School board members were recently told in a conference to utilize teacher pay raises to apply political pressure on the state legislature over the issue of school choice.
At a conference hosted by the Texas Association of School Boards, Buck Gilcrease—CEO of educational consulting company Moak Casey—reportedly told school board members to withhold teachers’ pay increases this year to pressure lawmakers to advance an anti-school choice agenda. TASB is an organization that engages in taxpayer-funded lobbying.
Dripping Springs Independent School District board member Rob McClellan told the Texas Public Policy Foundation, “Before we got into the meat and potatoes of school finance, the CEO, who I’ve never met before in my life, starts going on a rant… a rant about the failure of school board trustees, the failure of teachers to vote a certain way to persuade the legislature to do certain things.”
He also said Gilcrease “was encouraging us to utilize compensation as a weapon to try to change the way our teachers would vote.”
Further, McClellan stated he, and several other school board members, walked out of the meeting. Describing the idea as “stupidity,” he strongly rejected the proposal to weaponize pay raises against educators.
Though Moak Casey, an educational consulting company, is one of TASB’s top partners, TASB spokesperson Sylvia Wood distanced the company from the association.
“Organizations besides TASB often present at our events and all registrants are notified that the views expressed in presentations and materials offered by non-TASB staff are the views of the presenters only and do not necessarily reflect the views of TASB, its members, officers, directors, or staff,” Wood stated.
Texas Family Project President Brady Gray told Texas Scorecard that “TASB has been instrumental in the degradation of Texas public schools. Their policy guidance and trainings have led to embarrassingly low student performance from most ISD’s, with proficiency rates for 8th graders in reading and mathematics both below 25%. Woke policy and DEI have led to the hiring of perverts and pedophiles, causing harm both to students and good teachers.”
“The practice of holding teachers pay ransom for political purposes is not new,” he continued. “As administrative bloat and poor budgeting has plagued schools, teachers and students have been the ones to pay the price. If Texas is serious about creating a better future for the next generation we must focus on their education. Give parents the ability to choose the best option for their child(ren), remove woke and perverse curriculum and materials, reward good teachers, cut administrative bloat, and budget with longevity in mind, not like there’s no tomorrow.”
Gray concluded by stating clearly that “ISD’s are designed for local control and that’s how they should operate. TASB is a waste and every ISD in the state should end its membership.”
