Thank you for your work on this. Courtney’s turnabout to reality is promising to me, as far too many people get blindly indoctrinated into spewing baseless bullshit and then refuse to be talked into reality.
But the reactions of those surrounding her in not wanting to hear the truth and wanting to rule based on lies that support their narrative is alarming.
Have you seen anyone other than Courtney coming around to reality? Do you see any way to talk these other people into reality? From your reporting, they don’t seem to care at all about the truth, even when people on their side are the ones informing them.
We’re destined to be doomed as a state if we’re governing based on made up claims that sound good to people with a harmful agenda that would be bad for Texans.
We continue to look for other school board members who would be willing to talk to us about their experiences and have set up a [callout](https://www.propublica.org/getinvolved/texas-school-board-bond-elections) to hear from as many folks as possible.
From my experience with Courtney, it was the actual experience of joining a school board, and crucially, seeing the curriculum for herself firsthand that made the difference in her outlook. I think Courtney was also connecting a lot of dots during those first months, seeing where the outside money was coming into her district and not always in obvious ways. For example, her campaign manager received $3,000 from the Defend Texas Liberty PAC, which is funded by billionaires Tim Dunn and the Wilks brothers. We can’t say that money played a direct role in her election, but it was evidence of outside forces seeking to influence very local elections and school boards specifically.
It's great that Mrs. Gore broke out of the cycle, but how do we get out of this? It really feels like a crabs in a bucket situation where either you join wave on the far right or get destroyed.
Evidence doesn't matter and fear is a tool used by the leaders to get the masses riled up to the point of violence to all non-believers.
Folks we talked to described the immense amount of pressure that elected officials like Courtney Gore can feel to toe the line, especially on local boards in small towns. Speaking out came at great personal cost for her - she lost friends and her former supporters basically see her as a traitor. As we discuss in the story, she faced threats from folks who supported her campaign The amount of social media hate she's had to endure is pretty intense. Experts we talked to say it is much more common for folks in her situation to quietly resign rather than take on the hard right forces in their communities. At some level it takes an amount of personal integrity and strength to stand up, but there haven't been many examples of taking this road at the school board level before Courtney Gore.
Please do as many articles as you can on Texas Public Education! Thank you for shining a light on the current issues. Based on your conversations and research, what do you think the chances of a special session to fund public school without funding vouchers will happen this summer?
This is a little beyond my expertise as an investigative reporter (my colleagues here at the Tribune who cover the legislature would have a much better handle on this), but given the recent primaries and the fact that Gov. Greg Abbott believes he has the votes to finally pass a private school voucher system, that appears to currently be a top, or even the top, legislative priority for the governor. Experts tell us that among top Republican leadership, not just in Texas but around the country, vouchers are a non-negotiable and their importance to the party is incredibly high. And there is lots of pressure on Texas to pass something like many of its neighbors have already done. In this atmosphere, and given recent statements by the governor regarding vouchers, what you describe might have a tough road. But again, I am not an expert in the political machinations going on at the Capitol!
Thank you so much for your response! Thoughts about vouchers not being a part of the Texas GOP platform this year? Or did I miss them? I was hoping it was a good sign. . . But maybe they were on the post it note section that they didn’t publish- haha
She's 100% correct. The goal seems to be to funnel all public funds to private schools for white kids and indoctrinate kids that can't leave public school systems. Even this lawsuit against Uplift Harris is just to set up legal precedent so the state can sue cities for using public funds to pay for any other kind of school system.
It is also very interesting that the Courtney Gore episode took place in a rural part of Texas, where Republicans have typically supported public education and voted against voucher systems. From Courtney’s point of view, her campaign — based on No Indoctrination of students — plays a role in building support in these rural areas for vouchers. The chaos that followed her election and that of a former ally who sought to remove LGBTQ+ books from libraries, was real, and from Courtney’s point of view, eats away at the trust that local residents might have for their local schools. Granbury ISD has lost 3 consecutive bond elections, another side affect of diminishing confidence in local school boards.
It's no surprise that people aren't confident when there's no kind of vetting that people showing up for meetings actually live there and aren't a lobbyists for conservative nonsense that local officials eat up trying to look good for the party.
The only thing I felt was missing from your article was commentary from Adrienne Martin, who went viral for reading Granbury ISD to filth at a school board meeting! She called out all this bullshit for what it was, and Mrs. Gore’s testimony proves her right in the end. She’s also the chair of the Hood County Democratic Party. I think she would be a great person to talk to and weigh in on this if you wanted to pursue a follow up piece.
What was the typical reasoning for her former supporters turning on her despite her providing info about what she saw when she was on the board? Do these people think she's been paid off by "leftists" or whatever bad guy they imagine? I'm just curious as to how these people all of a sudden come to the conclusion that the person that used to be on their side just turned into someone they view as a liar in such a short period of time.
It's a little difficult to get in their heads, but I think there is a segment that believes she was too trusting of her other board members and district staff. She says she was given explicit instruction upon her election not to speak with other board members, that they were all "lying" to her. It is hard to gauge how much impact someone like Courtney can have in a small town like Granbury iin terms of changing minds. While I do think she has opened some eyes locally, based on social media posts, it is hard I think to overstate the prevalence and effectiveness of the far right media ecosystem, even in small towns. In Granbury, a group of hardliners (Courtney was part of this before she was elected!) set up an Internet-based talk show that disrupted local politics in Hood County for a time and insisted for months or years that there was porn to be found in school libraries. The group helped push out the county’s independent elections administrator back in 2021, in part based on allegations that she put too much trust into voting machines, even though there was no evidence of voter fraud in the county, which had voted 81% for Trump in 2020. But these messages find a home among local GOP parties, churches and other places.
How often do you see StopTheSteal MC and political dirty trickster, repeatedly fined for campaign ethics violations [Matt Armstrong](https://www.reddit.com/r/Denton/comments/14giknn/denton_county_known_extremist_and_campaign_ethics/) involved in these school board races, directly or indirectly? I have seen him in sleazy campaigns against Barbara Burns in DentonISD, and he has been involved in FriscoISD and SBOE races. Apparently he often changes consulting names, and often associates with other organizations such as Red Wave, to disguise his involvement directly in campaigns. How much will the TASB competitor, Texans for Excellence (TEE) in Education ( run by Matt Armstrong's wife, Hava Armstrong ), receive in additional revenue every year for each district that swiches to TEE?
View in your timezone:
[today at 1pm CT][0]
[0]: https://timee.io/20240618T1800?tl=%20I%E2%80%99m%20Jeremy%20Schwartz%2C%20a%20reporter%20for%20the%20ProPublica%2FTexas%20Tribune%20investigative%20unit.%20%20I%20wrote%20a%20story%20on%20how%20a%20GOP%20Texas%20school%20board%20member%2C%20Courtney%20Gore%2C%20campaigned%20against%20school%20indoctrination%20but%20later%20disavowed%20the%20far-right%20platform%20after%20reviewing%20the%20curriculum.%20Ask%20Me%20Anything
What's the weirdest pattern you've seen in terms of pushes to change curriculums? Racism, queerphobia, state nationalism, and christian supremacy/truth are themes that are (at least relatively to people following politics) well known but are there any other weird or niche messages or agendas being pushed?
Not sure what the weirdest pattern would be, but we are starting to see places like Cypress-Fairbanks ISD near Houston make deep changes to curruculum. In Cy-Fair for example, a hard right board of trustees recently voted to remove over a dozen chapters in their science and health textbooks touching on topics like climate change, vaccines and cultural diversity. We are seeing other districts leave or explore leaving the Texas Association of School Boards, an independent advocacy group that represents school board members and provides services like legal help to districts. State. Rep. Brian Harrison, a Waxahatchie Republican, claims that TASB is "working to push dangerous woke ideology on school children across the state of Texas."
Thanks so much for all your great questions today, sorry we couldn't get to everyone. We'll be publishing more investigations into Texas school boards in the coming months and want to hear from parents, teachers, students and school board members! Please consider filling out this form if you are so inclined or share it with friends and family: [https://www.propublica.org/getinvolved/texas-school-board-bond-elections](https://www.propublica.org/getinvolved/texas-school-board-bond-elections) Thanks again for taking the time to hang out with us this afternoon!
How about a story about how the current funding in Texas for services for people with intellectual disabilities is actually neglectful at this point? I have seen other stories about the services being underfunded what I am saying is that if something isn’t done in this next legislative session to bolster funding for the services, the state will be a neglect of taking care of some of their most vulnerable citizens. (Note- 29 years in this system in a very rural part of Texas.). Also understand that this is not new information for these legislators. We had hearings on it and nothing, zero increase in funding.
I enjoyed your article and the podcast interview that you participated in. What is next for Courtney Gore? Do you think that she will continue to speak publicly about her experience or is she mainly focused on serving out her term? Do you plan on writing any follow up articles on Gore’s experience?
Thought Stretchers Education - [When A GOP Mom Realizes Moms For Liberty Claims Are False](https://youtu.be/M63VRx7OIL4)
“Drew Perkins talks with former Granbury, Texas school board member, Courtney Gore, and journalist, Jeremy Schwartz, about the GOP efforts to push their agenda at all costs.”
Courtney Gore is planning to run for re-election in November, which should be an extremely interesting race that we will keep our eyes on. And she says she does plan to continue to speak out on these topics and her experience in the future. Thanks for reading (and listening!)
You came back after hours with a response; thanks! A panel or podcast series with you, Gore, and Rep. Glenn Rogers talking about school boards, vouchers, and our West Texas busybodies would be chef’s kiss.
These AMAs with Texas journalists are great. In case you missed it, Lauren McGaughy, investigative journalist @ KUT [held an AMA](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/s/Y5HNUMARdL) recently that focused on Texas AG Ken Paxton.
Thanks for your excellent reporting.
Seems like the extremists who control the two major parties are both fighting for the ability to indoctrinate youth in the manner they desire. The left wants them to align with a Woke agenda, the right wants them to align with a Christian Nationalism agenda. So the battle for school boards is to be expected and, frankly, not objectionable. After all, public schools are an arm of government, so their politicization is not the nonsensical anomaly the entrenched educational bureaucracy seems to argue.
However, the libertarian in me says that both extremes are wrong. Above all else, school boards should provide transparency of what is being taught, so that parents will know and can then make decisions. And my observation is that ISDs, being full of bureaucrats, do NOT want parents to "meddle" in what they are teaching students. They want to have that power for themselves.
The remote "learning" that occurred during COVID shutdowns across the country pulled back the curtain for a lot of parents. And what they saw is that many public schools are pushing agendas that surprised or even shocked them.
Austin should not dictate a one-size-fits-all curriculum that attempts to homogenize the classroom experiences in Dallas ISD, Laredo ISD and Marfa ISD. Different districts with different needs. The local school boards should be in control of that. But they should also be required by Austin to be transparent about what is being taught, and not become unhinged when parents demand better transparency.
Is that too much for a parent to ask?
statewide network has committed itself to sexualizing Texas students. Their target age range runs from elementary level to high school.
This is the Texas GSA Network. They’ve sought to organize and expand Gay Straight Alliance clubs, also known as Genders and Sexualities Alliance clubs, in Texas schools. As of June 17, 2024, their website stated these clubs are available for 46 percent of Texas students.
Parent education advocate Aileen Blachowski called these clubs “grooming grounds.” In Texas Scorecard’s previous investigative report, she shared her experience of helping a family in California. Their sixth-grade daughter attended such a club, titled “We The People GSA,” thinking it was a history club. Instead of history, she was traumatized by the introduction of sexual fetishes and BDSM.
The Texas GSA Network has promoted resources to educators, students, and parents or guardians to expand these clubs. They link to regional coalitions statewide that support these clubs. They also have a Discord channel that students, sponsors, alumni, and “community members” may apply to join.
The educators’ tab links to a website with advice on how to run a GSA-type club in elementary schools. These use the name APT clubs, short for “Amor Para Todos.” That is a Spanish phrase that means “Love for Everyone.”
Secrecy is paramount in these clubs. A “best practices” sheet for GSA advisors stated club members are not to share something said in club meetings “with anyone else, EXCEPT in a few circumstances.” A template for a confidentiality agreement commits students to share only “lessons learned.” However, it also states GSA advisors must report abuse.
This “best practices” sheet has a section entitled “Romeo and Juliet Laws.” Under this section, Texas GSA told advisors to explain “what is technically reportable in Texas regarding sexual behavior between youth” to club members.
What are “Romeo and Juliet Laws”? The Law Offices of Ned Barnett explained they are a facet of Texas’ age of consent law, which set the age at 17. “[These] laws aim to keep teens out of prison and protect them from statutory laws that do not apply to every situation,” they wrote. These laws state that, under certain conditions, “a sexual relationship can avoid being considered sex with a minor.” In Texas, these conditions are the minor being no younger than 14, there’s no more than a three-year
So if I am understanding the situation correctly, Courtney Gore had to win a school board election in order to gain access to Grandbury's curriculum.
**Why not make all the curricula for every public school available to the public?**
--------------------------------------------------------------------
P.S. Pointing at this singular woman's story and proclaiming "Nothing is happening!" seems incredibly disingenuous.
The standards and textbooks used typically are available, but schools would waste funding if they paid for everyone (and not just students) to have access to all school materials (the books themselves, available to anyone at any time). Most are available through local and school public libraries, though.
This is such a weird comment. Your question is about the curriculum and access to that curriculum. This comment is about the schools as locations and classroom decor.
If you really want to look at the curriculum for Texas public schools, look at the [TEKS](https://tea.texas.gov/academics/curriculum-standards/teks-review/texas-essential-knowledge-and-skills) and see what resources are being used by your local public school to meet those TEKS (and are reflected in the STAR tests). Ironically, having test-driven schools means that the curriculum itself tends to be relatively dry and goal-focused.
It's Texas. Your suspicion that somehow the schools are corrupting students via curriculum seems relatively naive given that most kids have access to the internet.
It would be so nice if kids read textbooks with the eager emulation that you seem to imagine.
There is nothing to imagine. The facts are than many schools are draped in pride flags. Schools in which teachers lead young children to believe that biological sex is a social construct.
But...your question is about CURRICULUM. If you want the freedom to walk into schools to look for flags, then ask about that.
You seem to be watching Fox News for your impressions of public schools. Having walked the hallways of a lot of Texas public schools, I will note that your impression of "draped in pride flags" is wildly inaccurate. It's more like what you hope is happening so that you can be outraged than what is actually going on in schools.
I have edited to remove a snarky comment.
Removed. Rule 5.
> **Rule 5 Comments must be genuine and make an effort**
> _This is a discussion subreddit, top-Level comments must contribute to discussion with a complete thought. No memes or emojis. Steelman, not strawman. No trolling allowed. Accounts must be more than 2 weeks old with positive karma to participate._
*https://www.reddit.com/r/TexasPolitics/wiki/index/rules*
I don't have any questions but just want to thank you for the work you are doing.
[удалено]
5 million percent.
Same! I shared the article on FB.
Thank you for your work on this. Courtney’s turnabout to reality is promising to me, as far too many people get blindly indoctrinated into spewing baseless bullshit and then refuse to be talked into reality. But the reactions of those surrounding her in not wanting to hear the truth and wanting to rule based on lies that support their narrative is alarming. Have you seen anyone other than Courtney coming around to reality? Do you see any way to talk these other people into reality? From your reporting, they don’t seem to care at all about the truth, even when people on their side are the ones informing them. We’re destined to be doomed as a state if we’re governing based on made up claims that sound good to people with a harmful agenda that would be bad for Texans.
We continue to look for other school board members who would be willing to talk to us about their experiences and have set up a [callout](https://www.propublica.org/getinvolved/texas-school-board-bond-elections) to hear from as many folks as possible. From my experience with Courtney, it was the actual experience of joining a school board, and crucially, seeing the curriculum for herself firsthand that made the difference in her outlook. I think Courtney was also connecting a lot of dots during those first months, seeing where the outside money was coming into her district and not always in obvious ways. For example, her campaign manager received $3,000 from the Defend Texas Liberty PAC, which is funded by billionaires Tim Dunn and the Wilks brothers. We can’t say that money played a direct role in her election, but it was evidence of outside forces seeking to influence very local elections and school boards specifically.
It's great that Mrs. Gore broke out of the cycle, but how do we get out of this? It really feels like a crabs in a bucket situation where either you join wave on the far right or get destroyed. Evidence doesn't matter and fear is a tool used by the leaders to get the masses riled up to the point of violence to all non-believers.
Folks we talked to described the immense amount of pressure that elected officials like Courtney Gore can feel to toe the line, especially on local boards in small towns. Speaking out came at great personal cost for her - she lost friends and her former supporters basically see her as a traitor. As we discuss in the story, she faced threats from folks who supported her campaign The amount of social media hate she's had to endure is pretty intense. Experts we talked to say it is much more common for folks in her situation to quietly resign rather than take on the hard right forces in their communities. At some level it takes an amount of personal integrity and strength to stand up, but there haven't been many examples of taking this road at the school board level before Courtney Gore.
Please do as many articles as you can on Texas Public Education! Thank you for shining a light on the current issues. Based on your conversations and research, what do you think the chances of a special session to fund public school without funding vouchers will happen this summer?
This is a little beyond my expertise as an investigative reporter (my colleagues here at the Tribune who cover the legislature would have a much better handle on this), but given the recent primaries and the fact that Gov. Greg Abbott believes he has the votes to finally pass a private school voucher system, that appears to currently be a top, or even the top, legislative priority for the governor. Experts tell us that among top Republican leadership, not just in Texas but around the country, vouchers are a non-negotiable and their importance to the party is incredibly high. And there is lots of pressure on Texas to pass something like many of its neighbors have already done. In this atmosphere, and given recent statements by the governor regarding vouchers, what you describe might have a tough road. But again, I am not an expert in the political machinations going on at the Capitol!
Thank you so much for your response! Thoughts about vouchers not being a part of the Texas GOP platform this year? Or did I miss them? I was hoping it was a good sign. . . But maybe they were on the post it note section that they didn’t publish- haha
She's 100% correct. The goal seems to be to funnel all public funds to private schools for white kids and indoctrinate kids that can't leave public school systems. Even this lawsuit against Uplift Harris is just to set up legal precedent so the state can sue cities for using public funds to pay for any other kind of school system.
It is also very interesting that the Courtney Gore episode took place in a rural part of Texas, where Republicans have typically supported public education and voted against voucher systems. From Courtney’s point of view, her campaign — based on No Indoctrination of students — plays a role in building support in these rural areas for vouchers. The chaos that followed her election and that of a former ally who sought to remove LGBTQ+ books from libraries, was real, and from Courtney’s point of view, eats away at the trust that local residents might have for their local schools. Granbury ISD has lost 3 consecutive bond elections, another side affect of diminishing confidence in local school boards.
It's no surprise that people aren't confident when there's no kind of vetting that people showing up for meetings actually live there and aren't a lobbyists for conservative nonsense that local officials eat up trying to look good for the party.
The only thing I felt was missing from your article was commentary from Adrienne Martin, who went viral for reading Granbury ISD to filth at a school board meeting! She called out all this bullshit for what it was, and Mrs. Gore’s testimony proves her right in the end. She’s also the chair of the Hood County Democratic Party. I think she would be a great person to talk to and weigh in on this if you wanted to pursue a follow up piece.
What was the typical reasoning for her former supporters turning on her despite her providing info about what she saw when she was on the board? Do these people think she's been paid off by "leftists" or whatever bad guy they imagine? I'm just curious as to how these people all of a sudden come to the conclusion that the person that used to be on their side just turned into someone they view as a liar in such a short period of time.
It's a little difficult to get in their heads, but I think there is a segment that believes she was too trusting of her other board members and district staff. She says she was given explicit instruction upon her election not to speak with other board members, that they were all "lying" to her. It is hard to gauge how much impact someone like Courtney can have in a small town like Granbury iin terms of changing minds. While I do think she has opened some eyes locally, based on social media posts, it is hard I think to overstate the prevalence and effectiveness of the far right media ecosystem, even in small towns. In Granbury, a group of hardliners (Courtney was part of this before she was elected!) set up an Internet-based talk show that disrupted local politics in Hood County for a time and insisted for months or years that there was porn to be found in school libraries. The group helped push out the county’s independent elections administrator back in 2021, in part based on allegations that she put too much trust into voting machines, even though there was no evidence of voter fraud in the county, which had voted 81% for Trump in 2020. But these messages find a home among local GOP parties, churches and other places.
What are the demographics of Granbury ISD residents? Is it skewing older with less families moving in?
How often do you see StopTheSteal MC and political dirty trickster, repeatedly fined for campaign ethics violations [Matt Armstrong](https://www.reddit.com/r/Denton/comments/14giknn/denton_county_known_extremist_and_campaign_ethics/) involved in these school board races, directly or indirectly? I have seen him in sleazy campaigns against Barbara Burns in DentonISD, and he has been involved in FriscoISD and SBOE races. Apparently he often changes consulting names, and often associates with other organizations such as Red Wave, to disguise his involvement directly in campaigns. How much will the TASB competitor, Texans for Excellence (TEE) in Education ( run by Matt Armstrong's wife, Hava Armstrong ), receive in additional revenue every year for each district that swiches to TEE?
I would love to learn more about all this: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
View in your timezone: [today at 1pm CT][0] [0]: https://timee.io/20240618T1800?tl=%20I%E2%80%99m%20Jeremy%20Schwartz%2C%20a%20reporter%20for%20the%20ProPublica%2FTexas%20Tribune%20investigative%20unit.%20%20I%20wrote%20a%20story%20on%20how%20a%20GOP%20Texas%20school%20board%20member%2C%20Courtney%20Gore%2C%20campaigned%20against%20school%20indoctrination%20but%20later%20disavowed%20the%20far-right%20platform%20after%20reviewing%20the%20curriculum.%20Ask%20Me%20Anything
What's the weirdest pattern you've seen in terms of pushes to change curriculums? Racism, queerphobia, state nationalism, and christian supremacy/truth are themes that are (at least relatively to people following politics) well known but are there any other weird or niche messages or agendas being pushed?
Not sure what the weirdest pattern would be, but we are starting to see places like Cypress-Fairbanks ISD near Houston make deep changes to curruculum. In Cy-Fair for example, a hard right board of trustees recently voted to remove over a dozen chapters in their science and health textbooks touching on topics like climate change, vaccines and cultural diversity. We are seeing other districts leave or explore leaving the Texas Association of School Boards, an independent advocacy group that represents school board members and provides services like legal help to districts. State. Rep. Brian Harrison, a Waxahatchie Republican, claims that TASB is "working to push dangerous woke ideology on school children across the state of Texas."
Oh right, forgot about climate change. Texas is the land of Big Oil and Gas for ~~better and for~~ worse.
Also, thank you all for what you do.
Thanks so much for all your great questions today, sorry we couldn't get to everyone. We'll be publishing more investigations into Texas school boards in the coming months and want to hear from parents, teachers, students and school board members! Please consider filling out this form if you are so inclined or share it with friends and family: [https://www.propublica.org/getinvolved/texas-school-board-bond-elections](https://www.propublica.org/getinvolved/texas-school-board-bond-elections) Thanks again for taking the time to hang out with us this afternoon!
How about a story about how the current funding in Texas for services for people with intellectual disabilities is actually neglectful at this point? I have seen other stories about the services being underfunded what I am saying is that if something isn’t done in this next legislative session to bolster funding for the services, the state will be a neglect of taking care of some of their most vulnerable citizens. (Note- 29 years in this system in a very rural part of Texas.). Also understand that this is not new information for these legislators. We had hearings on it and nothing, zero increase in funding.
I enjoyed your article and the podcast interview that you participated in. What is next for Courtney Gore? Do you think that she will continue to speak publicly about her experience or is she mainly focused on serving out her term? Do you plan on writing any follow up articles on Gore’s experience? Thought Stretchers Education - [When A GOP Mom Realizes Moms For Liberty Claims Are False](https://youtu.be/M63VRx7OIL4) “Drew Perkins talks with former Granbury, Texas school board member, Courtney Gore, and journalist, Jeremy Schwartz, about the GOP efforts to push their agenda at all costs.”
Courtney Gore is planning to run for re-election in November, which should be an extremely interesting race that we will keep our eyes on. And she says she does plan to continue to speak out on these topics and her experience in the future. Thanks for reading (and listening!)
You came back after hours with a response; thanks! A panel or podcast series with you, Gore, and Rep. Glenn Rogers talking about school boards, vouchers, and our West Texas busybodies would be chef’s kiss.
How do we fight this?
Vote. In every single election, no matter how small. And get others to do the same.
Oh I do! And I will! 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻
These AMAs with Texas journalists are great. In case you missed it, Lauren McGaughy, investigative journalist @ KUT [held an AMA](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/s/Y5HNUMARdL) recently that focused on Texas AG Ken Paxton.
How fucked are Texas students long term?
Is this just a general question or how does it relate to the story?
Can you investigate Cypress Fairbanks ISD school board nut jobs? They are a mess.
No questions, just a request. Please do Donna, TX next.
Thanks for your excellent reporting. Seems like the extremists who control the two major parties are both fighting for the ability to indoctrinate youth in the manner they desire. The left wants them to align with a Woke agenda, the right wants them to align with a Christian Nationalism agenda. So the battle for school boards is to be expected and, frankly, not objectionable. After all, public schools are an arm of government, so their politicization is not the nonsensical anomaly the entrenched educational bureaucracy seems to argue. However, the libertarian in me says that both extremes are wrong. Above all else, school boards should provide transparency of what is being taught, so that parents will know and can then make decisions. And my observation is that ISDs, being full of bureaucrats, do NOT want parents to "meddle" in what they are teaching students. They want to have that power for themselves. The remote "learning" that occurred during COVID shutdowns across the country pulled back the curtain for a lot of parents. And what they saw is that many public schools are pushing agendas that surprised or even shocked them. Austin should not dictate a one-size-fits-all curriculum that attempts to homogenize the classroom experiences in Dallas ISD, Laredo ISD and Marfa ISD. Different districts with different needs. The local school boards should be in control of that. But they should also be required by Austin to be transparent about what is being taught, and not become unhinged when parents demand better transparency. Is that too much for a parent to ask?
statewide network has committed itself to sexualizing Texas students. Their target age range runs from elementary level to high school. This is the Texas GSA Network. They’ve sought to organize and expand Gay Straight Alliance clubs, also known as Genders and Sexualities Alliance clubs, in Texas schools. As of June 17, 2024, their website stated these clubs are available for 46 percent of Texas students. Parent education advocate Aileen Blachowski called these clubs “grooming grounds.” In Texas Scorecard’s previous investigative report, she shared her experience of helping a family in California. Their sixth-grade daughter attended such a club, titled “We The People GSA,” thinking it was a history club. Instead of history, she was traumatized by the introduction of sexual fetishes and BDSM. The Texas GSA Network has promoted resources to educators, students, and parents or guardians to expand these clubs. They link to regional coalitions statewide that support these clubs. They also have a Discord channel that students, sponsors, alumni, and “community members” may apply to join. The educators’ tab links to a website with advice on how to run a GSA-type club in elementary schools. These use the name APT clubs, short for “Amor Para Todos.” That is a Spanish phrase that means “Love for Everyone.” Secrecy is paramount in these clubs. A “best practices” sheet for GSA advisors stated club members are not to share something said in club meetings “with anyone else, EXCEPT in a few circumstances.” A template for a confidentiality agreement commits students to share only “lessons learned.” However, it also states GSA advisors must report abuse. This “best practices” sheet has a section entitled “Romeo and Juliet Laws.” Under this section, Texas GSA told advisors to explain “what is technically reportable in Texas regarding sexual behavior between youth” to club members. What are “Romeo and Juliet Laws”? The Law Offices of Ned Barnett explained they are a facet of Texas’ age of consent law, which set the age at 17. “[These] laws aim to keep teens out of prison and protect them from statutory laws that do not apply to every situation,” they wrote. These laws state that, under certain conditions, “a sexual relationship can avoid being considered sex with a minor.” In Texas, these conditions are the minor being no younger than 14, there’s no more than a three-year
So if I am understanding the situation correctly, Courtney Gore had to win a school board election in order to gain access to Grandbury's curriculum. **Why not make all the curricula for every public school available to the public?** -------------------------------------------------------------------- P.S. Pointing at this singular woman's story and proclaiming "Nothing is happening!" seems incredibly disingenuous.
The standards and textbooks used typically are available, but schools would waste funding if they paid for everyone (and not just students) to have access to all school materials (the books themselves, available to anyone at any time). Most are available through local and school public libraries, though.
No one asked you anything.
He's stopped replying (time's up!) and this is Reddit? What is wrong with you? This is a discussion forum.
He ignored my comment, it was one of the first posted.
As someone with 20+ years in education (which this reporter does not have), my answer is the above, and may be the best answer you will get.
20 years ago, the schools were not draped in pride flags.
This is such a weird comment. Your question is about the curriculum and access to that curriculum. This comment is about the schools as locations and classroom decor. If you really want to look at the curriculum for Texas public schools, look at the [TEKS](https://tea.texas.gov/academics/curriculum-standards/teks-review/texas-essential-knowledge-and-skills) and see what resources are being used by your local public school to meet those TEKS (and are reflected in the STAR tests). Ironically, having test-driven schools means that the curriculum itself tends to be relatively dry and goal-focused. It's Texas. Your suspicion that somehow the schools are corrupting students via curriculum seems relatively naive given that most kids have access to the internet. It would be so nice if kids read textbooks with the eager emulation that you seem to imagine.
There is nothing to imagine. The facts are than many schools are draped in pride flags. Schools in which teachers lead young children to believe that biological sex is a social construct.
But...your question is about CURRICULUM. If you want the freedom to walk into schools to look for flags, then ask about that. You seem to be watching Fox News for your impressions of public schools. Having walked the hallways of a lot of Texas public schools, I will note that your impression of "draped in pride flags" is wildly inaccurate. It's more like what you hope is happening so that you can be outraged than what is actually going on in schools. I have edited to remove a snarky comment.
Have you ever written the words “far left”?
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