The Latest

Shelby Slawson Announces Run for Speaker, Slams Phelan’s Power Sharing with Democrats
Slawson said the chamber needs a leader that unites Republicans, rather than pitting them against their constituents.

Human Smuggler Sentenced to 15 Years
The case began with an arrest last year in Kinney County.

School Choice Proponents Discuss Future Possibilities in Next Year’s Legislative Session
The primary election has replaced several anti-school choice incumbents with pro-school choice candidates.

Clubs Sexualizing Students in Schools
An agenda of Austin ISD has been to put Gay Straight Alliance Clubs in its middle schools.
The Archive
Why School Choice Must Be Universal
Who knows what's best for children in terms of education? The adults responsible for them - i.e., parents and guardians - or politicians and bureaucrats? I know, this is one of those times when you look at the screen and scoff. "Obviously," you say, indignantly,...
Gone with the Wind?
Texas has received federal subsidies for wind farms since 1992, providing the “green energy” sector with an artificial leg-up against other forms of energy. But with the fiscal cliff in Washington looming, this particular incident of corporate welfare could finally be...
Krause Makes Good on Reform
After drawing the top-seniority rank among the 42 members of the Texas House freshmen class, incoming State Rep. Matt Krause of Arlington put taxpayers first by filing legislation to require zero-based budgeting. During freshman orientation, new members draw numbered...
The Curse of Low Expectations
On Friday, State Rep. Tim Kleinschmidt (R–Lexington) announced his intention to again vote for Rep. Joe Straus as House Speaker this upcoming session, reiterating the tired and debunked rhetoric that the House had a truly conservative session under his watch in 2011....
Failing the Test
While good intentions no doubt drove the imposition of the state’s increasingly heavy-handed testing regimen for schools (well, good intentions, plus a big pay-day for a politically connected, London-based publishing firm), righteous outrage from parents and teachers...
Granting More Electric Car Subsidies
Who needs more roads when you can have more electric-car charging stations? A new federal grant is set to build more charging stations along the I-35 corridor in Central Texas at the same time lawmakers in Texas are voicing concerns about lack of gas tax revenue from...
Spending Money to Make Money in Northside ISD
If complicated equations are your thing, it's likely you'd enjoy the WADA - "weighted average daily attendance" - portion of how Texas does school finance. School districts are understandably less than fond of this calculation, given that it means their state funding...
Broke? Texas school chiefs doing well.
Many economists are warning that we are about to fall into yet another official contraction of the economy. But don’t worry about your almost-sainted it’s-all-for-the-children local public school superintendent. “The average salary for a Texas public school...
Flawed Limit
Despite 94 percent of Republican primary voters and 70 percent of Texas voters demanding a limit on government spending to no more than population and inflation, the Legislative Budget Board today voted to let lawmakers exceed that rate for the 2014-15 budget cycle....