High Anxiety

What to know: A new survey says that 56% of young people worldwide think “humanity is doomed” by climate change, and 75% say the future is “frightening.”

The TPPF take: Parents can counter eco-anxiety with facts and hope.

“Saddling our next generation of leaders with the burden of fatalistic pessimism is wrong for so many reasons, especially when even a cursory review of the history of the human condition shows there’s cause not just for pressing onward, but for outright celebration,” says TPPF’s Katie Tahuahua. “Armed with the real facts about the world, my family will go boldly with optimism and confidence into society and strive to leave it a better — not scarier — place.”

For more on eco-anxiety, click here.


Property Tax Relief

What to know: The Texas Legislature is considering a bill that would lower school property taxes.

The TPPF take: Texans need property tax relief.

“The way we levy and raise property taxes is not just unsustainable, it is unethical,” says TPPF’s Vance Ginn. “Texans are being forced out of their own homes by insatiable local governments looking to squeeze every dime out of taxpayers.”

For more on property tax relief, click here.


We Went Into the Wrong Business

What to know: Superintendents in Texas can make super-sized salaries.

The TPPF take: Public school superintendents are some of the highest paid government employees in Texas.

“Superintendents of districts over 50,000 make an average of $321,253, far above the national average,” says TPPF’s James Quintero. “Not including the value of other taxpayer-provided benefits, which may include: bonuses, car allowances, cell phone allowances, internet service allowances, housing allowances, allowances for business expenses, health insurance subsidies, life insurance, long-term disability, various retirement benefits and contributions, and membership dues paid to civic, private, and professional organizations for professional development.”

For more on superintendent salaries, click here.