Representative James Talarico will speak to the Highland Lakes Democratic Women (HLDW) on Wednesday, September 25, 2024. Note Date Change!
 
The meeting is at Meadowlakes Hidden Falls Bistro and begins at 11:30am with registration at 11:15.

Please RSVP to [email protected]

Lunch will be served at a cost of $20

               MENU: Pizza Buffet with Salad

Representative James Talarico is a former public-school teacher and education non-profit leader who was first elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 2018. He earned degrees from The University of Texas at Austin and Harvard University. Rep. Talarico currently serves on the Public Education Committee, the Juvenile Justice and Family Issues Committee, and the Calendars Committee and was named one of the Top 10 Best Legislators by Texas Monthly magazine for his accomplishments. During his three terms in office, Rep. Talarico has passed legislation to establish the first-ever cap on pre-K class sizes in Texas, equip schools with Narcan to fight teen overdoses, improve the quality and affordability of childcare, dramatically reduce prescription drug costs, and give incarcerated minors the opportunity to graduate with a high school diploma. At the same time, he has led the fight against Texas Republicans' efforts to ban books, whitewash our history curriculum, gut public education with a private school voucher scam, and force their Christian Nationalist agenda onto the people of Texas. He is currently a student at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in addition to his work as a legislator.

At this month's meeting, Herb Krasner will give a talk on "Explaining and Exposing The School Choice/Voucher Situation: What We Might Get If We Don’t Act". Herb’s professional career can be seen online by googling his name.  Since he retired in 2017 from his senior faculty position at UT, he has been involved with several community oriented projects that he has found interesting and challenging to work on. These include projects such as: 

1. Making sure that everyone in the Texas Hill Country has access to high speed broadband internet  (aka ConnectedBurnetCounty)
2. Writing and consulting on the problems of poor quality software/IT/computer systems 
3. Providing community support to help feed the local disadvantaged
4. Serving as a state certified election poll watcher
5. Taking care of his family (which includes his 4 teenage granddaughters*)
6. Fixing some of the political problems here in Texas 😊 ha!
7. Solving World Peace J  ha ha!

This presentation is meant to expose the facts and data behind the current controversy known as either:  “school choice” or “school vouchers”.  

• The talk will start with a review of the STAAR test results over the last 6 years as an indicator of what has transpired.
• The talk will then discuss what an education savings account (ESA) is supposed to be in contrast with how our state leaders are planning to implement it in Texas; and will then look at all the other states who are implementing similar programs.
• The presentation will then look at how this type of program has caused chaos in most of the other states that have tried to implement it. Two specific case examples are discussed in detail:  Arizona (which served as the model for proposed legislation in Texas) and Florida (who copied AZ is now struggling similarly)
• The current Texas public school budgetary crisis will then be examined and explained using the hard data from our state, with a critical eye towards understanding why it is happening.
• The current political dialog and legislative timeline for the next year will be overviewed for context
• The speaker will then discuss his conclusions based on the evidence that was uncovered and analyzed; and what that implies for us as citizens.
• The speaker will then explain the three elements of the scam: “school’s choice”, “Robin Hood 2.0” and “Why its on the ballot”.
• More specific local issues and implications will then be identified and discussed with regard to the upcoming election.
• The speaker will then discuss his sign, tshirt and grassroots effort to raise awareness and understanding of these issues.
• Thirty eight public+ references are also provided for anyone who wants to duplicate this research and analysis.  
• This will be followed by open audience Q&A/Discussion

A copy of the presentation can be downloaded here: