In the second part of a Texas Observer investigation into conservative billionaires’ influence on public schools, Steven Monacelli reported on some school board members quietly hiring a GOP-affiliated law firm to draft a new policy targeting social issues such as “critical race theory,” “gender fluidity” and “potentially pornographic material.” With support from the Fund, Monacelli reported that when other board members found out about the secret contract, they questioned why an attorney who is also general counsel for the county’s Republican Party had been quietly hired to help craft that proposal that another board lawyer had already drafted. Such behind-the-scenes connections between paid Texas Republican Party operatives and school board trustees have become increasingly common amid a coordinated push by political action committees and their preferred consulting firms to secure conservative majorities on school boards across Texas.
Grantee reports on secret deal with Texas GOP laywer to rewrite public school curriculum
