Parents Empowered
What to know: At a standing-room-only event in Temple on Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott voiced again his support for parent empowerment, declaring that “the time for education freedom in Texas is now.”
The TPPF take: The Temple event was organized by the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
“Once parents are empowered with real choices, schools respond with new programs, improved curriculum, and a renewed focus on the quality of the education they are providing students,” says TPPF’s Mandy Drogin. “School choice is the catalyst that encourages everyone to become better and more efficient.”
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College Accreditation
What to know: College accreditation shouldn’t be a monopoly owned by regional accrediting agencies.
The TPPF take: Texas lawmakers can stand up to the politicized college accreditation scam.
“Until recently, virtually all Texas colleges were forced to use the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges Commission on Colleges,” says TPPF’s Andrew Gillen. “Fortunately, in 2019, the DeVos Department of Education reformed federal regulations to allow colleges to use any accreditor. Unfortunately, the current Texas code often still requires Texas colleges to use SACSCOC. This should be remedied in the upcoming legislative session.”
For more on college accreditation, click here.
It’s a Crime
What to know: Is crime really coming down in the U.S.? The lack of official numbers makes it difficult to tell.
The TPPF take: Competing narratives and poor information plague the national discussion over public safety.
“There’s a disturbing reason some police departments don’t report data: It could make them or the left-wing politicians overseeing them look bad,” says TPPF’s Chuck DeVore. “As a result, the FBI did not publish any state-level violent crime numbers for California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania. Thus, when some, mostly on the left, argue that crime is going down, it’s a highly suspect claim.”
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