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Post by the Scribe on Nov 13, 2022 7:13:31 GMT
You may want to look into the RED STATE MURDER PROBLEM where 8 of the top 10 murder problems by states are RED STATES. You may also want to look into the term PREEMPTION. Republican statehouses have passed a raft of preemption bills to prevent their BLUE cities from raising the minimum wage, strengthening gun control, FIGHTING CRIME, homelessness, and more.
In battleground states, particularly those located in the Sun Belt, Republican politicians have embedded themselves into almost every area of local government policymaking in order to suppress the agendas of blue jurisdictions. To further complicate matters, these metropolitan areas are the economic engines that are driving diverse population growth, jobs, and productivity, not to mention serving as social and entertainment hubs. Conversely, the less inhabited areas of these states are hemorrhaging population and jobs, suffering from a lack of quality education, and serve as the home for residents who are older and Whiter than their urban and suburban counterparts.
But through an astonishingly effective display of gerrymandering, the GOP has not only held onto power, but the party has extended its ability to impose its will on their states' larger and more progressive BLUE jurisdictions.
news.yahoo.com/senate-control-may-come-down-173830362.html?.tsrc=notification-brknews
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Post by the Scribe on Dec 1, 2022 1:42:04 GMT
The above response should be used to answer those redites on social media who claim any and all crime in Red states is because of Dem leaders in their Blue cities. I see that in my western state all the time with the governor putting the kibosh on progressive ideas meant to help city citizens with better pay, benefits, lower crime techniques etc. Yet they force these blue city dwellers to extend the taxes they take from these progressives and send it into rural mostly white conservative districts. At some point this has got to stop.
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Post by the Scribe on Mar 15, 2023 19:00:55 GMT
Texas announces takeover of Houston schools, stirring anger
www.yahoo.com/news/texas-announces-takeover-houston-schools-160929987.html
JUAN A. LOZANO and PAUL J. WEBER
Wed, March 15, 2023 at 9:09 AM MST
HOUSTON (AP) — Texas officials on Wednesday announced a state takeover of Houston's nearly 200,000-student public school district, the eighth-largest in the country, acting on years of threats and angering Democrats who assailed the move as political.
apnews.com/article/takeover-texas-houston-schools-7b1c480c53beb13dc9c814b8138b4639
The announcement, made by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's education commissioner, Mike Morath, amounts to one of the largest school takeovers ever in the U.S. It also deepens a high-stakes rift between Texas' largest city, where Democrats wield control locally and state Republican leaders have sought increasing authority following election fumbles and COVID-19 restrictions.
apnews.com/article/texas-state-elections-houston-4db88098bbf9eff4a1437e64d686cc46
apnews.com/article/texas-lifts-covid-19-mask-mandate-ed7cd1b065a1afd71175f255fb5148aa
In a letter to the Houston Independent School District, Morath said the Texas Education Agency will replace Superintendent Millard House II and the district's elected board of trustees with an appointed board of managers made of residents from within the district's boundaries.
Morath said the board has failed to improve student outcomes while conducting “chaotic board meetings marred by infighting" and violating open meetings act and procurement laws. He accused the district of failing to provide proper special education services and of violating state and federal laws with its approach to supporting students with disabilities.
He cited the seven-year record of poor academic performance at one of the district's roughly 50 high schools, Wheatley High, as well as the poor performance of several other campuses.
"The governing body of a school system bears ultimate responsibility for the outcomes of all students. While the current Board of Trustees has made progress, systemic problems in Houston ISD continue to impact district students," Morath wrote in his six-page letter.
Most of Houston’s school board members have been replaced since the state began making moves toward a takeover in 2019, and House became superintendent in 2021. House and the current school board will remain until the new board of managers is chosen sometime after June 1.
House in a statement pointed to strides made across the district, saying the announcement “does not discount the gains we have made.”
He said his focus now will be on ensuring “a smooth transition without disruption to our core mission of providing an exceptional educational experience for all students.”
Other big cities including Philadelphia, New Orleans and Detroit in recent decades have gone through state takeovers, which are generally viewed as last resorts for underperforming schools and are often met with community backlash. Critics argue that state interventions generally have not led to big improvements.
apnews.com/article/194d37a26d4740bfbccf67f3184867d7
apnews.com/article/63f0acf569b44cac8394bc801fb3df01
Texas started moving to take over the district following allegations of misconduct by school trustees, including inappropriate influencing of vendor contracts, and chronically low academic scores at Wheatley High.
The district sued to block a takeover, but new education laws subsequently passed by the GOP-controlled state Legislature and a January ruling from the Texas Supreme Court cleared the way for the state to seize control.
Schools in Houston are not under mayoral control, unlike in cities such as New York or Chicago, but as expectations of a takeover mounted, the city's Democratic leaders unified in opposition.
Race is also an issue because the overwhelming majority of students in Houston schools are Hispanic or Black. Domingo Morel, a professor of political science and public services at New York University, has studied school takeovers nationwide and said the political dynamics in Texas are similar to where states have intervened elsewhere.
The demographics in Houston, Morel said, are also similar.
“If we just focus on taking over school districts because they underperform, we would have a lot more takeovers,” Morel said. “But that's not what happens."
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Weber reported from Austin, Texas.
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