Rachel Hale for Texas

The Texas Senate Committee on Education will hear testimony today on the implementation of SB 13, the bill passed last session to address the ongoing problem of age-inappropriate content in our public school libraries. The bill strengthened Texas library standards, including prohibitions on indecent and profane content. For many of us, this advocacy started five years ago this month, after Texas moms in Keller ISD discovered Gender Queer in their kids’ school library. This graphic novel contains pornographic cartoon drawings, sexually explicit content, pedophilic references, and even directs readers to K i n k. com, among other things. In fact, if I posted excerpts from the book here, X would flag my post as adult content because X knows porn when it sees it. Five years later, Gender Queer is still available in some Texas public schools. I recently found it in El Paso ISD, Houston ISD, and Canutillo ISD. I’m sure it is in many more. And, of course, this is just one title. There are even worse books on the shelves. In a recent audit using a sample of school districts from the Senate districts represented by members of the Senate Education Committee, every district I surveyed had sexually explicit, indecent, and/or profane materials available in its high school libraries. Five years later, we have certainly made incremental gains through the passage of HB 900 and SB 13. We should celebrate the progress. But based on my sample, I would argue that many, if not most, Texas public schools still have content available to students that violates the standards the Legislature has worked repeatedly to establish. So today, I hope the Senate Committee on Education asks the most important question: Why? Why, after five years of parents sounding the alarm, two major pieces of legislation, strengthened library standards, and explicit prohibitions on indecent and profane content, are these materials still sitting on the shelves of Texas public school libraries? Why are Texas children still being exposed to pornographic content in their public schools? Today, I expect the lack of consistent implementation and enforcement to be a central concern raised by parents and advocates who have fought for these laws and now expect Texas public schools to follow them. I also expect these same parents and advocates are growing weary of a Legislature that has struggled to solve this problem. I hope they leave today encouraged by an engaged committee with listening ears and a willingness to add teeth to the law next session. I have no doubt this fine committee is growing weary of the noncompliance, too. #txlege #ProtectTexasKids @LtGovTX @DonnaCampbellTX @AngelaPaxtonTX @TeamBettencourt @ElectAHinojosa @PhilKingTX @HagenbuchTX @TanParkerTX @TrueTexasTea @cdfusa @Shalayla4USA @GAWTP @TexasGOP

The "red-green alliance" is alive and well in Texas. We can't let them gain any ground in November. For those who don't know what the "red-green alliance" is, it's cooperation between the progressive left ("red") and Islamist political movements ("green") on far left, anti-American political objectives. Progressive community organizers refer to it as coalition building. Bernie Sanders' Our Revolution has endorsed candidates for statewide office in Texas, including: • Agriculture Commissioner: Clayton Tucker • U.S. Senate: James Talarico • Lieutenant Governor: Vikki Goodwin • Comptroller: Sarah Eckhardt Our Revolution was founded by Democratic socialist Bernie Sanders to advance a progressive political agenda across the country. See their endorsed candidates yourself: ourrevolution.com/our-champi… Most Texans already know where candidates like James Talarico and Sarah Eckhardt stand politically. Clayton Tucker, however, has recently built his campaign around AI data centers—even though the Texas Agriculture Commissioner has no regulatory authority over them. Many have no idea what a far left radical Tucker is. The Agriculture Commissioner has significant responsibilities affecting Texas agriculture, rural communities, and other areas of state government. The role has no regulatory authority over AI data centers, but what the role does oversee would be greatly impacted by the policy positions of a far-left progressive/ Democratic socialist. Tucker is a green-new deal proponent who has a history of supporting solar and wind farms on Texas' agricultural land. Tucker served in a leadership role with Our Revolution Texas for years and founded the Texas Progressive Caucus. He is part of the radical wing of the Texas Democratic Party. Those affiliations and policy agendas provide a broader picture of his political views than his recent campaign messaging on AI data centers. Texans should know exactly who is asking for their vote. #txlege #TexasAg #America250 @natesheetsforTX @ClaytonTuckerTX