Latest news with #TexasAssociationofSchoolBoards
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Chapel Hill ISD superintendent named finalist for Region 7 TASB award
CHAPEL HILL, Texas (KETK) – The Superintendent of the Chapel Hill ISD has been named a Region 7 finalist for the 2025 Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) Superintendent of the Year (SOTY) award. Lamond Dean has been the superintendent of Chapel Hill since 2018 and has spent the past 25 years in education. Dean was a member of the class of 1991 at Chapel Hill High School and attended Tyler Junior College prior to receiving his bachelor's degree from Murray State. Dean later received his principal's certificate and superintendent certification from Texas A&M Texarkana. Texas Rangers Foundation continues to boosts youth sports The SOTY Award was established in 1984 to honor superintendents in public schools across Texas who demonstrate exemplary leadership skills and a strong commitment to student success and community engagement. Nominations for the award began in January when superintendents were nominated by members of their school boards. Following the nomination, the candidates are reviewed by the regional selection committee and one nominee is chosen from each region. 'Mr. Dean's leadership has transformed Chapel Hill ISD into a district focused on innovation, equity, and academic growth,' CHISD School Board President Les Schminkey said. 'We are proud to see his dedication recognized at the regional level.' Elysian Fields ISD announces interim superintendent Finalists from each region will now advance to the next phase where they will be interviewed by the state selection committee. The Superintendent of the Year award will be announced this fall at the txEDCON annual conference. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Fox News
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
One big state needs to stop paying lobbyist salaries
Momentum to eliminate government waste is sweeping the nation — from Washington's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to parallel initiatives in Texas. In that spirit, we recently met to discuss Senate Bill 19 (SB19), which state Senator Mayes Middleton authored, and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick designated a top legislative priority. It would make Texas the first state to ban the use of public funds for lobbying — essential to restore republican principles and defund corrupt, anti-taxpayer special interests. We are a government of the people, by the people and for the people, which makes using the people's money to push special interests untenable. What exactly is taxpayer-funded lobbying? In recent years, Texas has seen a surge of local governments, school districts and associations — such as the Texas Association of School Boards — hiring lobbyists with your tax dollars to wine, dine and entertain legislators in an effort to influence legislation. Under Texas law, "lobbying" refers to registered Austin lobbyists hired or contracted to influence legislation. Despite taxpayers' expectation that government entities act in the public's interest, local governments, school districts and associations regularly hire lobbyists to thwart the will of voters. Your tax dollars are being used to lobby for divisive, left-wing causes. Progressive politicians backed by radicals like billionaire George Soros use hundreds of millions of dollars to try and force their agenda on the Texas legislature to kill common-sense policies and push the state left. For example, taxpayer-funded lobbyists in Texas spend public funds to oppose bans on men entering women's restrooms. Worse still, many unelected bureaucrats and regulators are captured by the very industries they oversee, using tax dollars on lobbyists who entrench oligopolies and crush competition. Unsurprisingly, taxpayer-funded lobbyists also oppose tax relief and instead support increasing sales taxes, gas taxes and raising vehicle registration fees. They've lobbied against common-sense issues such as border security, voter ID, teacher pay raises, election integrity with citizenship verification and parental choice in education. At a time when Texas faces real problems in public safety, infrastructure and essential services, spending upwards of $100 million annually on lobbyists is indefensible. The public overwhelmingly agrees. A recent public opinion poll reveals that 81% of Texans oppose the practice and would prefer that the Texas legislature abolish it. Rather than waste money arming ideological opponents to fight for causes Texans reject, Texas leaders should boldly pursue a better future: investing valuable tax dollars in roads or law enforcement or, better yet, offering Texans tax relief. Crucially, SB19 in no way silences local governments. Local officials can still call, write and testify before the legislature — precisely as our founders intended. Cities, and indeed all local governments, were created to serve the people, and the people are tired of having their voices drowned out by hired guns using their own tax dollars against them. A ban on taxpayer-funded lobbying encourages direct representation and communication. It in no way prevents local elected officials or their staff from communicating with the legislature, traveling to Austin, or incurring related expenses to make their voice heard. Your tax dollars are being used to lobby for divisive, left-wing causes. Progressive politicians backed by radicals like billionaire George Soros use hundreds of millions of dollars to try and force their agenda on the Texas legislature to kill common-sense policies and push the state left. All government is created by the people, who grant it powers to represent us. By funding lobbyists who push agendas voters reject, local governments violate the consent of the governed and break the core principle of representation from which the American and Texas constitutions derive their authority. In effect, entrenched bureaucrats create a self-sustaining cycle of influence that subverts genuine democracy. By continuing to allow public funds to flow into the hands of progressive special interests that undermine the very principles Texans hold dear, we risk eroding the constitutional foundations on which our state and nation were built. As part of this broader struggle, taxpayer-funded lobbying is the USAID of Texas, but the DOGE initiative — including SB19 — aims to defund this egregious waste. By passing SB19, we will strengthen public trust and ensure tax dollars serve Texans' real needs, not the interests of bureaucrats and their hired guns. This session, we hope you will join us in the call to finally ban taxpayer-funded lobbying once and for all. It is time to show the country that government of, by and for the people thrives here in the Lone Star State. Joe Lonsdale is an entrepreneur and investor. He co-founded Palantir Technologies and the venture firm 8VC. He is the chairman of the University of Austin (UATX) and the Cicero Institute, a nationwide policy group.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas lawmaker is targeting publicly funded lobbying. Will restrictions pass this session?
Sen. Mayes Middleton is taking aim at local taxing entities' long-standing ability to hire lobbyists to help them navigate the Texas Legislature. The Republican state senator from Galveston recently filed Senate Bill 19, which would prevent local governments, such as school districts and cities, from hiring lobbyists with public money or paying dues to organizations that lobby on their behalf. "Nearly $70 million per year is spent on taxpayer-funded lobbying," Middleton said in a statement last week. "We don't need an Austin lobbyist middleman between state and local elected officials. We are elected to represent our constituents directly." Cities, school districts and other local jurisdictions in Texas often hire lobbyists to advocate at the Capitol for their interests — which Middleton said contradicts the interests of taxpayers. Additionally, many local governments are members of organizations that hire lobbyists to collectively advocate for the shared interests of their particular sector. Governments usually pay membership dues to the associations in exchange for the services. One such organization is the Texas Association of School Boards, a named target of Middleton's legislation, which drew the ire of some Republican lawmakers last session for its opposition to school vouchers. "Taxpayer-funded lobbying groups, like Texas Association of School Boards, use your school tax dollars to lobby against the bill to stop men from going into girls' restrooms and locker rooms, and invited transgender advocates to train school board members on how to use pronouns," Middleton said in his statement. "Time and time again, we have seen taxpayer-funded lobbyists advocate against Texans and against common sense." Middleton has long sought to end the practice of local taxing entities hiring lobbyists. He filed his first bill on the topic during his first session in the Texas House in 2019, and he has filed similar legislation each session since, including after his election to the Senate. Each of those proposals has died in the House. The movement could see renewed momentum in the 89th Legislature with newly elected Speaker Dustin Burrows at the helm of the House. The bill was also designated as priority legislation this session by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the third-term Republican who presides over the Senate. Burrows, R-Lubbock, has pushed back on local governments in the past, and during the last legislative session he targeted local control with a sweeping bill restricting what cities can regulate. Burrows has been an outspoken critic of organizations representing local governments. He penned an op-ed in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal last year in which he called the Texas Association of School Boards a "gang" and pointed a finger at them for school closures in his district. "This powerful gang is used to getting its way, and has had way too much influence on Texas education policy for decades," Burrows wrote. "Tragically for Texas families, this gang consistently prioritizes the self-serving interests of their adult members ahead of our school children." Burrows suggested his constituents would be better off directly lobbying lawmakers. "I think the people would have a stronger voice in what they really want" if the ban on taxpayer-funded lobbying was passed, Burrows told Lubbock radio host Chad Hasty in October. "There's so much power and influence with these associations and their lobbyists, that are paid with your tax dollars, that really are used to getting their way down there" in Austin, Burrows said, blaming the school boards association for killing the 2023 school finance bill, House Bill 1, which included a voucher program. In a statement to the American-Statesman, the association's spokesperson Sylia Wood likened the proposed lobbying restrictions to censorship, noting that the move could hamstring local school districts' influence over the Legislature. "Efforts to silence the collective voice of school leaders and educators, including the more than 7,000 elected school board trustees, equates to community censorship," Wood said. "Community censorship is bad for local taxpayers and voters because it would limit the ability of education leaders to speak up for what's best for their schools and communities. In addition, efforts to censor school board trustees are part of a larger attack on public education with the goal of undermining local governance. "All industries, issues, and causes have people at the Capitol to make sure their voices are heard. Public schools should not be treated differently," Wood continued. "We ask that lawmakers respect the right of associations to advocate on behalf of their members and the communities they serve." Dax Gonzales, the association's government relations director, told the Statesman in an August story that the Legislature can be difficult for individual school districts and parents to deal with. "The process is not, as it is right now, geared towards individuals having a huge impact on the legislative process," Gonzales said. "It just isn't the process, it's confusing on purpose; it is convoluted, it is designed so that those who know about the process know how to navigate the process." Besides public education advocates, cities are nervous about what such a ban could mean for them. Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said in a January interview with the Statesman that it is "very important" for the city to be able to hire lobbyists because they work to defend voter-approved measures like Project Connect by educating lawmakers on local priorities. Other Texas cities, like Burrows' hometown of Lubbock, could have an even harder time advocating for themselves if they don't have access to Austin lobbyists. With a six-hour drive between the two cities and just one daily direct flight from Lubbock to Austin, officials in the South Plains hub have said it's difficult for them to move at the speed of the Legislature. "The really big cities, they have both on-staff lobbyists — they call them 'intergovernmental relations' — and they have third-party lobbyists," Lubbock City Manager Jarrett Atkinson said in a 2023 interview. "For us up here, it is actually less costly to use the third-party lobbyists than it is to try to do that on our own." This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas bill would end taxpayer-funded lobbying for schools, cities
