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.
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.
Texas Sex Ed is Opt-Out (Continued)
In a previous post, I explained that opt-in for sex ed gives parents more control over what their children are exposed to. I also attached a letter I sent to my school district. Herein, I go through the response from the school district and what I have learned from my due diligence.
I was contacted by the Waxahachie ISD Director of Educational Support & Counseling Services. She called me and after a few days’ long game of phone tag, we connected. She explained to me that opt-in was indeed expired; however, that did not mean a school district could expose children to sex education without a parent’s knowledge. She stayed on the line with me long enough to go into detail regarding what my family could expect from her, from the school district, and from Texas Education Authority.
I did ask directly if she knew what a boy was and what a girl was. She responded well, and she assured me that they teach that males are boys who grow up to be men and females are girls who grow up to be women.
Opt-Out Does not mean Anything Goes
When I heard that sex ed was no longer opt in, I immediately believed some unelected government officials would be tinkering in the background trying to indoctrinate my children into things I did not want. To my relief, I found that there is a more complex legal framework working to ensure parental controls even without opt in sex ed. Apparently, as things stand now in Texas, there are still strict parental notice requirements to which a school district must adhere before engaging in sex ed with any child.
A district must provide a parent with notice of sex ed and that notice must describe what is required under state law and what instruction is provided by the district. This notice must come before the start of a school year. A parent is entitled to a copy of the materials to be furnished by the district and is entitled to withdraw a child from such instruction. Further, the materials must be made available on the district’s webpage wherever such a webpage exists.
Peripherally, if a district provides sex ed beyond what is required by state law, written consent must be obtained from the parent in order to provide instruction to a child regarding prevention of child abuse, family violence, dating violence, and sex trafficking.
In TEA’s own words
The district did, in fact, contact TEA directly to get some answers regarding the legal and administrative landscape. They have provided certain assurances I place before the reader untained: (Citing TEC SS28.004)
Thank you for contacting the Curriculum Standards and Student Support Division at the Texas Education Agency (TEA). Your message has been assigned to me for a response. The Texas Education Code (TEC) §28.004(i-2) establishes that before a student may be provided with human sexuality instruction, a school district must obtain the written consent of the student's parent. A request for written consent under this subsection:
may not be included with any other notification or request for written consent provided to the parent, other than the notice provided under Subsection (i); and
must be provided to the parent not later than the 14th day before the date on which the human sexuality instruction begins.
TEC §28.004(i-3) establishes that the requirement of obtaining written consent (TEC§28.004(i-2)) of the student’s parent before a student can be provided human sexuality instruction expires on August 1, 2024.
Requirements Not Expiring
Please note, the requirement to provide written notice to a parent of each student enrolled in the district of the board of trustee's decision regarding whether the district will provide human sexuality instruction, as established in TEC §28.004(i), is not expiring and will continue beyond August 1, 2024.
Please also note, the requirement to provide written notice (TEC §28.004(q-5)) and obtain written consent (TEC §28.004(q-6)) to provide instruction relating to the prevention of child abuse, family violence, dating violence, and sex trafficking is not expiring and will continue beyond August 1, 2024.
The education code section cited is very long and winds down many convoluted paths. I think what the unelected officials are trying to get across is that districts must notice parents whenever sex ed is near for a child. I think that also they would like us to know that, for certain types of teachings, after notice and affirmative opt in is still required.
In Summation
This is still concerning. Opt in is a 100% failsafe against the wanton changes to instruction our children face when under the education of the state. Since the state has delegated (unconstitutionally) the responsibility of public education to the Texas Education Agency, the rules governing education can change on a bureaucratic whim without the need for our legislators to call session. Opt in stopped sensitive instruction in its tracks and acted as a check on the TEA.
Opt out puts more onus on the parents and gives more control to unelected state bureaucrats. The head of TEA is silent on this, and that, in my estimation, is one of the largest issues parents have to face when placing the care, custody, and control of our children into the hands of the state day after day, year after year. We will remain vigilant, as always.
Texas Sex Ed is Opt Out
On August 1, 2024, Sex Education went from Opt In to Opt Out. this changes makes the process less transparent and easier for the State to control what your children’s culture might include. Please, communicate with your children’s school districts to find out what their policies are and how to opt out of Sex Ed if their policies do not support your cultural values. Here is my letter to my school district.
See: https://texasscorecard.com/video/8-1-24-a-major-change-to-sex-ed-in-texas/