Texas Public Policy Foundation

🗓️Mark your calendars for April 8-10! Our annual Texas Policy Summit represents the tip of the spear in TPPF’s efforts to lead Texas and America towards greater freedom and prosperity. 🎟️Register now to attend in-person or watch our livestream: TexasPolicySummit.com

@TheTexanNews founder @KonniBurton talked with @sylvester1630 about what steps she believes are essential to restore discernment and thoughtful analysis to create a healthier communication environment. texaspolicy.com/multimedia/art…

"Gender affirming care" is just code for surgical procedures and altering kids' hormones.

Federal policy blocks states from collecting data on K–12 students' immigration status, based on Obama era “Dear Colleague” guidance, not law. @TheJusticeDept & @usedgov should end this guidance, just as they did on Obama era policy regarding transgender students in bathrooms.

We are excited to announce that U.S. Border Czar Tom Homan will serve as the keynote speaker during the Friday, April 10th closing lunch of this year's Texas Policy Summit! 🎟️RSVP at TexasPolicySummit.com

It remains unclear why some Texas superintendents are compensated so greatly when their district’s academic performance is subpar. #txlege texaspolicy.com/how-much-did-t…

Harlandale ISD's most recent A – F accountability score was a ‘D’ letter grade. #txlege texaspolicy.com/how-much-did-t…

“A patient came in for a knee injection. He was my neighbor. The office visit lasted about 15 minutes. When the bill came to me, I saw it was for $1,500 per knee. I looked up the cost to me—it was maybe $26 total.” x.com/TPPF/status/20…

As Sunshine Week rolls on we are reminded that when it comes to government, transparency means accountability and accountability means that officials work for you, the people. @SunshineWeek

Even if applications had come to a close yesterday, the launch would have been the most successful school choice rollout in the history of the country. It's an incredible achievement given that it was a program that didn't exist, few parents knew about, whose software was only created a few months ago, and had a vocal opposition in the media and on the left who attempted to mislead and discourage Texans from joining. Now we have two more weeks to make it even more successful. educationfreedom.texas.gov

This morning, TPPF’s Senior Fellow Mandy Drogin is testifying before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government on the harmful impacts of Plyler v. Doe and its effects on America’s schools and students.

The highest paid Texas school superintendent was Harlandale ISD’s, whose pay package totaled $655,737. Harlandale ISD’s student enrollment totaled just 11,114 students and its most recent A – F accountability score was a ‘D’ letter grade. texaspolicy.com/how-much-did-t…

Parents, take control of your children's education with Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFAs). educationfreedom.texas.gov

Incapable of discernment and action alike, Europe orients itself against the American antagonist — the one it knows will never do it real harm — rather than the Iranian one, which it knows will sow death and mayhem against itself given the chance. spectator.com/article/iran-a…

Joshua Treviño: Iran and the crisis of the European mind The crisis of the European strategic mind is laid bare in the most stark terms. Incapable of discernment and action alike, it orients itself against the American antagonist - the one it knows will never do it real harm - rather than the Iranian one, which it knows will sow death and mayhem against itself given the chance.

"The medical needs in rural Texas are great, but so is the opportunity." thecannononline.com/dont-fence-me-…

This is part of a series on rural Texas and the challenges that rural Texans face. Over the next year, the Associated News Service will delve into the issues facing the Lone Star State’s 177 (out of 254) rural counties. thecannononline.com/dont-fence-me-…

DEL RIO, TEXAS—Reggie’s life has revolved around opportunity—seeking it all over America, and eventually creating it for himself, in response to the needs of his neighbors. He’s back in Del Rio now—where he belongs, he says. He runs a medical transport company (staffed by licensed EMTS and paramedics), something many of the elderly South Texas depend upon to see specialists or get treatment in San Antonio, some 150 miles away or in San Angelo, just over 155 miles distant. The business venture allows him to remain in his beloved hometown. It also allows him to serve the community he grew up in. But Del Rio was only home during parts of his childhood. His mother and father had emigrated from Acuña, Mexico. And like so many before them, were lured north by the promise of more jobs and higher wages. “My parents tried to make a life in Chicago,” Reggie said. “My father was doing construction and doing quite well. But he saw lots of downsides to raising children there, or in any larger metro.” The family returned to Del Rio, and Reggie returned to what seems like a typical rural childhood; bicycles and creeks and fishing and impossibly long summer days. “My mother started working as a seamstress at Wrangler, and the summers were our own,” Reggie said. He and his friends would often float down the creek on commandeered inner tubes. After high school, Reggie began college at Minnesota State University, Mankato. He wasn’t ready for the cold. “I had lived in Chicago, so I thought I knew cold,” he said. “I got to school at the beginning of October, and it was already 30 degrees. I was in a coat; everyone else was in shorts. They all said wait ‘til tomorrow. That’s when the snow started. And it stayed until May.” But college didn’t agree with Reggie, he said. He went to work in demolition for a friend’s company, where he was making good money. In 1998, though, Del Rio was hit by a massive flooding when Hurricane Charley stalled over the region, dumping 15 inches of rain in under 12 hours. “I knew I had to go back and see if I could help,” Reggie said. It wouldn’t be the last time Reggie was drawn back to South Texas. He soon had a job at the Alcoa plant, where his bilingual skills were needed. But when Alcoa moved much of its manufacturing to China, Reggie took an EMS class. He knew he had found his calling. He even advanced to paramedic. “I hadn’t done well in college, but my ADHD issues are actually a plus in this field,” Reggie explained. “You’re able to have lots of things going on, all at the same time, and you can handle it. Lots of patients, lots of hazards. So much of the training is hands-on and real-world. It wasn’t just theoretical, and that fit my style of learning.” Those emergency medical skills are very valuable, and at times, drew Reggie away from Del Rio. He was on the medical front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic in California, and he worked in ERs in San Antonio. Yet Del Rio was home. When an EMS colleague wanted to open a medical transport service, Reggie was in—though he intended to only be involved part-time. “Part-time didn’t work out,” Reggie admitted. “Running a business isn’t what I thought it would be. I came on full-time as a paramedic, janitor, administrator, PR, HR and everything else.” And it’s worth all of the sacrifice, he says, to be able to be at home in Del Rio for his family—and for his mental health. “I’ve lived in Chicago, Charlotte and Chattanooga,” he said. “I went through the George Floyd riots, the Summer of Love, and all of that. It’s hard; you lose so much control when you move to the metro areas.” South Texas is home, and his patients are his friends and neighbors. The medical needs in rural Texas are great, but so is the opportunity. “That’s the thing about opportunity,” Reggie said. “You can always make your own.”

"I’ve heard doctors telling medical students not to go into medicine at all,” Dr. Franklin says. “But not me. Give me those same students, and pretty soon I can have them eager to open their own primary care clinics—where they’re needed.” x.com/TPPF/status/20…

Momentum continues to build for the Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFAs), with more than 200,000 applications submitted. Don't miss the final deadline tomorrow, 3/17! educationfreedom.texas.gov

Parents, take control of your children's education with Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFAs). The application deadline is tomorrow, 3/17, at 11:59pm. educationfreedom.texas.gov