Play It Safe Viewing
In a previous post, I wrote that WISD uses a curriculum called “Play it Safe!” for instruction. The counselor was more than happy to let me view the content. I deemed it appropriate for my children. It is produced by the Women’s Center of Tarrant County.
The short film effectively teaches children how to assert themselves in uncomfortable situations and how to find help after assessing they cannot help themselves. It is a family-friendly instruction and bears no allegiance to any woke nonsense or other ideological misgiving.
Play It Safe!
I received a notice from my children’s school asking if it was OK for them to show my children a video from a faceless group called “Play It Safe!” They teach personal safety, and their materials are behind multiple paywalls. I responded with a letter.
My concerns are many, but I am short on time, so I shall sum it all up. I do not trust Government Agencies with the care, custody, and control of my children. If a school is to show materials to children; that school should first provide an opportunity for the parents of the district to attend a screening of the very same materials. This is easy to do and would not be burdensome. Hell! The community can host it ourselves!
I shall await response from the counselor.
TEA Local Reporting Requirements
Today, TEA informed us that the time for public comment on a proposed rule opened today. Being given no real advanced notice is most unfortunate, but par for the course. If the TEA Commissioner had to put rule changes through a lengthy process full of reporting requirements that ensured the public would be informed, how could he possibly do his job? How, indeed…
This is a small change but an important one (a pdf just in case). My public comment for consideration follows:
The current system gives parents and community members a definitive time for requesting the local accountability plan from a district (first week of July). If timelines are to be set by the Commissioner, then a further reporting requirement upon the Commissioner's office must also be set so that parents may have confidence that the practices and policies of a district are in keeping with the reporting requirements imposed by the State.
Two immediate questions come to mind:
With these changes, how would anyone know when an accountability plan is to be submitted and made available? What are the requirements for the TEA Commissioner reporting to parents what the new timeline might be on a case-by-case basis?
I do not take issue with the rule change. I only take issue with how it ignores the needs of children, parents, and community members. We currently have very clear guidance regarding local accountability plans and their reporting requirements. What the Commissioner now proposes removes clarity from the system; this is always bad. If a system is too murky or too complex, the people cannot be fully serviced by that system even though we pay for it with our hard-earned treasure.
The Commissioner needs to ensure we are informed at all times, of all things; he simply is moving too far away from the goal.
Maximum Compressed Tax Rate
This is an incredibly important concept yet it is almost never spoken about by our so-called “leaders”. This rate is the maximum rate allowable by law without a vote. This rate is set by Texas Education Agency. If you want to dig, you can find the complete basis therefore here:
The documentation is effectively page-after-page of dense legalese. The important parts follow, and as always, a fact checker need only read the links provided to verify what is written herein.
First and foremost, this tax rate does not directly govern the tax rate in any school district. What it does is allow the bureaucratic regime known as TEA to near-silently raise taxes without input from the public. The process is devoid of mandatory inputs and hearings before the voting class. The broad strokes are:
School Districts inform TEA of taxable property data end of July
TEA computes a rate
School Districts may appeal the rate
Once a rate is settled a School District is able to raise taxes to that new rate without a vote
If the MCR for a district is computed to be less than 90% of the greatest school district in the State, that MCR is increased to equal 90% of the greatest.
The TEA Commissioner can ignore the rules however and whenever he wants
That is not a typo: the rules states, “The commissioner of education may waive a provision of this section if necessary to ensure the appropriate MCR calculation.” (See Commissioner’s Rules on School Finance). Effectively, we have a system where school taxes can be artificially inflated through willful ignorance of the rules. The rules state both: that a district must inform TEA of taxable property data and that the Commissioner may waive a rule to expedite the calculation process.
These tax rate increases are given irrespective of outcomes and irrespective of performance. Further, a Voter Approval Tax Rate Election is only necessary if a District would like to increase past this MCR. This is a slight of hand; it is a way for unelected bureaucrats to get a tax rate increase while keeping people feeling like they “won something”. If a District wants to adopt the MCR, it only needs to propose a rate higher than the MCR and let the voters select the MCR instead. Voters feel like they won, and the District gets its pay increase. Everyone’s happy??? Right?
The media, too, are not our friends in this struggle to keep what we earn. The media loves the phrase “increasing district revenue” when they mean “siphoning hard-earned money from the public”. Do not be fooled; we are moving backward into a pseudo-slavery situation as a society.
Slavery is a process whereby the people do the work, and the spoils go to the intelligencia and the gentry. In slavery, the keepers of the spoils tell the slaves that all needs have been met, so none should be upset. This is the picture of taxation albeit more extreme. Taxation is a process whereby the people do the work, and a portion of the spoils go to the intelligencia and the gentry. In taxation, the media in conjunction with the intelligencia and gentry tell the public that we have roads, parks, and schools, so none should be upset. How does paying a superintendent 10 times what a teacher makes helping anyone? How does inflating bureaucrats’ salaries artificially while children continue to underperform in reading and mathematics help anyone?
The picture painted by the MCR is not a good one. It reaks of bureaucratic self-aggrandizement and voter ignorance. Get informed, get out, and get voting. Our salaries, lives, and children’s futures depend upon it.
Texans for Medical Freedom
Thursday (2024 October 3) I had the privilege of attending the Texans for Medical Freedom Gala. This was the first of its kind and was every bit as informative as could be expected from an event bearing the TMF insignia. Much to my surprise, the table at which I was seated bore my name. I took this as a great honour, as the work this organization does I believe to be the most important in the State of Texas and maybe even in the nation.
The Gala was held at the Lone Star Flight Museum. It was a beautiful venue and I even decided to go back the every next day with my children that they may experience the exhibits! They had an absolute blast.
For those unaware, TMF fights for parental and familial sovereignty especially where medical decisions are concerned. Medical decisions are not the realm of Government edict. This organization has helped secure the freedom of Texans to choose which vaccines we and our children must, can, and would take. Their policies recognize that each person is different, and due to those genetic differences, different decisions must be made by different people. Our right to make informed decisions with our doctors is of paramount importance.
This work touches my story to its very core. As many know, due to a radical and unconstitutional move made by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, I am foreclosed from making every decision with respect to the health, safety, and well-being of my children. I am named their sole custodian, but in effect, another order has Unconstitutionally deprived me of my privacy interests in the raising of my children. My family is a family who sought political refuge in Texas, and we are grateful for the work people like Jackie Schlegel, who, having never met us, put in for our parenting and privacy rights every single day. She is a true National Treasure.
I have yet to meet someone who truly stands against TMF. When pressed, no one can stand firm against the simple mission of ensuring Government stays out of medical choices. Of course there are persons who have been affected by abuse or neglect, and I do not diminish their plight. However, absent actions that are illegal no matter the victim, no one can name a topic when growing up they would have rather the Government decide than their parent. With the work of TMF it is now punishable in Texas to have a vaccine mandate to gain a benefit from an employer, to become a patient of a medical practice, or enrolled in a school. Vaccine mandate bans are not universal; but they are making their way toward universality in Texas.
The event was well attended, and the speakers were captivating as well as informative. We heard both from persons who have had vaccinations and those who have not; those who have vaccinated their families and those who have not. It was truly an event for free choice and medical privacy. This is all any of us want: the freedom to choose our doctors and make informed decisions without Government interference. No matter what the disorder or the treatment, Parents call the shots!!!
We know ourselves. We know our children. We know our doctors. The Government is an outsider and should not force its way in.
TEA is too Strong
Last month I wrote 2 posts (first, second) about TEA changing the rules for sex ed and parental optionality. My reading and writing have led me to believe there is an issue here that requires addressing. The TEA is far too strong an entity to be run by an unelected bureaucrat. The people’s voice must ring here.
I have begun a mission to change this. It is a matter of administrative rule that the TEA Commissioner be appointed rather than elected. It stands to reason that law can change this. I have drafted a bill proposal that will be sent to my representative. I believe this is the proper process for a citizen to take what he has heard from the many and assign those motives to those few to whom the many have ceded authority.
We will stand by and await a response.