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John Fetterman celebrates 1 million individual donations ahead of return to campaign trail
August 08, 2022
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman announced Friday that his U.S. Senate campaign has received one million individual donations, highlighting the progressive candidate's strong grassroots support.
Fetterman posted a video of himself and his family thanking his supporters for their contributions, which totaled a record-breaking $11 million in the second quarter of 2022 and which averaged less than $30 per donation.
"The total number of contributions is a major milestone that demonstrates Fetterman's unmatched and steady grassroots support across the commonwealth," said the campaign in a statement.
The campaign marked the milestone as it announced Fetterman will hold his first public event since he suffered a stroke in May, with a rally planned for next Friday, August 12.
Fetterman will address supporters in Erie, which he said is in the state's "most important bellwether county."
The lieutenant governor won Erie County by more than 65% of the vote in the primary, which took place just days after his stroke. Former President Donald Trump won the county in 2016 and President Joe Biden won it in 2020.
"Before the 2020 election, I said that if I could know one single fact about the results, I could tell you who was going to win Pennsylvania. Whoever wins Erie County will win Pennsylvania," Fetterman said Friday. "I've visited Erie dozens and dozens of times in the past, and I am honored and proud to be returning to the campaign trail here."
Fetterman is facing Republican nominee Mehmet Oz, a celebrity doctor, in the general election.
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Texas Republicans are trying to sell school choice measures, but rural conservatives aren’t buying
August 08, 2022
By Brian Lopez, The Texas Tribune
Aug. 8, 2022
As a Texas school superintendent, Adrain Johnson is no stranger to the struggles small, rural public schools face, from trying to recruit teachers, especially after more than two years of navigating school during a global pandemic, to a general lack of resources. And now, after the school shooting in Uvalde, there’s a renewed conversation about campus security.
With so many problems to solve, Johnson, who oversees the Hearne Independent School District northwest of College Station, doesn’t understand why state lawmakers’ to-do lists heading into next year’s legislative session seem to focus more on school choice over something like school safety.
“There always seems to be a school choice debate every legislative year, and I’m not afraid of that. I think that debating is good. That’s part of democracy,” Johnson said.
But he also wonders why public schools always take a back seat to the pursuit of policies that could diminish them.
“Why not make it imperative to support the local school district?” he said.
Instead, from where he stands, the talk in Austin is already focused on school choice, the broad term applied to a host of taxpayer-funded alternatives to sending a child to the local public school.
[With rural Texas watching, Greg Abbott and Beto O’Rourke dig in on school vouchers fight]
Although the Texas Legislature doesn’t meet for another five months, Gov. Greg Abbott has voiced support for public school alternatives. Abbott has said he supports parents’ “choice to send their children to any public school, charter school or private school with state funding following the student.” And Democrat Beto O’Rourke, who will face off against Abbott in November, has also joined the debate, running ads asking people to “reject Greg Abbott’s radical plan to defund” public schools.
The Republican Party of Texas has listed school choice as a legislative priority, and pro-school choice groups like the Texas Private Schools Association and the Texas Public Policy Foundation will also push for school choice legislation.
But in the northeastern corner of the state, Rep. Gary VanDeaver, a Republican whose district includes 30 rural school districts, is still unconvinced. He was one of several lawmakers who helped kill school choice legislation in 2017. He said one of the concerns he’s hearing from parents is that they’re paying property taxes, which fund public schools, but have opted for either home schooling or sending their kids to private school.
“I prefer to reduce their property taxes, so they have the option of spending that money any way they choose, whether it be alternative education choices, saving for college or purchasing a new car,” VanDeaver said.
Texas has passed some school choice measures. VanDeaver points to the approval of the state’s charter school system in the 1990s and giving students in low-performing schools the ability to transfer out of a district.
“Proponents of expanding school choice options often say the money should follow the student,” VanDeaver said. “Current Texas law already does that if a student transfers to another public school, including a charter school.”
From his vantage point, VanDeaver has good reason to be concerned. In smaller Texas cities and towns, there’s far less “choice” for rural students. Outside of large metro areas, private schools are few and far between. Many rural private schools have religious affiliations. And VanDeaver has been informed that the religious private schools in his area are uninterested in public money. He also worries about the damage to the local public school district a voucher program could cause.
“This sense of community is what makes Texas great, and I would hate to see anything like a voucher program destroy this community spirit,” he said.
Conservative efforts to pass school choice measures have failed largely because there are few private schools or charter schools as alternatives outside the state’s larger urban areas. Also, the public school systems are a large economic and employment driver for most small towns.
In Texas, schools are funded based on the number of students enrolled and the daily attendance on campus. Schools receive a base allotment of $6,160 per student each year. Texas is also home to more rural students than any other state, and its schools are funded through property taxes.
Proponents say more school choice options help lower-income families afford better education. Opponents believe school choice policies weaken the public education system because they can result in public school dollars going to private schools, which are largely unregulated and therefore unaccountable.
In addition to vouchers, lawmakers could consider education savings accounts, or ESAs, where the state places taxpayer dollars into accounts for families to be used for educational expenses such as private school tuition. But the funds can be also used for tutoring, online classes and even higher education expenses.
Then there are tax credit scholarships, which allow individuals or businesses to receive full or partial tax credits when they donate to scholarship funds that are then awarded to families to enroll in private schools.
Laura Colangelo, executive director of the Texas Private Schools Association, said either a tax credit or an ESA option would work well for Texas. Her organization is against a voucher policy.
“We’re about 20 years behind, and so I do think there are a lot of things that we could do to improve options — education options — for parents and kids in Texas,” Colangelo said.
But the struggle, again, will be convincing rural lawmakers that school choice is the way to go.
State Rep. Drew Darby of San Angelo told The Texas Tribune last week that he would oppose anything that would take away resources from Texas’ public schools.
Bill Tarleton, executive director of the Texas Rural Education Association, worries that private schools won’t allow for the same transparency and accountability because they don’t have elected school boards. He also questions whether any school choice legislation would really benefit all students because private schools can pick and choose whom they accept.
“Public schools are the only ones that have to educate all students,” Tarleton said.
VanDeaver said he’s not one to shut the door on any policy and looks forward to the debate next session. He wants to see a better accountability system created for private schools receiving the money.
“As conservatives, we expect it from our public schools,” he said. “We need to know that we’re getting bang for our buck for every educational dollar, wherever it’s spent.”
Disclosure: The Texas Private Schools Association and the Texas Public Policy Foundation have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
When you join us at The Texas Tribune Festival Sept. 22-24 in downtown Austin, you’ll hear from changemakers who are driving innovation, lawmakers who are taking charge with new policies, industry leaders who are pushing Texas forward and so many others. See the growing speaker list and buy tickets.
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2022/08/08/texas-school-choice-legislation/.
The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.
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“This is horrific,” New York City mayor says of Greg Abbott’s policy as second busload of migrants from Texas arrives
August 08, 2022
By Sneha Dey, The Texas Tribune
Aug. 7, 2022
When a second busload of migrants arrived in New York City from the Texas border on Sunday, Mayor Eric Adams was there to greet them — and again slam Gov. Greg Abbott for the move.
“This is horrific, when you think about what the governor is doing,” Adams said at the Port Authority bus terminal, where 14 migrants were dropped off early Sunday morning, Politico reported.
Officials had expected 40 people to be on the bus, but Adams said some migrants appear to have gotten off at other stops along the route. Adams said some migrants were forced onto the bus, including families who wanted to go to locations other than New York, according to Politico.
Since April, Abbott has been sending newly arrived migrants to Democratic-leaning cities on the East Coast to put pressure on the Biden administration to secure the southwest border. More than 6,000 migrants have arrived in Washington, D.C., from Texas, prompting Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser to ask the U.S. Department of Defense to deploy the National Guard to help with the migrants. CNN reported Friday morning that the Pentagon has denied Bowser’s request.
On Friday, Abbott announced that buses would start going to New York City; 50 migrants arrived in the city on Friday.
“In addition to Washington, D.C., New York City is the ideal destination for these migrants, who can receive the abundance of city services and housing that Mayor Eric Adams has boasted about within the sanctuary city,” Abbott said in a statement. “I hope he follows through on his promise of welcoming all migrants with open arms so that our overrun and overwhelmed border towns can find relief."
Last week, Adams announced emergency measures to increase shelter capacity for asylum-seekers. New York’s shelter system receives more than 100 asylum-seekers who are looking for some form of housing each day, which has put a strain on the city’s shelter system.
“What Gov. Abbott is doing is cruel, misleading people,” Manuel Castro, commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs in New York, told Politico. “But we won’t fall for these scare tactics, and we are going to make sure asylum-seekers have the resources and support they need here in New York.”
Abbott, who is running for reelection, has been sparring with Democratic mayors over their immigration policies for months. The Republican governor said the busing of migrants will provide “much-needed relief to overwhelmed local communities along the border.” But critics of Abbott say he is using migrants as pawns in a cynical plot that does little to actually solve border problems.
The program is voluntary for migrants, and the state pays for the buses. Abbott’s office has said migrants transported to other cities have already been processed and released by the Department of Homeland Security.
Abbott also invited Adams and Bowser on Monday to visit the state’s southern border to “see the humanitarian crisis firsthand.” Adams’ office dismissed the invitation.
Disclosure: Politico has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
When you join us at The Texas Tribune Festival Sept. 22-24 in downtown Austin, you’ll hear from changemakers who are driving innovation, lawmakers who are taking charge with new policies, industry leaders who are pushing Texas forward and so many others. See the growing speaker list and buy tickets.
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2022/08/07/migrants-bus-texas-new-york-city/.
The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.
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