The Fully Funded Fallacy
What to know: Houston ISD’s superintendent “will be among the state’s top-earning superintendents after his recent $82,000 raise raised his base pay to $462,000.” But even with that huge pay hike, he’s still paid less than the school superintendents in Lake Travis ($468,296), Tomball ($469,638), Barbers Hill ($489,143), and Victoria ($565,047) ISDs.
The TPPF take: It’s a lie to say that schools aren’t fully funded when education elites are getting filthy rich.
“Sky-high superintendent salaries reveal what most people already suspect—that public education doesn’t have a revenue problem. It has a spending problem,” says TPPF’s James Quintero. “These obscene salaries are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to taxpayer abuse.”
For more on school superintendent salaries, click here.
The Great American West
What to know: Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins (who previously served as president of TPPF) has rescinded the USDA’s 2001 “Roadless Rule,” which will allow for more access to the nation’s forests and grasslands.
The TPPF take: The Roadless Rule prohibits timber harvesting, road construction, and road reconstruction on inventoried roadless areas unless specific conditions are met.
“This effectively prevented new roads from being constructed on over 58 million acres of land,” says TPPF’s Matt Miller. “Not only did this rule keep these lands locked away from recreation, it also inhibits effective wildfire management of such areas. Roads allow recreationists to explore wilderness areas, brush to be cleared by machinery, and new wildfires to be fought more effectively. America’s public lands belong to everyone.”
For more on public lands, click here.
Electric Dreams
What to know: President Donald Trump has revoked California’s draconian electric vehicle mandates, which would have effectively banned gas- and diesel-powered cars and trucks.
The TPPF take: California’s EV mandates are clear governmental overreach.
“Last week, a longtime leader of the California’s Air Resources Board admitted that the state only had themselves to blame for pushing to eliminate all fossil fueled cars in the state by 2035,” says TPPF’s Sherry Sylvester. “Although Mary Nichols, who chaired the Air Resources Board for 17 years, doesn’t recant California’s anti-fossil fuel mantra, the admission that they over-reached is rare among Democrats these days—and it seems important to acknowledge.”
For more on electric vehicle mandates, click here.