Latest news with #PublicEducationCommittee
New York Post
19-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Joe Rogan fawns over Texas progressive James Talarico who said ‘there are 6' sexes: ‘You need to run for president'
Democratic Texas state Rep. James Talarico — who once asserted that 'there are six' sexes — left Joe Rogan so impressed Friday that the popular podcast host urged the young lawmaker to 'run for president.' Talarico, 36, earned the comedian's seal of approval near the end of a lengthy 'Joe Rogan Experience' interview where the teacher-turned-politician discussed his Christian faith, Democratic roots and several state and national policy issues. 'You need to run for president,' Rogan told Talarico, who represents the Lone Star State's 50th District. 'We need someone who is actually a good person.' 3 Joe Rogan told Texas state Rep. James Talarico that he should 'run for president.' The Joe Rogan Experience Talarico, a devout Christian who is currently in seminary school, suggested that Rogan should pump the brakes. 'Can I actually push back on that?' the state rep responded. 'We were talking about how politics has become a religion. This is one of the ways it does. People put all their faith in a politician,' Talarico argued. 'I've seen it with Bernie,' he continued, referring to far-left Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). 'I like Bernie a whole lot, but some people treat him as if he's a messianic figure. And Trump on the right, people treat him as a messiah in some ways. 'This is a problem.' 3 Talarico is a devout Christian who is currently in seminary school. The Joe Rogan Experience Talarico raised eyebrows in the Texas statehouse in 2021 when he claimed sex is measured on a 'spectrum,' rather than a binary, in arguing against a measure seeking to ban transgender athletes from competing in girls' K-12 scholastic sports. '[M]odern science obviously recognizes that there are many more than two biological sexes,' the state rep said during a Public Education Committee hearing on the bill. He added: 'In fact, there are six, which honestly … surprised me, too.' Talarico went on to explain that there are 'six really common biological sexes' based on X and Y chromosomes — not just XX (female) and XY (male), but also single X, XXY, XYY and XXXY. 'The point is that biologically speaking, scientifically speaking, sex is a spectrum, and oftentimes can be very ambiguous,' he said. 3 Talarico posed for a photo with colleague Senfronia Thompson before the flew in a private jet from Austin to Washington, DC. Instagram Rogan is an outspoken critic of radical gender ideology and transgender athletes who play in women's sports. 'When you say there's 78 words for gender, I can safely say you're f–king crazy,' Rogan once said on his podcast.
CBS News
12-03-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Debate over school choice in Texas centers around low-income students and those with disabilities
For the first time this session, a Texas House Committee discussed a bill that would spend $1 billion in taxpayer money to send students to private school. At the Texas Capitol, about 325 people registered to speak about House Bill 3, which would set up an education savings account for students. Under the bill, the program would be open to all students, including those in public school and those already in private school. However, low-income students and those with disabilities would be prioritized. Students attending an accredited private school would receive a little over $10,000 a year, while those with disabilities could receive as much as $30,000 a year because of their learning needs. Homeschooled students could receive $2,000. Most Republicans in the House are firmly behind this legislation, saying it gives all Texas parents an additional choice. A relative few Republicans in the House and all Democrats said this program will hurt public schools because when public school students leave for private school, the tax money will follow them. Democrats said they believe at the end of the day, while the program may be geared to low-income and disabled students, students from wealthier families and who are already in private school will be the majority who take advantage of the program. State Representative James Talarico, D-Austin, who sits on the House Public Education Committee, said, "I've looked for a state where a majority of users were low income or weren't already in private school, and I couldn't find a state. So couldn't we in this bill cap the income, meaning millionaires and billionaires can't take advantage of this program?" In response, the Chairman of the Public Education Committee, Representative Brad Buckley, R-Salado, said, "The reality is you need a universal program that gives access and prioritizes the needs of the most vulnerable. In Arizona, for instance, 58% of the families in the program earn less than $80,000. It's just fact." Another part of the debate centered around special education students, specifically whether private schools are better suited to cater to these students. Those who support the legislation, including Laura Colangelo, Executive Director of the Texas Private Schools Association, said there are private schools that only have students with disabilities. "Very often, these schools specialize in these children with learning differences or autism or those other candidates that prevents success at public school come to the private school, get the intensive intervention of getting them back into the public schools with the skills and confidence to make friends," said Colangelo. Opponents of the bill told lawmakers that public schools need more funding and resources to help special education students and those with disabilities. While private schools won't be required to accept students with disabilities and special needs, public schools are still required to do so under federal law. Steven Aleman of the group Disability Rights Texas said, "This is really a luxury we cannot afford given the amount of resources that we know are already documented and should be earmarked for meeting those needs - a greater multiplier effect in terms of our special education system for public schools to use with disabilities." Republicans said this program will be funded by the nearly $24 billion surplus. Public testimony about the bill continued throughout the night on Tuesday. This House committee will likely approve it later this month and send it to the full House. The State Senate already approved its version of the bill.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
COLUMN: A missed opportunity
An opportunity to listen and be heard was missed Friday during the Public Education Town Hall hosted by State Reps. Cody Harris and Brad Buckley. This town hall was supposed to be an opportunity for anyone to come and hear the facts about legislation being considered with regard to the school choice bill and other public education-related bills in the Texas House of Representatives and how it will benefit school districts and families across the state. Buckley serves as chairman of the Public Education Committee and is the author of the proposed legislation. Harris served on the Public Education Committee in the 88th legislative session. The format for the event was for individuals to write down questions on cards. An introduction of Harris and Buckley was followed by a presentation by Buckley of the state legislative information, with Harris and Buckley answering questions afterward. Due to unruly behavior by the crowd, Buckley had a hard time getting through the informative presentation uninterrupted, as people yelled questions and made comments over him. This made it hard for those trying to listen to Buckley hear and understand what he was saying. The presentation lasted around 45 minutes before Harris and Buckley began to answer the questions on the cards. Harris said at three different intervals in the program that if people did not stop yelling out and being disrespectful that they would stop. Both men tried to keep sharing information and answering questions until it was clear the crowd was getting more rowdy and disrespectful. The two men eventually had to leave the stage. The crowd at this event was made up of teachers, administrators, parents, community members and students. I can't imagine any teacher would allow a classroom full of students to behave that way. I can't imagine any administrator would allow a room full of parents to act that way during a presentation of any kind at school. No adult would want to stand on that stage trying to share information while they were being yelled at or booed. Why would you think Harris or Buckley, who took time out of their schedules to drive in from the ongoing legislative session to share important information about laws that are in committee discussions this week, would stay on stage and allow people to yell and boo them? Sadly, we didn't get through the stack of questions Harris and Buckley had begun to address and questions did not get answered and important information did not get heard. Furthermore, what if one of those questions was something that had not been considered on the state level? What if there was a question about something that needed to be addressed this week as the committees begin to focus on and dissect these bills? What if there was a question in that stack that would serve as a turning point in the legislative process that would make a difference? Well, we'll never know because a few of you decided that what you had to say, or more pointedly, what you had to yell out, was more important than that of anyone else in the room. You let your driving need to be heard silence the entire event.
