Recent editorials from Texas newspapers

Here are excerpts from recent editorials in Texas newspapers:

The Eagle. April 29, 2018.

We are blessed in this community to have four outstanding public high schools, two in each city. Not only do they provide outstanding educations, they form a focus for community attention, from football, basketball and other sports to band and orchestra to a wealth of other activities.

In other words, each of our high schools has a large fan base of students and former students and their families. Thus emotions are high when school districts must adjust attendance zones.

That is currently the case in College Station, because College Station High School will reach 110 percent capacity in the 2019-2020 school year, while A&M Consolidated High School, the older of the two schools, actually will be at or below 85 percent capacity. To address the issue, the College Station school board approved a shift in boundary lines to balance the student population at the two high schools. In doing so, the board chose not to “grandfather” families in one current zone or the other.

The change won’t take effect until the 2019-2020 school year. Eighth graders in one high school zone, but who will be in the other zone in two years, have a choice of going to either school when they start ninth grade in the fall. But, if they start at their currently assigned high school in August, they will be forced to move to the high school in their new zone the following school year. They will not be allowed to remain at the high school at which they start, a departure from school district policies of the past. According to the district, 114 families are affected, with 86 moving to the Consolidated zone in two years and 28 moving to the College Station High zone for 2019-2020. That leaves a net difference of 58 students forced to move to Consolidated for 2019-2020.

The rezoning creates problems for some families in the district if they already have a student in one of the high schools. That student can stay at that high school after the rezoning takes effect, but younger children not already in high school this year will have to go to the high school in their new zone starting in 2019-2020.

Further complicating the issue is that eighth graders who start at what will be their high school for their last three years won’t be eligible for bus transportation this coming school year. Since they won’t be driving, parents or older siblings must drive them every school day.

It is quite conceivable that some of the 58 families could have a child at, say, Consolidated and another child at College Station High. That creates a scheduling nightmare for families already stressed with all the activities children are involved in today. We don’t know how many of the 58 families will fall in to that category, but there is no reason any of them should.

A simple exception should be made for families who already have a child at one school to allow younger children to attend that same high school. This would involve only those families with a child starting high school under the new rezoning. He or she should be allowed to attend high school with the older sibling.

This may not seem like a big deal, but it is. What happens if both children play football or basketball, are in the band, are cheerleaders or participate in any extracurricular activity. In the case of football, if both Consolidated and College Station High are playing at the same time, player parents, cheerleader parents, band parents and pep squad parents must make the difficult decision of which game to attend. Should dad go to one and mom to the other? That means both parents would miss out on a significant part of this family bonding experience.

Also, it is conceivable that one child would face another in, say a football game, when the two schools face each other. Which team do the families support?

There is also something to be said for allowing the older sibling to set an example for and help a younger sibling in school.

None of this is to say one high school is better than the other. That is far from the case. Both A&M Consolidated and College Station High are great schools, full of opportunities for every student.

But it seems for familiar cohesion, an exception should be made for those few families faced with the dual school dilemma.

___

The Dallas Morning News. April 30, 2018.

We’ll give comedian Michelle Wolf this. Her performance at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner Saturday did something that seems impossible these days. She united Republicans and Democrats in agreement that her takedowns crossed an important line of civility.

We’ll get on to why that was destructive at this point in our national politics in just a minute, but first there are a few things being left out of the sharpest criticism of the dinner that are worth considering.

We’ll start with why the dinner should exist. There are precious few opportunities these days for journalists and politicians to interact in a format that breaks down barriers. In the past this dinner did that, usually through humor that allowed for good-natured jabs with a president responding in kind. Done right, this process allows both journalists and politicians to show that they don’t take themselves too seriously.

In the broad sweep of media coverage of American politics, such a dinner can imbibe both sides with a little humility and an appreciation for the role each plays in our republic.

OK, but what about this year’s performance? You won’t find us defending the comedian here. We found her routine to be out of bounds. And at a time when the president of the United States is primed to call anything critical of him “fake news,” this incident makes the media’s job harder.

Sometimes humor isn’t funny, and unfortunately, in this case, Wolf led American journalists into a minefield.

We are tempted to provide a little hindsight and say Wolf’s previous routines might have signaled where this could end up. But then we also know that no one is more mortified by what happened than the members of the White House Correspondents’ Association.

The association’s president, Margaret Talev, said after the dinner that the “program was meant to offer a unifying message about our common commitment to a vigorous and free press while honoring civility, great reporting and scholarship winners, not to divide people.” But “the entertainer’s monologue was not in the spirit of that mission.”

That’s true. The interests of a comedian looking to make a name for herself can diverge significantly from the interests of the press corps. But there is something else that should be said here. Good-hearted roasts - as this dinner is intended to be - are hard to pull off when the subject is a no-show.

If the president continues to find other places to be, we in the media should use our opportunities to use wit, sarcasm and, yes, Washington traditions like this dinner to push for him to laugh a little at himself. He’s a master at one-liners. We will all be better served if we laugh a little as we inform the national conversation.

___

Fort Worth Star-Telegram. April 30, 3018.

The Mansfield School district deserves a big fat F for the way it’s handled the controversy swirling around LGBT elementary school art teacher Stacy Bailey. For at least seven months the district has failed to resolve the situation surrounding the popular teacher, ultimately bringing unwanted national attention to a district that’s often known success in the classroom.

Bailey has been placed on administrative leave since September for allegedly talking about her sexual orientation with students at Charlotte Anderson Elementary School. By banishing her from the classroom administrators have shocked Bailey’s colleagues, who have voted her teacher of the year at the school not once, but twice. Many parents also are unhappy.

Then, last week, the Mansfield School Board further confused the situation by renewing Bailey’s contract while saying her case is under investigation. The latest turn in this twisted case came as some Mansfield teachers press for a change in the district anti-discrimination employment policy that will make it clear the district is not anti-LGBT. Bailey had talked to administrators about adding protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender employees before being suspended.

The Mansfield district needs to end its investigation of Bailey soon. Leaving the teacher’s status in limbo hurts her and the students who would benefit from her acclaimed teaching. It sends a message that the district for some reason doesn’t know how to address LGBT issues.

Surely administrators and board members know there are other LGBT teachers and students in Mansfield. They may not have the same high profile, but they are looking for a signal that the district will be inclusive.

Resolving this case with a public explanation will end some of the speculation. It’s also time to adopt an anti-discrimination policy that includes the LGBT community.

Fort Worth and other urban districts already have done this by including language in local policies that protects teachers from discrimination because of their sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. Mansfield and other suburban school districts need to recognize they have valued employees who deserve an environment where they can work without fear.

Bailey has been called a role model for other educators. Florence Bruner, a parent, told the Star-Telegram, “There are two things we hope for the most - one is a teacher whose love of the subject inspires students, and the other is a teacher who cares deeply for our children. Stacy Bailey without question is both of these.”

But not every parent is happy with Bailey. At least one complained Bailey was trying to indoctrinate youngsters when showing them a collage of her family that included a photo of her wife. Administrators eventually met with Bailey about parental rights and age-appropriate conversations regarding topics of religion, politics and sexual orientation. Bailey insists she’s done nothing wrong.

We don’t know what really happened but it’s about time we did.

It’s past time for the Mansfield district to turn in its Stacy Bailey assignment. Right now, it’s failing its students, teachers and community.

___

Houston Chronicle. April 30, 2018.

Membership in the House of Representatives has its perks. A $174,000 base salary. Free parking (at the Capitol and the airport). Even access to a taxpayer-funded account that can be tapped to settle sexual harassment claims.

Former Rep. Blake Farenthold has left office in disgrace - and should immediately repay public money he used to settle a claim from a former employee. Congress also must end this practice.

Farenthold found himself in a jam in 2014 when a former aide alleged the Corpus Christi Republican had created a hostile work environment, sexually harassed her and then fired her when she complained. Farenthold, at the time facing re-election, was able to persuade the former aide, Lauren Greene, to drop her lawsuit and instead accept an $84,000 check signed by John Q. Taxpayer.

Potential scandal averted, Farenthold won two more terms before Politico broke the story of the Greene settlement in December just as the #MeToo movement began exposing members of Congress. According to allegations in a lawsuit filed by Greene, Farenthold shared sexual fantasies he had of her with other employees and “regularly drank to excess.” Farenthold first announced he would not stand for re-election before abruptly resigning this month.

We believe that was the right decision for his constituents. But he stills owes them $84,000. Even though Farenthold pledged to repay the funds himself, he has yet to do so. There appears to be no way to force him, since he broke no rules by using a congressional account to pay Greene. Though they may be chiefly concerned with distancing themselves from Farenthold, his former Republican colleagues are right to insist he make taxpayers whole.

We commend Gov. Greg Abbott, who has asked the former lawmaker to give that sum to his district to defray the cost of the special election now needed to fill Farenthold’s seat.

It’s ludicrous Farenthold was allowed to use public money to atone for his alleged harassment of a female employee. Congress should prohibit such funds from being used to settle claims of any member’s misconduct. Even now, all records of payments - from what member, and for what purpose - must be immediately made available to the public.

Pennsylvania Rep. Pat Meehan is not much of a role model - he resigned Friday after using $39,000 in taxpayer funds to settle his own sexual harassment claim. But Farenthold should follow Meehan’s example by setting a timeline - in Meehan’s case, 30 days - for reimbursing the treasury. And please, Blake, don’t tell us “the check is in the mail.”

Farenthold is the just latest lawmaker to embarrass Texas. Refusing to repay taxpayers only further tarnishes his brief career in Washington.

___

Amarillo Globe-News. May 1, 2018.

When the multipurpose event venue (MPEV) opens next year in downtown Amarillo, it is understandable that the Amarillo Civic Center is going to have a bad case of building envy.

The aging Amarillo Civic Center is going to stick out like a sore thumb compared to the new-kid-on-the-block MPEV. Since these two structures are basically next door to each other, the difference in quality is going to be painfully apparent.

The city needs to realize this, and start considering now what to do with the antiquated ACC, which was built in 1968 - and looks every bit of its 50 years.

A previous version of Amarillo City Council attempted to address the old school ACC in 2016 - the key word being “attempt.”

For some reason, the council stuffed a $83 million ACC expansion/renovation proposition onto the ballot with six additional capital improvement projects totaling a whopping $340 million. Surprise - only two propositions passed (related to street projects and public safety). Had Amarillo voters approved all seven bond propositions, taxes would have increased as much as 57 percent.

This orgy of proposed government spending was a factor in the failure of the ACC proposition. The ACC proposition got 42.4 percent of the vote in Randall County, and 42.7 percent in Potter County. However, it needs to again be mentioned that this was one of seven propositions on the ballot calling for $340 million in spending. It was simply too much for voters to justify.

There is no debate about it - the ACC needs renovation/repair. Anyone who has been in Cal Farley Coliseum can see this fact.

Amarillo has long known that it is unable to attract many larger forms of entertainment/attractions because Cal Farley Coliseum is no longer able to handle the logistics or provide the crowd needed to make the money which brings in the big names.

And while there have been “blueprints,” ’’needs assessments” and “master plans” related to ACC bandied about since 2016 and before, there has been little progress made on addressing what is obviously needed - a rebirth of Amarillo Civic Center.

The reality is this - Amarillo knows it needs to fix its civic center. This is a fact. And with the MPEV coming, now is the time to put every possibility on the table.