Temple ISD Board Tapped for Raise Your Hand Texas’ Activist Training
Effort Highlights Public Ed’s Political Mobilization
Want your school district run by Democrat-trained political operatives? Your tax dollars spent on ideological activism? That’s ahead if district officials become activists openly promoting and implementing the public education industry’s leftist political agenda. And a statewide watch should be underway as Temple and seven other Texas school districts move in this direction
Signaling a move from “non-partisanship” pretense, the Temple ISD Board of Trustees and Superintendent Bobby Ott will participate in Raise Your Hand Texas’ Trustee Advocate Program, an 18-month program which gives “Texas school boards and their superintendents the tools they need to find, use, and amplify their voices and the voices of communities to influence state education policy.” Temple is one of eight districts selected for the organization’s second cohort of activist trainees.
Post-COVID parents began recognizing how the last decades spawned a new generation of teachers and administrators, many with increasingly progressive and even “social justice warrior” agendas often at odds with the public’s moral and educational sensibilities.
Exposing the myth of non-partisanship
Raise Your Hand Texas identifies itself as a “non-partisan nonprofit organization supporting public policy solutions that invest in Texas’ 5.4 million public school students.”
For most political advocacy organizations, the “non-partisan” nomenclature speaks to IRS and other legal requirements. While certain parameters must be maintained, it’s still rare that these groups – whether liberal, conservative or somewhere in between - don’t have an obvious ideological bent and Raise Your Hand Texas is no exception. It’s unmistakably liberal, strongly allied with Texas Democratic Party views and it exists to support the public education industry.
The public education industry dominates the education field through a network of support organizations, advocacy/lobbying organizations, operational arms like Education Service Centers, government adjacent allies, unions (in right-to-work Texas, professional associations), establishment media, vendors and localized ISD officials and staff seeking to influence “persuadables” that can include current and former teachers/staff, students and local community members. It’s an impressive hierarchy on par with other formidable cartel organizations.
The Texas Association of School Boards, is an industry support organization that is funded by public dollars and works to maximize taxpayer funds flowing to its member districts – often in direct conflict with the best interests of taxpayers and/or students.
In a 2022 website post, TASB discussed how “decidedly non-partisan” school boards of the past century face a changing landscape with “partisan battles increasingly playing out in school board races.” True enough and 2020 was the turning point as parents learned those “decidedly non-partisan” school boards were nothing of the sort.
With student learning at questionable levels, COVID-19 opened parental eyes. In 2021, parents approached school boards and administrators with “return to normalcy” concerns centered around ongoing government overreach, specific in-school teaching approaches/content, social distancing, mask and vaccine mandates as well as the use of Critical Race Theory in classroom curriculum. These discoveries largely sprang from lockdowns and parents overseeing students’ virtual school experiences. The response to their concerns took the eye-opening to new levels.
More importantly, however, this program offers a great opportunity to discuss the morphing of once politically-neutral public school districts into full-fledged political advocacy operations – at taxpayer expense and in blatant opposition to some constituents’ ideological beliefs.
Public ed overplays its hand
Today’s conservative partisanship is a byproduct of parents wanting accountability and instead too often being met with hostility. Post-COVID parents began recognizing how the last decades spawned a new generation of teachers and administrators, many with increasingly progressive and even “social justice warrior” agendas often at odds with the public’s moral and educational sensibilities.
Many school board encounters reinforced the anti-freedom, progressive ideologies dominating public school culture. With challenged school district attitudes ranging from non-responsive to adversarial and even combative, conservative parents logically concluded change was needed and replacing problematic school boards became a routine starting point.
“Non-partisanship” ends when radicalism begins
For the uninitiated and unindoctrinated, Raise Your Hand Texas is an advocacy/lobbying organization. Its Trustee Advocate Program will train elected school boards and superintendents to lobby legislators and mobilize those in its sphere of influence – teachers and staff, students, taxpayers and community members at large – in support of leftist public policies. Instead of operating as individuals with independent thoughts, school boards generally operate collectively so why would its approach to activism be any different?
In central Texas, establishment print and broadcast media noted this move as per news release talking points. More importantly, however, this program offers a great opportunity to discuss the morphing of once politically-neutral public school districts into full-fledged political advocacy operations – at taxpayer expense and in blatant opposition to some constituents’ ideological beliefs. While Temple ISD serves as a great example, the actions and context described here are applicable to districts across the state.
Understand that most who support school choice want education freedom that offers many options including robust public school alternatives, but without a public education monopoly.
Activist organization
Raise Your Hand Texas is mobilizing an activist force to ensure public schools’ continued monopolistic domination of the education arena and local government school districts are jumping on board.
Per its website, Raise Your Hand Texas was founded in 2006 by long-time school choice opponent Charles Butt and others with “a belief that public dollars should stay in public schools.”
A key finding of Them vs. U.S.: The Two Americas and How the Nation’s Elite Is Out of Touch with Average Americans, a new report from the Committee to Unleash Prosperity, found “two-thirds (67%) say teachers and other educational professionals should decide what children are taught rather than letting parents decide.” The folks at Raise Your Hand Texas would undoubtedly agree.
As an advocacy arm of the public education industry, the organization is stringently against school choice with its website noting how opposing vouchers (or education savings accounts) “is fundamental to protecting and preserving an education system that is committed to each and every student.” School Choice Debate Shows Texas Public Ed More “For the System” than “For the Children” concurs that preservation of the education industry system indeed appears the priority. It just seems the preservation is more for the system itself than for students.
Understand that most who support school choice want education freedom that offers many options including robust public school alternatives, but without a public education monopoly. Sadly though, an immovable divide is created when the education industry is decidedly “all and nothing” in its stance. That is, all the resources for public education and nothing for school choice advocates.
Raise Your Hand Texas’ activism includes staff regularly providing written and invited public testimony at legislative hearings. Executive Director, Michelle Smith Ph.D. appeared before the Texas House Committee on Public Education Hearing on May 15, 2023, to register Raise Your Hand Texas’ opposition to any form of school vouchers. The group’s activist trainings will undoubtedly expand its testifier ranks to include taxpayer-funded school district employees and elected representatives.
Smith has a long history as a former education industry lobbyist. She has also faced significant conflict of interest issues as her father, Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock , R-Killeen, once served as House Public Education Chairman.
A 2015 Breitbart article entitled Questions Raised About Lobbyist Daughter of Texas House Education Chair included this:
The potential for conflicts of interest between lawmakers and family members involved in lobbying has long been a concern for the investigative journalists at Watchdog Wire. An article by Lou Ann Anderson earlier this month, “Potential Public Education Committee appointment raises conflict of interest against school choice,” noted that it “could ruffle some feathers” if Aycock was again appointed Chair of the Public Education Committee, due to his daughter’s increasing prominence as an education lobbyist:
Since 2010, Michelle Smith has worked for Hillco Partners, a firm identified in a 2011 Texas Monthly article as “at the top of the lobby pyramid” since its 1998 launch. Up until this legislative session, Smith listed Raise Your Hand Texas among numerous other education establishment clients. Founded and well-funded by HEB’s Charles Butt, this education policy and advocacy organization is known as a staunch defender of public education and is specifically against school vouchers.
Smith is currently executive director of Fast Growth School Coalition, an organization whose stated mission is “to educate others about the impacts that rapidly expanding communities have on school districts.” FGSC wants more, not less, public dollars for its public school membership. School choice is seen to threaten not only existing, but also future funding.
Her familial pattern of fighting against education freedom was more recently noted:
Perhaps Ott hopes we don’t remember Buckley’s predecessor, Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock who also was chairman of the House Public Education Committee. During his tenure, Aycock worked tirelessly to maintain the public education power base, an effort that showed itself in fact to be a family affair as Aycock’s daughter was a prominent education industry lobbyist.
In its inaugural presentation of a Public Education Champion award, Raise Your Hand Texas recognized 100 lawmakers who “stood alongside us to fight for Texas public education during the 88th Legislative Session.”
The political affiliation and/or record of these 100 speaks to Raise Your Hand Texas’ left wing orientation as 75 were Democrats, 25 Republicans. The recent legislature’s fourth special session saw 21 Republicans join Democrats to support an amendment stripping school vouchers from an education funding bill. Raise Your Hand Texas included 20 of those representatives in its listing.
Rep. Hugh Shine, R-Temple, was one of those “recognized” and further exemplifies Raise Your Hand Texas’ effort to expand its geographical areas of influence. Shine’s anti-school choice stance is especially noteworthy considering 89 percent of his Bell County district’s voters supported the 2022 Republican Primary ballot proposition asking if “Texas parents and guardians should have the right to select schools, whether public or private, for their children, and the funding should follow the student.”
His overall record documented as consistently pro-government/special interest rather than pro-taxpayer (click here, here, here, here, here and here) further makes him a reliable Raise Your Hand Texas ally both in Austin and in Temple, a valuable combination as the group seeks multi-front influence operations. His close ties to the Temple ISD help illustrate Texas public educations’ multi-faceted influence capabilities.
Activist school board
Per the Trustee Advocate Program schedule, the first session will be conducted within local districts however the remaining five appear as three-day sessions in Austin.
“Attendees will travel and arrive before the early morning start on the first day of training,” the website states. “Typically, travel will occur the day before training begins.” With this, most participating districts will spend at least four days with each session. And of course lodging, food and travel will be at taxpayer expense.
“We aim to impact education policy by developing effective individual advocacy, effective team advocacy within a school board, and ultimately activating entire communities,” Missy Bender, Raise Your Hand Texas Trustee-In-Residence, writes on the website.
“The Raise Your Hand Texas Trustee Advocates Program presents a unique opportunity to learn skills that will help us be better advocates for our local public schools, our students, and our teachers at the State Capitol.” Dan Posey, president of the Temple ISD board of trustees, said in a statement. “Temple ISD is honored to join the second cohort of this Raise Your Hand Texas program and deeply and actively engage in its work.”
The Temple ISD website acknowledges the public education industry’s goal of fortifying its monopolistic network:
Over the course of the 18-month fellowship, Trustee Advocates will learn to build a local public education advocacy network that encourages community connectedness and influences state legislative outcomes. Trustees and Superintendents will have the opportunity to learn and build relationships with others across Texas, as well.
With filing for the May school board races underway through Feb. 16, the next few months should bring opportunity for school board candidates to further discuss their expanded roles as political operatives.
Activist superintendent
Temple ISD Superintendent Bobby Ott has already earned his “activist” credentials both locally and in Austin. Temple ISD’s selection for the Trustee Advocate Program will merely build on his existing foundation.
Ott is experienced in delivering invited testimony as shown with his appearance before the House Public Education Committee in May 2023 testifying for “fully funded” public schools and against education savings accounts.
His activism also extends to an X account with posts often having decidedly partisan messages. First Amendment rights undoubtedly exist, but should a once non-political position be used to espouse political views?
Based on his biography, Ott seems to fully understand and participate in education industry politics and his early career was even centered in west Bell County during the Aycock’s legislative tenure.
Ott and Shine’s support of public education overlaps. In early 2023, Shine honored Ott with a House Resolution upon his being named 2022 Texas Association of School Boards' State Superintendent of the Year.
Months later Temple ISD named Hugh and Debbie Shine as “Friends of Temple ISD”:
And two Temple Daily Telegram articles have featured Ott applauding the Shines “spirit of community goodwill” regarding land they formerly owned that will be used for an upcoming elementary school.
Shine has long been an unwavering supporter of Bell County public schools.
In April, the Temple ISD school board approved a $507,000 property purchase from Bokhers LLC, south of the FM 93 Spur, that will be the site of an additional elementary campus.
Although the district purchased the 20.82-acre property from the developers at $25,000 per acre, Shine and his wife, Debbie, had sold it to Bokhers LLC — which is planning to build 750 total lots in the surrounding area — with community goodwill in mind.
“Kudos to the Shines for just having the spirit of community goodwill and the foresight to know that this area is growing and that whatever developer purchases their property that they need to work with the school district and consider a site and so forth,” Ott told the Telegram at the time. “A lot of times when folks own property and they’re from out of town, they don’t think that way. But in this case, we were very fortunate to have a community-minded family work with a community-minded developer.”
Ott knows his way around the political spectrum and will be a great resource bringing his board up to activism excellence. He and Shine are both masters of the education industry networking that is such a strong component of these political activist trainings. They are a tag team model of which “Big Ed” should be proud.
But one final note on activist superintendents, with some of the area’s lowest academic ratings, perhaps it’s time for action improving student performance rather than spending taxpayer dollars on lawsuits seeking to shield lackluster results.
Activist principals
Raise Your Hand Texas has also sponsored a Principals Advocacy Fellowship for alumni of the Charles Butt Foundation (formerly Raise Your Hand Texas Foundation) programs. Though the program’s last posted information was 2022, it was described as “a nine-month fellowship focused on growing community leaders and advocates on behalf of public schools in Texas.”
The groups website lists fellowship activities as including participation in candidates forum and get-out-the vote campaigns in their communities along with implementing advocacy action plans in concert with Raise Your Hand’s regional advocacy directors.
Though the Principals Advocacy Fellowship is characterized as “issue-based and non-partisan” with fellows to “not be involved in supporting or opposing specific candidates,” the existence of such an effort along with the issue choices and positions taken undoubtedly message a partisan stance.
And once again, do you want your local principals spending time away from their campuses training to be political activists and doing so on the taxpayer dime? Aren’t there students to educate?
But putting that aside, what really could go wrong? A crime called electioneering comes to mind and one Texas junior high principal has potentially engaged in exactly that.
Rep. Glenn Rogers, R–Graford, is one of Race Your Hand Texas’ recognized legislators facing a tough reelection due to his school choice vote. Rogers posted a video on his Facebook campaign page in which Breckenridge Junior High School Principal Laura Gibson encourages support for Rogers in the Republican primary based on his school choice opposition.
Per Texas Scorecard:
“Let’s cast our votes on March 5 to send Glenn back to Austin so he can continue to fight, not only for our teachers and our schools, but most importantly for our students,” says Gibson.
The video appears to have been taken in Gibson’s office which could be a violation of state law. Section 255.003 of the Texas Election Code prohibits public employees from using public resources to electioneer. It is not clear whether the video was filmed during school hours.
The Rogers campaign deleted the video and replaced it with another one of Gibson reciting the same speech—this time at a different location.
While this action expressly conflicts with Raise Your Hand Texas’ correct legal position of not supporting/opposing a specific candidate, promoting activist school principals opens the door to exactly this behavior.
The unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats of Raise Your Hand Texas are aggressively deploying the public education industry’s monopolistic agenda and like any effectively run cartel, they are mobilizing downstream cohorts.
Public education: for the system or for the children?
When “protecting and preserving an education system” becomes the imperative, it’s easy to see how political activism takes center stage.
The unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats of Raise Your Hand Texas are aggressively deploying the public education industry’s monopolistic agenda and like any effectively run cartel, they are mobilizing downstream cohorts. And in many areas, local school board trustees and superintendents appear on board, even giddy at the prospect of this effort.
It's sad that “influencing state policy,” “amplifying voices,” and “implementing advocacy action plans” have overtaken ensuring that Matthew can read and Madison can do math?
“For the children” or “for the education system”? That’s the choice created by the public education industry. So once again, the March primaries will be here soon. It’s time to pick a side.
Lou Ann Anderson is a writer, former radio producer and current podcaster at Political Pursuits. Her tenure as Watchdog Wire–Texas editor involved covering state news and coordinating the site’s citizen journalist network. As a past Policy Analyst with Americans for Prosperity–Texas, Lou Ann wrote and spoke on a variety of issues including the growing issue of probate abuse in which wills, trusts, guardianships and powers of attorney are used to loot assets from intended heirs or beneficiaries. She holds a degree from the University of North Texas in Denton.