Hispanics and Parent Empowerment
What to know: Hispanic voters are increasingly abandoning the Democratic Party over issues such as education.
The TPPF take: Parent empowerment is a powerful and wide-reaching message.
“Condemning children to a poor education because they live in a specific ZIP Code is unconscionable,” says TPPF’s Rafa Bejar. “This is one of the major driving factors behind the parent empowerment movement, which would give parents the economic freedom to choose where to send their kids to school.”3
For more on Hispanics and public education, click here.
That’s a Bad Look
What to know: The head of the Chicago Teachers Union sends his son to a private school, he now acknowledges.
The TPPF take: Teachers unions advocate for teachers, not for students—and not for education.
“National and state teachers unions led the charge to keep schools closed during the pandemic and bear a large share of the responsibility for subsequent learning loss and mental health crises among young Americans,” says TPPF’s Erin Valdez. “Unions have fought—not supported—opportunity for working Texans.”
For more on teachers unions, click here.
Misplaced Priorities
What to know: The Odessa ISD board claims it doesn’t have enough money to provide security in its schools, yet it gave its superintendent a raise.
The TPPF take: Misplaced priorities doesn’t even begin to describe school district spending.
“School district budgets are overstuffed with Other People’s Money. So much so that many ISDs have Taj Mahal-like facilities and multi-million dollar stadiums, sometimes right next door to each other. But this extravagance comes at a cost—and property taxpayers are bearing the brunt of it,” says TPPF’s James Quintero.
For more on local spending, click here.