Overseeing the operations of a school district requires a lot of training, information and expertise. It helps to have the support of experts to deal with the academic demands, fiscal responsibilities and public safety challenges at an ISD.
Since 1949 the nonpartisan Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) has supported school boards as a voluntary, nonprofit, statewide educational association.
But recently nine Republican lawmakers sent a letter to Texas school districts urging them to abandon the association. The conservative state lawmakers are urging local trustees to leave the association, citing the group’s guidance on transgender students and other “woke” polices.
In response the Texas Association of School Boards Executive Director Dan Troxell sent a letter to school board presidents across the state claiming that the lawmakers “grossly misrepresent” the association’s guidance on transgender students.
Nevertheless, two weeks ago in Southlake Texas, Carroll ISD board of trustees voted to cut ties with TASB over its diversity and inclusion policies.
Carroll ISD has been in the news over the last several years for multiple controversies and is facing several federal civil rights investigations for discrimination.
Supporters of public education in Texas claim the attacks on the TASB make up just another front in the effort to undermine public education in Texas.
Also, as TASB fights off criticism for being “too woke” in support of diversity and inclusion it has cut off ties with the National Association of School Boards.
Last May TASB broke off from the national organization over how the Biden Administration was addressing threats to school board members during the worst days of COVID when school board meetings were frequently out of control with anti-mask and anti-vaccination conspiracy supporters.
Guest:
Dax González, Division Director, Governmental Relations Texas Association of School Boards
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*This interview will be recorded on Wednesday April 12.
