maneuver in the future. Yet.
“No Texan should live under the threat of a 51% tax hike. What makes this nightmare proposal worse is the fact that this is the second year in a row that Whitesboro officials have attempted some version of it. This is truly alarming behavior,” says TPPF’s James Quintero. “Looking ahead, we need state lawmakers to be prepared to advance a suite of strict tax reforms that bring this type of anti-taxpayer activity to a screeching halt. Permanently.”
For more on local taxes and spending, click here.
Cell Phone Ban
What to know: Texas educators love the state’s new ban on cell phones in the classroom.
The TPPF take: The widespread use of personal devices—including smartphones, smartwatches, tablets, laptops, and gaming devices—has become a significant challenge in schools.
“While technology plays an essential role in education, personal devices often serve as a distraction rather than a learning tool,” says TPPF’s David Dunmoyer. “Studies indicate that students check their phones more than 100 times per day on average, reducing their ability to focus on classroom instruction.”
For more on the cell phones in classroom, click here.