Every Friday morning, I join the Cardle & Woolley Show on 1370 Talk Radio in Austin to announce the week’s Winners & Losers. Today marks President Donald Trump’s 95th day in office, while the Texas Legislature has knocked out 102 of the constitutionally allotted 140 days in the regular odd-year session. Here’s the list:
Winner: Education Savings Accounts Come Just in Time
When the always-eloquent Senate Education Chairman Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, rose in the Texas Senate Chamber to concur with the version of Senate Bill 2 that had passed the House, he noted that the Texas Education Freedom Act will transform education in our state—expanding options and restoring hope for thousands of children in our state. After overcoming three decades of resistance from education bureaucrats who repeatedly made it clear they care more about their jobs than their students, the bill now goes to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk for his signature.
Loser: Too Many Texas Public Schools
Those bureaucrats were working down to the wire to keep the truth from Texas parents about how poorly many of our public schools are performing. Yesterday, after overcoming a lawsuit from more than 100 school districts, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) released school ratings for 2022-23 school year which revealed that one in five Texas public school students attend a school that is rated D or F. These ratings are particularly galling for those who spent the last 102 days watching the school choice battle at the Capitol and hearing teachers’ unions and their Democrat water-carriers insist that letting parents choose the best school for their child would destroy public education in Texas.
Looking at the ratings, you have to wonder how much worse it could get. Despite state spending that hovers close to $100 billion, the number of F-rated schools increased from 4.5% to 7.6 percent in 2022-23. TEA says it evaluated 8,539 public schools; 19.3% received an A, 33.6% got a B, 24.7% a C, and 14.8% received D’s. So the flip talking point is that only one in five students goes to an A-rated school.
The school districts that had sued to stop release of the ratings had charged that TEA had changed the rating system in the five years since the last A-F school grades were last released. But after the 15th Court of Appeals ruled TEA could inform parents about how their kids’ schools were performing, the ratings showed both the scores the school would have received using the old ratings as well as the new rating system. Many grades dropped a few points with the new standards, but some schools scored higher with the new criteria. You can view the available ratings here. TEA still cannot release the ratings for the 2023-24 school year because school officials have filed a separate lawsuit. In other education news, California is considering allowing community college students to sleep in their cars because housing is so expensive.
Loser: Federal Regulation
Those who insist that Elon Musk is over-doing it with his war on waste, inefficiency and over-regulation should take a look at the report that came out last week from the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which found that federal regulations cost $1.2 trillion annually, about the same as Americans pay in federal income tax. According to the report:
US households pay on average $16,016 annually in a hidden regulatory tax, which consumes 16 percent of income and 21 percent of household expenses.
These household outlays exceed expenditures on health care, food, transportation, entertainment, apparel, services, and savings. Only the costs of housing, which stand at $25,436 annually, exceed regulation.
Winner: J.K. Rowling and Texas Stand Up for Women
J.K. Rowling, author of the beloved Harry Potter series, has been brutally besieged for years because she refused to bend the knee to those who insist that men who declare themselves to be women actually are women. In addition to death threats, cancellation and hate attacks—Scotland passed a law targeting her that would make it illegal to “stir up a hate crime.” Several of the actors in the Harry Potter movies denounced her—rendering those films unwatchable now for those of who care about facts and science.
But Rowling finally won the war when the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom declared this week that there are only two biological sexes—an important ruling, for the British were the first to perform sex change operations and then became the first to halt them after research showed that they were hurting patients instead of helping them.
Meanwhile, Axios reports that Texas legislators have filed more legislation reining in men who say they are women than any other state, as if that’s a bad thing. In all, 120 bills have been filed here, twice as many as Missouri, which is in second place. Texas legislators have already passed laws that prohibit boys from playing in women’s sports. New proposals seek to ensure women’s privacy is protected in public restrooms and locker facilities, and it would prohibit individuals from changing the sex on their birth certificates or other official documents, as well as making sure teachers can’t be fired for using the wrong pronouns. There’s a nationwide Trans legislation tracker here.
Winner: U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo
Another week has passed, and as far as anyone can tell, the national strategy of the Democrats is to focus on poor gang members who beat up their wives and, of course, men who say they are women. The New York Times asked several old Democrats how the party got its momentum back after big losses in the 1980’s. They have lots of theories, but Laredo Congressman Henry Cuellar gets specific when he made it clear what Democrats should not be talking about. He noted that the South Texas border communities he represents don’t care about Kilmer Abrago Garcia, who Trump deported: “With all due respect, when you’re talking about bringing somebody—and I know there were due process questions—that was in Maryland, and now El Salvador. I don’t know if that’s the right issue that Democrats should be focusing on right now.”
Winner: No Bike Lanes Bill
Anyone who doubts the importance of Sen. Paul Bettencourt’s legislation to halt bike lanes in Texas cities needs to visit Portland, Oregon and talk to business owners there who were driven out of the downtown core of that formerly beautiful city when bike lanes virtually stopped all car traffic from moving.
Portland is known as the one of the worst sites of the Black Lives Matters riots in 2020, which destroyed many parts of the downtown, but residents with a longer memory will tell you that the bicyclists, who are a loud and powerful lobby, did as much or more damage to Portland by closing down traffic lanes and making bike lanes and bicycle travel the priority. Similar efforts are underway in the Austin now, where traffic is stifled by more and more encroaching bicycle lanes, most often with no bikes in them. Blue cities have always been anti-car for no good reason other than they don’t like them. Bettencourt is right to fight back.
Winner: Houston May John Whitmire
Speaking of blue cities, Houston Democrats are up in arms because Houston Mayor John Whitmire attended a fundraising event for U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Houston. Democrats accused Whitmire of undermining the “values and mission of the Democrat Party…” which, as noted above, appear to be the fight for men who think they are women and keeping violent gang members in the country. Whitmire served as a Democrat in the Texas House for 10 years and the Texas Senate for 40 years—literally 50 years in the Legislature—where he was always a tireless voice for his party. Since he has been mayor he has also been attacked for standing in support of the Jewish community and making sure the Houston Police Department cooperates with ICE in arresting illegal aliens. Most folks think he is focused on “values and mission.”
Winner: COVID “Lab Leak” Website
The left-wing media went nuts when the Trump administration took down all the COVID information websites and replaced them with a big blaring headline that reads COVID LAB LEAK, detailing the origins of the virus. Years of lies about COVID, the denials, the intolerance of dissent, along with the loss of freedom and lives, all had a traumatic impact on most every American. Changing the websites and setting the record straight will help Americans remember never to go so far off course again.
Loser: Joe Biden’s $300K Speaking Tour
Each week we wonder how long we will be able to keep former President Joe Biden on the Losers List—but here he is again. Granted, there is some humility in Biden’s thinking that he would get $300,000 to make a speech—former President Barack Obama gets $400,000, but the word is that bookings are not going that well. In his first official public speech since the election, the New York Post reports that he referred to black children as “colored kids,” which charitably can be called anachronistic if not offensive. This speech should not be confused with Biden’s recent trip to Harvard after Trump announced he was withdrawing federal funds to the Ivy League school. While there, Biden reportedly referred to Ukraine as Iraq, dropped his ice cream bar and departed suddenly—but then, they weren’t paying him.
Winner: Hail to the Chief
President Trump has weighed in on the school mascot controversy in Massapequa, New York, where the state government is demanding that Massapequa High School stop using a “Chief” as their mascot. It’s part of the Empire State’s overall Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies.
The school board in this old suburban town with an ancient Native American name argued in a federal lawsuit that they are victims of government overreach and that their First Amendment rights are being violated. Their state representative has proposed a legal carve out for Massapequa, but they should get rid of the whole law.
Trump called the change “ridiculous” and an affront to our great Indian population. He asked Education Secretary Linda McMahon “to fight for the people of Massapequa on this very important issue,” adding “LONG LIVE THE MASSAPEQUA CHIEFS!”
Have a great weekend!
Sherry Sylvester is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and the former Senior Advisor to Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick.
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