Rep. Matt Krause's Campaign for Attorney General Scrutinizes Texas School Districts for Texts on Race and Sexuality

Compliments of the Voice of the Mainland blog, here is specific detail on the specific request by Ft. Worth Rep. Matt Krause who is running for attorney general for texts purchased by school districts, including award winners, that address issues of race and sexuality [also read: Analysis: Matt Krause’s campaign for attorney general comes with a reading list]. This amounts to a new level of scrutiny of Texas public schools that falls on the heels of anti-CRT bill, Senate Bill 3, that promises to earn him a measure of notoriety. 

Accordingly, read my earlier post titled: "Texas House committee to investigate school districts’ books on race and sexuality." You can't make this stuff up.

Glad to see the the Austin Independent School District not going through with this primarily since there's already a link to the requested information [read: "Austin ISD dismisses Texas lawmaker's probe into books on race, sex"]. 

Requests like these that are designed to bolster the political aims of lawmakers are not only a cost to taxpayers, but involve an inordinate amount of time—and for what purpose other than to polarize society even more? The Rs have reached the limits of their political leadership if this is all they have, pestering superintendents and local school boards for narrow, political ends.

-Angela Valenzuela

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Editor: Texas State Representative Matt Krause is asking several Texas schools to conduct an assessment of books in their library and see if any of these books are in their library system, how many copies and the amount of dollars expended by the school district to purchase those books. The public has no knowledge what Rep Krause intends to do with the outcome of his investigation. Maybe noting. Maybe burn the books. Maybe deduct the amount spend on the books from the school district's budget. We do not know. Anyway, book burning seems to be making it's way into Texas education, maybe not as an act, but as a threat.

The text of his message is below. The full letter can be linked to here.

1. Please identify how many copies of each book in the attached Addendum your

District possesses and at what campus locations including school library and

classroom collections. Please identify the amount of funds spent by your District to 

acquire the books identified in request No. 1 above.

3. Please identify any other books or content in your District, specifying the campus

location and funds spent on acquisition, that address or contain the following topics:

human sexuality, sexually transmitted diseases, or human immunodeficiency virus

(HIV) or acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), sexually explicit images,

graphic presentations of sexual behavior that is in violation of the law, or contain

material that might make students feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of

psychological distress because of their race or sex or convey that a student, by virtue

of their race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or

unconsciously.

Your prompt attention to this request is appreciated, and I request a written response via 

email by November 12, 2021. If you have any questions, please contact me or the 

Committee’s General Counsel, Darren Keyes.