Here They Come
What to know: Several money-hungry school districts in the DFW region are angling for a major tax increase. In fact, “[s]even school districts” are pushing voter-approval tax rate elections, or VATREs, that threaten to spike homeowners’ property tax bills.
The TPPF take: Government schools don’t need any more money. They need to learn how to stretch a dollar.
“Texans already spend mightily on public education ($16,792 per student in 2022-23). To come and ask that taxpayers bear an even greater burden is preposterous, especially when so many families are struggling to put food on the table,” says TPPF’s James Quintero. “Voters should think long and hard about whether to approve or reject this latest wave of school district VATREs. Not only might the price tag be steep, but the measures are likely unnecessary.”
For more on tax rate elections, click here.
Illegal Votes
What to know: Texas has discovered thousands of illegal immigrants registered to vote on its voter rolls.
The TPPF take: Texas media has always insisted that non-citizen voters do not exist.
“The San Antonio Express-News said that the ‘number of potential non-citizens on the registration rolls is hardly indicative of widespread abuse. The 2,724 names account for just 0.01% of all the Texans who were registered to vote in the November 2024 election,’” says TPPF’s Sherry Sylvester. “Using that same metric, you gotta wonder why they didn’t say that 20,000 to 30,000 people participating in No Kings marches in Texas over the weekend represented less than 0.01% of the state’s population and are ‘hardly indicative’ of anything.”
For more on the non-citizen voting, click here.
Civics Education
What to know: Even the New York Times admits that “Civics Education Struggles, Even as Government and Politics Saturate Daily Life.”
The TPPF take: Let’s teach our kids why America is worth defending.
“In a time when leftist agitators unleash waves of violence — from campus riots to street-level chaos — this isn’t just about dusty textbooks,” says TPPF’s Chuck DeVore. “It’s about arming the next generation with the knowledge to engage in the civil discourse our republic demands, turning down the temperature on a nation fraying at the edges.”
For more on civics education, click here.