MANSFIELD—A Texas pastor who has promoted gender mutilation in minors spoke at a Mansfield Independent School District school board meeting in favor of a resolution against Gov. Greg Abbott’s school choice initiative.
One of the items on this week’s agenda was a resolution to “keep public dollars in public education.”
The resolution argues that education savings accounts and other voucher programs “give private schools, not parents, the right to choose” and “eliminate public accountability of schools and tax dollars.”
“Private schools are not required to meet the same academic standards as public schools, and they are not required to report test results, graduation rates, and other performance measures to the public,” the resolution reads.
Notably, state assessment (STAAR) results show that children in Texas public schools are testing below grade level in subjects including reading and math.
However, these results have not stopped anti-school choice groups and activists from lobbying to prevent school choice and voucher programs.
Katie Hays, the lead pastor at Galileo Church in Fort Worth, spoke in favor of the resolution at Mansfield ISD’s school board meeting on Tuesday.
Out here at @mansfieldisd #schoolboard meeting to speak in favor of their resolution to oppose so-called #educationsavingsaccounts. #novouchers #publicmoneypubliceducation @pastors4txkids
— Katie Hays (@katiehhays) September 26, 2023
Recently, Hays and her church came under fire for launching an organization to fund sending minors out of state for cross-sex hormones, puberty blockers, and gender surgeries.
Hays is also a member of the anti-school choice group Pastors for Texas Children.
They also claim there is no wokeness in rural Texas schools and utilize that faulty narrative as an argument against school choice.
To begin her time at the podium, Hays clarified her “preferred” pronouns, then moved on to “thank this school board for years of steadfast commitment to keeping public money in public education.”
Hays told the board members she plans to be in Austin at least a few times in October during the expected special session on school choice.
She said during this time when she is at the Capitol, she is “going to be so glad to be there knowing that my neighbors in Mansfield both need and support strong healthy public schools and that our schools in Mansfield and across the state need all the resources that we as a public citizenry can afford. It is for all of our kids together.”
Hays concluded by once again thanking the school board members for considering the resolution and the district’s “good work in this civic and neighborly public good.”
The Mansfield ISD Board of Trustees passed the resolution “calling on the Texas Legislature to reject any diversion of public dollars to private entities in the form of education savings accounts and similar voucher schemes.”
Several other school districts across the state have passed similar resolutions.
“We live in perverse times when so-called churches are working to corrupt what God in His wisdom has created,” Brady Gray, president of Texas Family Project, told Texas Scorecard. “Lawmakers need to put a stop these schemes and defend Texas kids by providing civil and criminal remedies to parents and relatives.”
MISD school board meetings are held every fourth Tuesday of the month and are open for public comment.
