Someone Needs Remedial Math
What to know: The Houston Chronicle has a story out claiming that “Texas public schools could lose $227M from voucher exodus.”
The TPPF take: That’s not how school funding — or the Texas Educational Freedom Act (TEFA) funds — work.
“Public school funding is at an all-time high of more than $90 billion a year,” says TPPF’s Mandy Drogin. “Last session alone, Gov. Greg Abbott signed legislation allocating $8.5 billion in new public education funding. It is 100% false to say those dollars are being used to fund school choice. Texas is funding public schools while giving families more choices.”
For more on school choice and public school funding, click here.
We Have Questions… Lots of Questions
What to know: An X “influencer” named Mizra claims that she and her artificial intelligence boyfriend now have an AI child, named “Lumen.”
The TPPF take: Despite AI’s limitations, people are already forming meaningful attachments to artificial systems. That’s not good.
“Human relationships are meaningful precisely because they are difficult, unpredictable, and mutual,” says TPPF’s Hannah Bruck. “They require patience, vulnerability, and the willingness to encounter another person who cannot be perfectly tailored to our preferences. AI companions, by contrast, are engineered to do the opposite. They are designed to keep our attention, to respond instantly, validate our feelings, and adapt to whatever keeps us engaged. In other words, simulations cannot love us back.”
For more on AI relationships, click here.
Sharia Courts
What to know: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has vowed to ban Sharia courts and Sharia law in Texas.
The TPPF take: Gov. Abbott is right; there’s a real push to implement Sharia laws in Texas and the U.S.
“A working coalition has formed between segments of the radical left and Islamist movements,” says TPPF’s Chuck DeVore. “They share enemies: the United States, Israel, liberal democracy, and the existing international order. They do not share an end-state. One side wants revolutionary equality and fluid identity; the other wants Sharia and a restored ummah—the global Muslim community. History suggests the Islamists are not confused about which vision wins if they ever hold power.”