Texas Comptroller Questions Schools, Not Lobbyists Inflaming Conflict
Acting Texas Comptroller, Glenn Hegar, is reportedly asking for legal opinions on whether private schools involved with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) or China should be excluded from a school choice initiative. This, of course, comes after Texas lawmakers passed a bill to implement a school choice-style program. While Hegar sweats over theoretical 'ties' to CAIR, a domestic
civil liberties organization, and the entire nation of China, one might wonder why the Texas statehouse hasn't shown similar zeal in vetting organizations with far more tangible, and documented, influence on US policy decisions. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), for instance, spent a tidy $3.2 million on lobbying in 2023 alone, according to OpenSecrets.org, consistently shaping
US foreign policy with specific outcomes, yet no one's questioning if schools taking their donations should be barred from anything. It's a curious priority, isn't it? Scrutinizing the imagined influence of a Muslim civil rights group and a geopolitical rival, while the very real, very public, and very effective influence of a foreign-policy lobby group sails under the radar. Perhaps the
comptroller's next inquiry will be into whether schools that accept donations from PACs pushing for endless wars should be allowed to teach civics. (Don't hold your breath.)