Winners & Losers is calling an end to our summer break. The Almanac says the last 8 p.m. sunsets in the central region of Texas will occur next week, so the days are getting shorter, and we can no longer stand by and let so many winners and losers go by unacknowledged. Here’s who is on my list:
LOSER: The First Day of School in August
Public schools are launching their 2026-27 school years all around us, and the question for parents should be: “Why are kids being dragged back to school when it is still, quite obviously, summer?”
State Rep. Jared Patterson, R-Frisco, promised this week to file a bill that will require Texas public schools to not begin the fall semester before Labor Day. In the past, that debate has always come down to a legislative battle between Texas tourism and Texas schools—so we’ll see how that goes when the session starts.
Currently, Texas law says that public schools can’t officially begin classes until the fourth Monday in August, unless they are “Districts of Innovation,” which includes 80% of Texas school districts—so most schools can start whenever they want.
A taxpayer funded lobbyist for the Texas Classroom Teachers Association says the early start date is one of the most popular things about “Districts of Innovation,” but consider the source and then ask the question, “Popular with whom?” Teachers, who have been on vacation since May, apparently are big fans of getting started early in August, but can we really let teachers decide this?
These are the people who give us a school day for younger kids that begins as early as 7:45 a.m. and ends at 3 p.m.—times that are virtually impossible for any working parent to easily navigate, necessitating expensive childcare and ongoing logistical nightmares. This ridiculous schedule has been with us for so long that nobody even asks anymore why the school day is over in the middle of the afternoon. Whoever sets the hours for a public school day didn’t consider parents, but I am betting a 3 p.m. end time is also “popular” with teachers.
Also, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is a WINNER for directing Comptroller Don Huffines to do a spot review of several public school budgets to ensure the over $90 billion the state provides in school funding annually is going to the classroom—and not thrown away on administrative bloat.
LOSER: Bexar County Bet On Pandemic Funding Being Permanent
It is hard not to laugh at a story coming out of Bexar County this week as officials lament that they used $10 million they got during COVID-19 to create permanent programs—and now they don’t have the funding anymore. Who believed trillions in COVID-19 funding would go away? Now, as if it was just another random bad thing that has happened to them, Bexar County officials are wailing and gnashing their teeth because they must eliminate 28 staff positions, and such anti-COVID-19 programs as ending domestic violence and elder abuse are on the chopping block.
You have to hand it to former Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, a Democrat, who led the county during the pandemic, for being honest:
“I don’t know if they’ve done any good with it or not,” Wolff said at the time. “Maybe just another bureaucratic department, as far as I know, and if that’s true, then there’s no need to have it. But if they have done some good things and they can be transferred over to University Hospital, then that ought to be done.”
It is not clear where the funding will come from to evaluate the impact of the anti-COVID-19 programs that had nothing to do with COVID-19.
WINNER: Lt. Gov. Patrick Fights Dirty Books in Texas Schools
Lt. Governor Patrick doubled down on dirty books in public school libraries this week, threatening to dock a school’s rating, or even withhold funds if they don’t clean up their act.
Patrick distributed copies of “Let’s Talk About It” to reporters in a Capitol press conference this week. It’s a book that provides children with how-to directions on masturbation, sex toys, accessing pornography and all manner of sex. The book actually comes with a disclaimer from the publisher and author which reads: “The authors and publisher expressly disclaim any responsibility for any adverse effects which may result from the use or application of the information contained in this book.”
Huh? A safety disclaimer on a library book?
Senate Bill 13, a priority for the Lt. Gov., passed last year, but Bonnie Wallace, who has visited almost 200 school libraries in Texas, says very little action has been taken. In hundreds of public schools in Texas, children can still get a copy of sexually graphic and explicit books like “Gender Queer,” which contains gross and vulgar descriptions of masturbation and all kinds of homosexual and non-binary sex acts. I reviewed “Gender Queer” three years ago and can unequivocally report that it has no redeeming value, although it has won several lefty awards including one that seems blasphemous—the “Lincoln Award,” from the state of Illinois.
Wallace is on Patrick’s podcast, Lt. Dan, this week. You can find it here.
WINNER: DeSantis is Putting Statues Up
As part of Florida’s 250th Celebration, Gov. Ron DeSantis is putting up statues of America’s founders and other heroes all over the state—including a statue of Thomas Jefferson in Jefferson County, a statue of Ben Franklin in Franklin County, James Monroe in Monroe County, Alexander Hamilton in Hamilton County and George Washington in Washington County.
DeSantis drew his line in the sand on statues last year, calling the removal of “some Civil War general or whatever” a form of historical erasure, adding the idea of renaming Jacksonville was ridiculous. Last week, he unveiled a statue of Andrew Jackson in Jackson County.
Meanwhile, up in the deep blue Pacific Northwest, wokeism persists as officials in Portland, Oregon have announced they will return the statue of Abraham Lincoln, which was toppled by Black Lives Matters rioters in the city’s Central Park during 100 days of mob control in 2020. However, the Great Emancipator’s statue will not be returned to its previous pedestal. Instead, the statue will be standing on the ground, so no one will be looking up to him.
LOSER: AOC & the End of Woke 1
National polls continue to show Kamala Harris with a strong lead for the Democrat nomination for president in 2028, with California Gov. Gavin Newsom coming in second. But the prediction markets give the edge to U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, which is undoubtedly why she is trying to re-brand herself as normal person, laughing on ABC News last week that “Woke 1 was crazy,” implying that nobody thinks that opening the borders or defunding the police is a good idea anymore.
AOC is hoping we will forget she has used terms like “menstruating person,” to describe a woman and “two spirits,” to describe men who think they are women. She also hopes we’ll forget that she said that “marginalized Americans have no choice but to riot.
As for Woke 2.0, the Democratic Socialists of America have given us a close-up of what it looks like. The focus shifts to institutional change, where they want to abolish not only police, but jails and redesign the government to eliminate the executive branch and the Supreme Court, and let something like the House of Representatives run everything. It is not clear how all this will be built by people who organize themselves around their identity rather than their skills, who believe the country is built on racism, disdain achievement on merit and support men who believe they are women. If they get any traction, Woke 1 will look like “the good old days,” and nobody will be laughing.
LOSER: Texas Blue City Blues
Texas largest cities began to make threats this week that they will have no choice but to try to increase property taxes because they are spending way more money than they have.
The budget in Dallas has a $51 million shortfall and in Fort Worth, it’s $94 million. My home town of San Antonio is looking at a $158 million deficit over the next two years and reports are predicting Austin’s is on track to be $100 million in the hole in the next few years. The cities blame all this on the state – for restricting local property tax increases – and threaten to trim costs by closing libraries and laying off employees. It does not appear that they are looking at their own spending culture, which may reveal something they are missing. City managers in all those cities have base salaries of over $400K– and by base, it means that add-ons like a $600 a month car allowance in Ft. Worth are not included. That seems like that’s a lot to pay people who can’t put together a balanced budget.
LOSER: Democrats Like Socialism
Watching the victories and defeats of Democratic Socialists of America in the Democrat primaries across the country over the past few weeks, it appears so-called “normal Democrats,” are prevailing since DSA candidates lose more often than they win. But new polling makes it clear that among all Democrats, the majority, almost 60%, view socialism positively while only a third feel good about capitalism. These numbers are driven by young, white, affluent and college educated Democrats, the same folks who commemorated 100 years of Fidel Castro’s regime this week.
WINNER: Texas Dominates AP Coaches Poll
We are 15 days from the start of college football season, but the AP Top 25 Poll came out this week and the Lone Star State dominates with five teams on the list. No other state is even close. Starting off, the University of Texas at Austin is rated No. 4, Texas A&M is No. 8 and Texas Tech is No. 12. Southern Methodist comes in at No. 19 and the University of Houston is at No. 23. The ESPN Poll has Texas at No. 5, but its pre-season rankings, like the Coaches Poll are about the same. On Sept. 5, Texas will play their season opener against Texas State, Texas A&M is playing Missouri and Tech will play Abilene Christian.
That said, only the University of Texas made it to list of “Most Arrests by College Football Teams Since 2000” which ranks the Longhorns at No. 11, with 291 arrests in the last 25 years. Florida ranks at the top with 539 arrests in the same period. This “Most Arrests” list made the rounds this week, posted on many college team websites, but it’s not clear who compiled it or what their criteria was. If one of the teams you really hate is on the list, it probably makes you happy. Oklahoma is ranked No. 12, just under Texas…just saying.
Have a great weekend!
Listen to Winners & Losers on Talk 1370, the Cardle & Woolley show, every Friday morning at 8:30 a.m. Here’s the listen live link.
Follow Sherry on X @sylvester1630 and find her on Substack at sherrysylvester.substack.com
Sherry Sylvester is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation and the former Senior Advisor to Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick.