By Mike Killalea, NSD president
The GOP leaders of the state of Texas are rolling in contributions aimed at ending public schools by issuing vouchers, continuing to further their goal of shoving private schools and Christian nationalism down Texans’ throats.
Chris Tackett, Substack blogger and a former public school board trustee, tracks Texas campaign finance and the threat of Christian nationalism. Tackett attended the Fight To Save Our Schools event in McKinney on Sept 19. The event was hosted by the McKinney Council of PTAs.
He shared his presentation in three videos. (Please see link for the three short videos and great graphical data on political contributions and more)
Voters, particularly low-info voters, are being swamped by propaganda from multiple PACs and anti-school politicians. The constant onslaught of BS can be persuasive to such folks. Here's Tackett's analysis of skyrocketing donations:
Christian nationalism is another driver of the insidious anti-school movement. Christian nationalism is extremely threatening to our Constitution and the American way of life. America has not always been tolerant – that’s an understatement! Still, the USA is, absent Christian nationalism, lurching in the direction of tolerance.
Here are four Christian-nationalistic bills, all of which became law except SB1515:
· HB900: regulation of library materials sold to or included in public school libraries
· HB2012: display of “In God We Trust” in public school classrooms
· SB763: chaplains in public schools
· SB1515: 10 Commandments in classrooms
Tackett writes that Dan Patrick was really miffed at the failure of SB1515, and jealous that Louisiana beat Texas. Expect it to come before the legislature in the next session.
There’s no question that Christian nationalists wish to shut down public education.
Racism is the third driver for vouchers. As Tackett wrote, the right-wing push away from public education dates to 1954, when SCOTUS unanimously ruled that state-sanctioned segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th amendment. The ruling came in the landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas.
Racists have whined, bemoaned, and developed work arounds to evade the SCOTUS ruling. This goes on today.
We can win this fight. Please vote Blue to save our schools.
As Dr King said, “The Arc of the Moral Universe is Long, But it Bends Toward Justice.”
All images shared by Chris Tackett.
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