One billion dollars shy of a trillion dollars, and they didn't help US with the war in Iran. Neigh Toe

Texas Gov Abbott launches commission to advance education reform led by teachers

Abbott has launched a new Texas Classroom Commission, a teacher-led initiative designed to “put Texas educators at the center of shaping the future of public education.”

( The Center Square ) – Gov. Greg Abbott has launched a new Texas Classroom Commission, a teacher-led initiative designed to “put Texas educators at the center of shaping the future of public education” and improve student outcomes.

The commission was designed to bring together exemplary public-school educators from across the state to develop practical, classroom-informed recommendations.

“Texas teachers know what their students need to succeed," Abbott said in a statement. Commission members will “identify innovative solutions that help students succeed, improve the learning environment in classrooms, and strengthen our schools. By empowering those on the front lines of education, we will build on Texas’ success and ensure our state becomes the national leader in the education of our kids,” he said.

They are tasked with developing recommendations for the legislature to consider next year to improve classroom instruction, support teachers and improve learning environments.

The commission is seen as an outworking of legislative advancements to include teachers in ongoing efforts to improve public education. Under Abbott and state legislative Republican leadership, in the last few years, record funding was allocated to provide permanent teacher pay raises, increase funding for the Teacher Incentive Allotment and increase retired teachers’ pensions. Record funding was also allocated for public schools, including for rural schools.

A new Teacher Bill of Rights was established for the first time, which includes measures to support teachers in maintaining classroom discipline. A new complaint portal was also launched to provide transparency and accountability to students, families and taxpayers related to teacher complaints and investigations. More than 16,000 misconduct reports have been filed since last September.

The initiative was launched after most teacher input was largely ignored by Texas State Board of Education members who voted last month to revamp how Social Studies is taught in public schools and change how Texas history is taught and in what grades.

The SBOE also advanced an expansive reading list, which critics, including teachers, argue is so expansive it’s unrealistic and so restrictive it takes away from local autonomy. The state has also mandated that more than 200 biblical texts be taught in classrooms by teachers who have no biblical studies and aren’t Christians. Atheists, Christians, Jews, Muslims and scholars have raised multiple concerns about the curriculum, The Center Square reported.

One initiative that is being implemented in response to teacher complaints are more than 4,200 corrections being made in a new Bluebonnet curriculum. The state advanced the curriculum over the objection of most teachers, who were not involved in the process. When the curriculum was published online, teachers helped find the errors. Correcting them is now costing taxpayers $8.4 million, The Center Square reported.

The commission will be led by Courtney Boswell MacDonald of Kerrville, the current chair of the State Board for Educator Certification, Abbott said. She previously worked for the Texas Senate Education Committee and served as executive director for Texans for Education Reform, Texas Institute for Education Reform and Texas Aspires.

A former math teacher at Richardson ISD and Dallas ISD, MacDonald received degrees from Texas Christian University and Vanderbilt University.

Under part of her tenure as chair of state educator certification, the number and percentage of uncertified teachers in Texas increased exponentially over the past five school years.

In the 2019-2020 school year, 3.8% of Texas’ 344,129 public school teachers were uncertified. By the 2024-2025 school year, 12% were, according to state data, The Center Square reported.

MacDonald’s six-year term on the SBOE ends in February 2029.

The commission will also be comprised of current and retired public school classroom teachers. They will begin working on recommendations in the coming weeks to deliver a report before the legislative session begins early next year, the governor’s office said.

https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/abbott-launches-classroom-commission-advance-teacher-led-education

Nevada Republicans sue state over nonresidents right to vote

In Nevada, as in most states, some American citizens born abroad can vote in the state – even if they've never lived there.

(The Center Square) - In Nevada, as in most states, some American citizens born abroad can vote in the state – even if they've never lived there.

They can do so as long as Nevada is their parents' most recent home before leaving the U.S.

The Nevada Republican Party has sued the state in federal court over the voting rights of these individuals, saying they violate the state constitution.

The law was seen as a victory for military families when it was originally passed, but the recent lawsuit comes amid a wider push among national Republicans against overseas voters.

The lawsuit - filed by the Republican National Committee, Nevada Republican Party and Republican secretary of state candidate Jim Marchant in the U.S. District Court for Nevada - said the law violated the state constitution requirement for voters to have lived in Nevada.

“… Nevada may not create bona fide Nevada voters out of individuals who have never resided in Nevada, solely by reference to a parent’s historical voting eligibility,” read the June 29 complaint. “Residency is not inherited and cannot be established by proxy. An individual who has never personally made Nevada his or her home necessarily has not ‘actually … resided in the state.’ ”

The Nevada Constitution says residents must live in the state for six months to vote.

The Secretary of State’s Office told The Center Square it does not keep records on how many of these overseas voters participate in the state's elections. A 2024 report by the Federal Voting Assistance Program found that nearly 250,000 votes were recorded by overseas voters that year. That's an estimated 11% of eligible U.S. citizens abroad under the 1986 federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act.

In addition to Nevada, similar state laws for never-resident overseas voters exist in 37 other states.

When Nevada passed its Uniformed Military and Overseas Absentee Voters Act in 2011, it was signed into law by then-Gov. Brian Sandoval, a Republican. It was also passed by both houses of the Legislature with unanimous support.

“The lawsuit challenging Nevada’s protections for certain overseas voters is an attack on the voting rights of eligible U.S. citizens living abroad, and military families whose lives are shaped by service and sacrifice,” Aguilar told The Center Square in a statement. “They risk everything to defend our freedoms, including the fundamental right to vote, and Nevada has a responsibility to protect their access to the ballot and the rights of the families who serve alongside them.”

As the overseer of elections in Nevada, Aguilar is listed in the lawsuit as a defendant, alongside the Democratic National Committee and Nevada State Democratic Party.

The RNC and Nevada Republican Party did not respond to requests for comment by The Center Square. Neither responded to questions about Marchant’s participation in the lawsuit against Aguilar, to whom he lost the 2022 Secretary of State election and is currently running to unseat on Nov. 3.

The RNC has recently filed similar lawsuits against overseas voters in at least six other states, including Colorado and Arizona.

The new lawsuit did not explain why the overseas voting law was only now being challenged.

“Children born overseas should not be punished because their parents served, worked or were stationed outside the United States,” said Aguilar. “Nevada will not turn its back on military families simply because their service took them away from home.”

https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/republicans-sue-nevada-over-voting-nonresidents

Trump says ceasefire with Iran is 'over,' after sides trade strikes

For me, I think it’s over,” Trump responded when asked about the status of the ceasefire.

President Donald Trump said Wednesday the interim agreement with Iran to pause their fighting was “over.”

For me, I think it’s over,” he told reporters about the ceasefire while attending the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey.

Still, Trump said negotiations could continue, but he cast doubt on a productive outcome.

"They can talk, but I think they’re wasting their time,” he said.

On Tuesday, the U.S. carried out airstrikes against several targets in Iran and reimposed sanctions on Iranian oil sales.

On Wednesday, Iran said forces attacked U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait, according to The New York Times.

The sides signed a preliminary agreement about three weeks ago to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil and gas shipping route, and reopen their negotiations to end their war.

In other related developments, the Trump administration on Tuesday revoked a general license authorizing the sale of Iranian oil after several tankers were attacked in the strait.

On Wednesday, after Trump's statement, oil prices increased by more than 5%.

https://justthenews.com/government/diplomacy/trump-says-ceasefire-iran-over-after-sides-trade-attacks

Federal judge blocks DOJ subpoena demanding names of election workers in Fulton County

In his ruling, Judge William Ray said the large disclosure the subpoena required would "chill participation in future elections."

A federal judge blocked a Department of Justice subpoena seeking the names of elections workers who participated in the 2020 election in Fulton County, Georgia.

President Donald Trump has alleged there was ballot fraud during the count conducted in the county, which includes Atlanta.

In his ruling, Judge William Ray wrote that the subpoena requires the disclosure of personal identifying information of thousands of employees and volunteers who worked during the 2020 election, CNBC reported.

“Such a large disclosure of information threatens to chill participation in future elections, which will surely impact Fulton County,” Ray wrote.

The Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections wanted to block the subpoena, arguing that it was intended to “target, harass, and punish” Trump’s perceived political opponents.

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/federal-judge-blocks-doj-subpoena-demanding-names-election-workers-fulton

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Platner, Swalwell implosions raise question: What's going on with Democrats’ vetting?

Platner has until July 13 to step aside for the state party to be able to choose an alternative candidate.

The latest allegation against Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner appears poised to sink his campaign, marking the second time this election cycle that a candidacy for a major candidate in the party has imploded over allegations of sexual misconduct – raising questions about whether the party knew about each of their potentially damaging pasts or failed to vet the candidates.

Platner's outsider bid captured the attention of Maine voters – as well as the country's political class – so much so that primary rival Gov. Janet Mills effectively quit the race months before the June election – despite his campaign having been beset essentially from the start by scandal including his contentious Reddit posts, extramarital texting and a Nazi Totenkopf tattoo.

But the most recent allegation, made public Monday, that he forced himself on a woman he was dating several years ago while drunk has major Democrats rescinding their endorsements and calling for him to step aside, while he pauses his campaign to ponder “the best path forward” towards unseating GOP Sen. Susan Collins in November.

The pause comes roughly three months after Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell suspended his highly competitive bid for California governor after allegations that he engaged in sexual misconduct with several women, including a former staffer who said the congressman sexually assaulted her.

Swalwell called these accusations “absolutely false," nearly identical to what Platner said about the one this week regarding him.

Swalwell, notably, was in Congress for more than a decade and was a prominent figure in the party for much of his time in Washington, which has raised questions about how or why such allegations didn't surface until deep into his gubernatorial campaign. The Department of Justice opened an investigation into Swalwell in April.

Democrats regretful

The Platner scandal has at least a few prominent figures on the left admitting that they had misjudged the 41-year-old progressive oyster farmer due to his policies and overlooked signs that he may not be as strong a candidate as they would like.

“I deeply regret that, impressed by Platner’s political charisma, I wrote that he was ‘nothing like the edgelord caricature I encountered online.’ If anything, he seems to be significantly worse,” wrote New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said on Fox News: “I would really call Bernie Sanders to apologize for pushing this kind of predator more than anyone he helped him elect … . Maybe he should stop pushing these communists.”

Republicans skeptical

Republicans appear doubtful that Democrats were unaware of his shortcomings and damaging past alleged conduct.

“The worst part of this is that they knew all this, and they went ahead with them,” Wall Street Journal columnist Bill McGurn said Monday on Fox News about Platner and his past.

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/wedplatner-swalwell-implosions-raise-question-what-going-democrats-vetting

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“The Left’s Platner dance is a classic," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a X post. "They minimized allegations of physical abuse and false imprisonment when the accuser was a conservative. Now they’re 'shocked' that he’s accused of rape and are desperate he be forced out of the race in time to replace him on the ballot.”

Fitton seemed to be referring to Lyndsey Fifield, whose X post was below his. She is an ex-girlfriend of Platner who has publicly accused him of past violent behavior. She also reportedly co-founded the group for women that showed its support for conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh when accusations of sexual assault came out before his confirmation hearings.

“Democrats in Maine should stand by their man. They knew plenty of horrific stuff about Graham Platner before this week's latest revelation,” GOP strategist Erin Maguire said.

Platner’s game of chicken

Platner has until July 13 to drop out, which would allow the state party to hand-select his replacement on the ticket.

Speculation has abounded that the party may tap either Gov. Janet Mills or one of the failed candidates from the state's Democratic gubernatorial primary.

The state party has called on Platner to step aside and the party’s campaign arms have indicated they will not support him, but all concede that the Senate race in Maine is one of the most important for Democrats to take control of the Senate.

“This Senate race comes at a pivotal moment in the struggle against a government, supported by Senator Collins, that serves the interests of the wealthy and powerful at the expense of ordinary Maine people,” the state party said in a statement. “It is essential that we refocus this campaign on that struggle.”

But Platner does have leverage. If he merely makes it to Monday without withdrawing, he will be locked in as the party candidate and much of the party leadership that has rushed to distance itself from him may be forced to reluctantly accept his continued candidacy.

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/wedplatner-swalwell-implosions-raise-question-what-going-democrats-vetting