Perhaps the irony escaped them. Today Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Senate Education Committee Chairman Dan Patrick, R-Houston, held a press conference at a Catholic elementary school in Austin to talk about reforming public education. Now think about that a minute. Two of the most important elected leaders on education in the Texas Senate — […]
Education
Texas has an increasingly diverse public education system with a public school enrollment of more than 5 million. Unfortunately, that public education system is also the target of right-wing extremists seeking to privatize our neighborhood public schools and push a culture-war agenda in the classroom.
To that end, Texas Freedom Network tirelessly fights for Texas public school students at the Capitol — opposing private school voucher legislation, sticking up for students’ freedoms, advocating for truthful, censorship-free lessons and textbooks, and more. We’ve also conducted groundbreaking research into what is taught in classrooms on subjects like sex education and religion.
Resources
- Teach the Truth: Texans United Against Censorship in Education
- Can This Class Be Saved? The ‘Hobby Lobby’ Public School Bible Curriculum (2014 report)
- Reading, Writing & Religion II (2013 report)
- Sex Education in Public Schools: Progress in the Lone Star State (2011 report)
- Just Say Don’t Know: Sex Education in Texas Public Schools (2009 report)
- The State Board of Education: Dragging Texas Schools into the Culture Wars (2008 report)
- Reading Writing & Religion: Teaching the Bible in Texas Public Schools (2006 report)
- Broken Promises II (2001 report)
- Broken Promises: Charter Schools in Texas (2000 report)
More Nonsense from Abstinence-Only Fanatics: ‘Drug-Based Sex Ed’
Abstinence-only activists are increasingly concerned that more and more school districts in Texas are moving to sex education policies that include medically accurate information on condoms and other forms of contraception and STD prevention. Their latest worry: Round Rock Independent School District just north of Austin. The lawyer/lobbyist for Free Market Foundation Liberty Institute Texas […]
Department of Redundancies Department
We’ll give this to him: he’s persistent. On the first day (today) that lawmakers can file bills for the 2013 session of the Texas Legislature, state Rep. Dan Flynn, R-Van, has proposed a bill — House Bill 49 — requiring public high school students to take a course on the U.S. Constitution. Seems reasonable? Of […]
Another Big Setback for the Far Right on Texas State Board of Education
Last night’s State Board of Education elections marked another big step toward an end to the culture wars in Texas public school classrooms. With the defeat of incumbent Charlie Garza, R-El Paso, the state board’s faction of far-right ideologues should be smaller next year than at any time since before the 2006 elections. Zooming out […]
SBOE Election Day 2012
Election day has arrived. Once the polls close in Texas (7 p.m.), we’ll have results from the State Board of Education races here and on Twitter (@TFN). Look for #SBOE2012. Because of redistricting, all 15 SBOE seats are up for grabs tonight. And with several incumbents losing in their party primaries or declining to run […]