Texas Parents Don’t Have True Choice in Education
One of the common arguments we've heard from opponents of parental empowerment goes like this: "Texas parents already have plenty of different options for where to send their kids to school."
Well, we looked at the data, and that is not the case for the vast majority of Texas parents.
Some key stats:
Less than 3% of Texas students successfully transferred districts in the 2018-2019 school year
Only 7% of Texas students are enrolled in a charter school, with nearly 60,000 of them waitlisted annually
Only 10% of Texas high schools have early college programs
With numbers like these, it's no surprise that parents across Texas are demanding more options and control of their children's education.
Inappropriate materials are being found in schools, even in the most conservative areas of Texas. School officials are subjecting students to radical gender ideology and unvetted racist lessons, while attempting to silence parents voicing reasonable concerns. Don’t think any of this could happen in your community? There’s a good chance it already is.
Indoctrination in Schools
To ensure a full and honest debate, we have collected news reports, social media posts, and otherwise public material exposing adult content, race-based lessons, and anti-parent activity going on in schools or being promoted by school officials.
Schools Are Ignoring Parents’ Reasonable Concerns
Parents are turning to activism to force school boards and school officials to take their concerns seriously. The story of two 'accidental activists' in a suburban school district waves the warning flag that if it can happen here, it can happen anywhere.
When parent Jeremy Story confronted the Round Rock ISD school board over troubling allegations about its new nominee for superintendent, the board responded with a series of disrespectful and likely illegal actions to ignore the concerns and limit the rights of parents in the community. Mr. Story recounts his ordeal of the last year and his fight to empower parents and advocate for important reforms.
Over the past two years, some parents were shocked to learn that activists school boards, administrators, and teachers have been subjecting students to controversial subjects and material without parents’ consent. Shannon Braun was elected to the Colleyville ISD school board on a promise to protect students and parents’ rights and has been fighting ever since.
Lauren Hickmott is a former 6th grade teacher from Amarillo. A few years ago she got back into education and began tutoring. Almost immediately she noticed that something was very different from her teaching days. Why weren't kids bringing home their reading assignments? The answers may shock you.
Parents Must Remain Vigilant on School Library Materials
Hillary Hickland is a mother of four who discovered over 100 sexually explicit and age-inappropriate books in every secondary school library of Belton ISD. These books contain narratives and graphics that normalize child sexual abuse, sexual assault, incest, drug abuse and suicide.
When Hillary requested that the books be removed, she was met with a stiff challenge from administrators. Belton’s school board adopted a policy handed to them by the the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB). This policy puts an undue burden on parents by requiring them to:
First discover a book, or a student must first be exposed to a book.
Set up a meeting with the librarian who will attempt to convey the value of having the book among the collection.
Complete a formal request that requires the book be read in its entirety, include quotations, page citations and suggest an alternative.
The decision then goes to a panel of five people, three of whom work for the district, with the majority decision determining whether the book is removed or returned to the shelves. The majority of these books were ultimately returned to circulation.
Belton ISD serves as a cautionary tale when it comes to sexually explicit, adult books available in school libraries.
We encourage parents to get information on books that their child is reading at BookLooks.org.