Commentary roundup: What newspapers around the state are saying
Houston Chronicle
Aug. 8 editorial, "Anti-CRT Republican acknowledges ‘systemic racism’ — and other hopeful signs at SBOE."
During the hearings last week, board member Aicha Davis, a Dallas Democrat, told state Sen. Bryan Hughes, sponsor of SB 3, that his law has already hurt public schools. She questioned whether the Mineola Republican had consulted with teacher groups before writing the bill.
“We always talk about teachers leaving in droves, and this was one of the reasons,” Davis said. “Teachers were literally scared to teach even the TEKS that existed because of this.”
The turn of events during the SBOE hearings last week gave us reason for hope. Among the witnesses, 126 in all, was Hughes himself. He told the board that SB 3 had been misinterpreted.
“That bill is not an attempt to sanitize or to teach our history in any other way than the truth — the good, the bad and the ugly — and those difficult things that we’ve been through and those things we’ve overcome,” Hughes said. “No one is saying that we don’t have systemic racism. But what we’re saying is we’ve made a lot of progress. We have a long way to go. But the way to get there is to come together as Americans.”
— Houston Chronicle Editorial Board
San Antonio Express-News
Aug. 7 editorial, "In this scorching summer, climate deal offers future promise."
Throughout this scorching summer, San Antonians have also been grappling with pain at the pump and surging CPS Energy bills. The connection between sweltering heat and fossil fuels is not lost on us.
This brings us to the climate agreement between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., a deal that is as politically seismic as it is potentially transformative. The agreement would allocate $369 billion to climate and energy proposals, a game changer.
It is also expected to modestly reduce inflation, raise $451 billion in new tax revenue over the span of a decade and lower prescription drug prices. There is a lot to like about the agreement — including boosted funding for the IRS to investigate tax cheats — even though it is not as bold as many Democrats had hoped and was at the mercy of Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. We will take any progress to address climate change and any investment to bolster new technologies.
Here’s what we like about the deal: eliminating the cap on a $7,500 tax credit to spur more Americans to purchase electric vehicles. Billions of dollars in rebates to encourage consumers to purchase energy efficient appliances. Tax credits to develop clean energy sources such as wind and solar, as well as carbon capture technology. Billions of dollars to address climate inequities as low-income communities are far more likely to feel the impacts of climate change.
— San Antonio Express-News Editorial Board
Dallas Morning News
Aug. 9 editorial, "Many Texas hospitals aren’t posting their prices. That’s against the law."
It’s often hard for Americans to know what they will pay for the health care they receive. Depending on the hospital they visit or the insurance plan they have, the same treatment can vary wildly in price.
New state and federal regulations are trying to make those costs more transparent to patients and insurance providers. But despite these new rules, many Texas hospitals aren’t properly disclosing their prices.
That’s a serious problem for Texans seeking cost-effective health care. Hospitals need to be transparent about their prices, and regulators should hold them accountable.
Texas 2036, a nonpartisan think tank, tried to find which Texas hospitals provided the highest-value care to patients. Instead, they discovered much of that data was missing, in violation of state and federal law.
As of April, only 31% percent of hospitals were mostly compliant with price transparency laws, Texas 2036 found. And only 65% of hospitals made their pricing data accessible at all, the researchers found.
— Dallas Morning News Editorial Board
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Aug. 7 editorial, "Fort Worth-area schools beef up security after Uvalde. Next, it's the Legislature's turn."
Uvalde showed in agonizing detail that the best-laid plans are futile if law officers called to the scene fail to act or react in a timely manner.
"Our guys are trained in active shooter scenarios — we're trained to stop the killing," Ramirez said. "You don't wait for somebody else. You become the target."
School safety is an important piece of the puzzle, and we're glad to see districts actively change or add protocols. Legislators have work to do as well, including modest gun law changes such as red-flag laws allowing seizures of weapons by court order and raising the age to buy rifles. Texas' mental health infrastructure and school counseling resources need help, too.
Just after the Uvalde attack, Gov. Greg Abbott instructed the Texas Education Agency and the Texas School Safety Center at Texas State University to work with districts on security measures. Parents may find Texas State's online toolkit useful and informative. Districts were told to do a "summer audit of school safety measures and outside doors."
Parents have a right to ask specific questions about what's been done in their schools and demand more. They should do the same of their elected officials, too.
— Fort Worth Star-Telegram Editorial Board
The Gainesville Daily Register
Aug. 6 editorial, "Our schools need our help."
As you no doubt read on the front page of today’s Register, there is a serious teacher shortage in Gainesville ISD. It’s not just that the district can’t find enough licensed teachers — it can’t find enough substitutes to fill in until it finds enough licensed teachers.
This problem has been coming for years, the result of rural districts like Gainesville, Valley View, Muenster, Sivells Bend, Callisburg and others having to compete with Dallas, Fort Worth, Denton and other districts in the Metroplex that pay much better.
It’s complicated by a state funding formula that punishes school districts for rising property tax collections, plus the Legislature’s obsession with creating new exemptions from local school levies every two years.
The shortage is also endemic of a larger problem in our society. The lockdowns in 2020 — necessitated by the then-mysterious and still-fatal COVID-19 — gave working people an extended break to really think about work-life balance. Many of these folks began to question just much they are worth in the labor market, how long of a commute is reasonable and what kind of life they want at work and at home.
Now, imagine being the superintendent in Gainesville or Muenster or any other district in Cooke County. You can’t compete on wages and teachers are not willing to commute an hour each way anymore to work for you because they like smaller classrooms and quieter towns.
— The Gainesville Daily Register Editorial Board
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin American-Statesman Commentary Roundup: August 14, 2022
