What a shocker, right? If you’re in education, you know salaries are terrible for teachers:

The average salary of Texas public school teachers has stayed virtually unchanged over the last decade when adjusted for inflation while the average pay for new teachers decreased slightly, according to a new study by a nonprofit policy institute and a statewide teacher’s union. Source: April 13, 2022, Houston Chronicle

And, instead of focusing on improving the lot of teachers and students, Texas government (Gov. Abbott and company) decided to…

Yesterday the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decided in favor of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a lawsuit over HB 20, a bizarre law effectively banning many apps and websites from moderating posts by Texas residents. The court granted Paxton a stay on an earlier ruling to block the law, letting HB 20 go into effect immediately while the rest of the case proceeds. The decision was handed down without explanation. (Source: 5/13/2022, The Verge)

And…

Under Abbott’s plan, private schools will have the choice to receive tax money siphoned away from public schools, but they also have the prerogative of excluding any students they don’t feel like admitting. The big lie at the heart of all this is Abbott’s contention that he wants to fully fund public education; that he simply intends to let education dollars follow the student.

“Every school will continue to be fully funded on a per-student allocation, based upon the number of students who go to that particular school,” Abbott said. (Source: 5/12/2022, The Express News)

And

“Children are our most vulnerable, precious Texans and deserve to be put first. Yet, President Biden has turned a blind eye to parents across America who are facing the nightmare of a nationwide baby formula shortage. While mothers and fathers stare at empty grocery store shelves in a panic, the Biden Administration is happy to provide baby formula to illegal immigrants coming across our southern border. This is yet another one in a long line of reckless, out-of-touch priorities (Source: 5/12/22, Border Report)

Of course, this is all clearly politics. The politics of destruction, of the bizarro world we’ve ended up with as Republicans forsake their sacred duties. Those sacred duties include keeping the platform stable as the rest of us work to keep society moving forward.

“Educators who provide pornographic material will lose their educational credentials, forfeit their retirement benefits and be placed on a do-not-hire-list.”

Part of Abbott’s pledge is to keep fully funding schools while empowering parents who support his policies banning mask mandates on campus, letting parents choose when their students return to the classroom during COVID-19 and banning “critical race theory” in Texas schools.Source: San Antonio Express News

With these headline making announcements and quotes, it’s clear Abbot isn’t governing. Instead, he’s pontificating, threatening children and teachers. For what gain? If the Texas government wants to destroy public education, they’ve done a darn good job already.