We can’t fix our schools with the people we have in office now

Election mailers from 2024. (Scan by WBDaily)

Why would any Republican politician in the conservative State of Texas be against school choice?  After all, school choice is about freedom – providing all parents the opportunity to choose a school that fits their needs just as rich parents have.

I think it comes down to a couple of things.

First, some Republicans in the Texas House and Senate used to be Democrats.  The “R” attached to their names is political expediency in a state where Democrats typically lose.

The second thing is training.  In districts where the local establishment has wrapped the local State Rep or Senator or member of Congress around its little finger, why train a newbie?  This is why we need term limits.  Newer members are harder to control, and usually more attentive to the people that elected them.

Random Samplings is brought to you by the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

It’s time for old Lefties to pack it in.

The old Democrats who have magically morphed into Republicans still carry of a lot that government-first baggage.  But it was true when Ronald Reagan said it and it is true today:

“In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem.”

If we believe Ronaldus Maximus, and if we believe that the problem can defined as “the mess that is now our public education system,” then why would we think schools run by the government is the solution?  In fact, our public schools and our colleges are all run by Democrats.  As we all know, to Democrats, government is always preferable to the public marketplace.

RELATED: School Choice and the Bellstocracy (PODCAST)

A note to GOP politicians who do not support school choice:
Right now, the public schools are failing.  Test scores are down while drag queens are up.  If schools were in the private sector and they failed, they would close because no one would use them.  In our current situation, the schools can get worse and worse and there are never consequences.

And no matter how much money is pumped into schools, we’ll still be told they are underfunded. Members of the Texas Legislature that are in the pocket of the public school bureaucracy will go to Austin and get them more money.  The schools will continue to fail.

In the private sector, the schools will teach more, get better scores, and have great teachers – and will do it with far less money.  The better teachers from the public system will move to those schools and will do better, and have better outcomes with students.  Just like SpaceX can shoot rockets into space far more efficiently and in less time than government, so can schools improve using that same platform.

We need term limits and now.  Term Limits would solve a lot of our problems.

First, we might be able to rid ourselves of many of the old guard Democrats who still are, but claim not to be.  It they vote like Democrats, they’re likely Democrats.  This is how we got Dade Phelan as Speaker of the Texas House.  It’s why we did not get school choice last time around.

Second, with term limits, the local establishment wouldn’t have as much time to train the local reps into doing their bidding.

Third, the out-of-state Super PACs would have to work harder to keep our legislators under their thumb.  Billionaire leftists such as H.E.B.’s Charles Butt wouldn’t have as much influence.  Butt’s left-wing organization, “Raise Your Hand Texas,” that works to turn school superintendents and school trustees into left-wing political activists, could butt out.

Getting term limits won’t be easy.

As we know from watching Robert Byrd, Teddy Kennedy and Dianne Feinstein die in office, and Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell, and John Carter hang on into their eighties, it’s hard to get them to stop clinging to power.

RELATED: Congress John Carter spends millions while cutting spending.

As incumbents, they have tremendous advantages over challengers – such as John Carter’s constant “franking” of campaign letters to his constituents.  Carter does this a lot at election time, promising to “fight” in Congress.  My guess is that he “fights” to get out of bed in the morning.  Sometimes, it’s time to step down.

The hardest thing ever to pass in Austin is ethics reform. 

The members don’t want it, and the local establishment in most towns prefers to keep the reps they’ve already got trained.  The government, however, is by the people and for the people, and if enough of us demand good government – and good schools – we just might get our wish.

Lynn Woolley is a Texas-based author, broadcaster, and songwriter.  Follow his podcast at https://www.PlanetLogic.us.  Check out his author’s page at https://www.Amazon.com/author/lynnwoolley.  Order books direct from Lynn at https://PlanetLogicPress.Square.Site.  Email Lynn at lwoolley9189@gmail.com.

This book is free of any political interference. There’s no term  limits on ordering!