INVITATION to Texas SBOE MTG. THIS PM @ 7 PM on ZOOM RE: "Democrats seek to pause Texas’ social studies revamp over $70K grant from conservative think tank"

Friends,

At a moment when the future of public education in Texas is being actively shaped—and contested—I encourage you to tune in this evening at 7PM for an important Town Hall hosted by the Democratic members of the Texas State Board of Education.

This conversation centers on the proposed overhaul of the Social Studies TEKS standards, set for implementation in 2030—standards that will shape what over 5.5 million Texas students learn about history, democracy, and the world. Recent reporting raises serious questions about transparency, influence, and the integrity of the revision process, including a $70,000 grant from the Texas Public Policy Foundation to a university center led by a key adviser guiding these changes.

This is not simply about curriculum—it is about whose knowledge counts, how history is told, and whether public education will remain a space for critical inquiry or become further narrowed by ideological influence.

I strongly encourage you to read the article below in advance and come prepared to listen, learn, and engage.

Register here to attend: https://us05web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Lu49SiFeTGy3_UuBnzbVRw#/registration

These are decisions with long-term consequences. Your awareness—and your presence—matter.

With urgency and hope,

Angela Valenzuela, Ph.D.

Democrats seek to pause Texas’ social studies revamp over $70K grant from conservative think tank

The Texas Public Policy Foundation awarded the grant to Schreiner University’s Texas Center, which is led by a historian guiding the state in its social studies revision.

by Jaden Edison April 8, 2026, 3:36 p.m. Central

Marisa B. Perez-Diaz, the District 3 State Board of Education member, listens during public testimony on proposed revisions to the Social Studies Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) standards as the SBOE holds meetings at the Barbara Jordan State Office Building in Austin on April 7, 2026. Kaylee Greenlee for the Texas Tribune

Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. See our AI policy, and give us feedback.

Democrats on the State Board of Education want to pause Texas’ overhaul of its social studies curriculum after finding out that the university department of a historian advising the group received a financial contribution from an influential conservative think tank.

In a letter provided to The Texas Tribune, Democrats raised concerns about a 2024 tax filing showing that the Texas Public Policy Foundation awarded $70,000 to the Texas Center at Schreiner University in Kerrville for the purposes of developing state learning standards, which outline what students should know before they graduate.

Donald Frazier, a Texas historian, is director of the Texas Center. Last year, State Board of Education members appointed him as one of nine expert advisers responsible for helping guide the state as it rewrites how public schools will teach social studies for years to come.

In the letter signed by all five Democrats on the board, members called for “a comprehensive and independent investigation” into the conditions of the $70,000 grant, agreements between Frazier and the conservative think tank and actions taken by Frazier during Texas’ social studies rewrite that may have influenced decisions.

“Given the scope and significance of this work, which impacts more than 5.5 million public school students across Texas, it is essential that the process remain transparent, objective, and free from undue influence,” the letter states.

“Board members have devoted significant time to hearing public testimony and reviewing extensive input from Texans across the state, many of whom have already expressed concern about the pace and transparency of this process,” the letter continues. “Proceeding without resolving these issues risks undermining public trust and calls into question the validity of any final decisions.”

In emails to the Tribune, Frazier defended the grant, saying his private university works with organizations from across the state. Frazier noted that as an adviser to the State Board of Education, he provides recommendations but that the board maintains final say on what students will be required to learn.

“Texas Public Policy hired us to discuss Texas ideas, which is what we do,” Frazier said. “Apparently, we are good enough at it that our time is valuable. The idea that I am some Great Oz figure with huge influence on this state board process, while flattering, is wishful thinking.”

“Clearly someone doesn’t like what I have to say, which is lamentable, but not surprising in today’s environment,” he added. “I’d love to visit with the aggravated folks one-on-one, or even face-to-face, but these accusers and insinuators have not reached out.”

Asked what he produced for the conservative organization, Frazier directed the Tribune to his department’s website, saying his passion is “demonstrating the connections between the world, US, and national story.”

The Texas Public Policy Foundation said in a statement, “This is obviously a delaying tactic by certain members of the SBOE.”

“They should focus on the quality and merits of the curriculum and ensure that Texas students are getting the best possible education,” said Brian Phillips, a spokesperson for the Austin-based conservative think tank.

Phillips did not immediately respond to follow-up questions about what Frazier’s team produced under the agreement.

The State Board of Education began last year to redesign Texas’ social studies standards. The board plans to vote on the standards this summer, with classroom implementation expected in 2030.

Up to this point, a Republican majority of the group has approved plans to center Texas and U.S. history in social studies while deemphasizing world cultures, world history and geography. The panel of nine advisers has helped guide the process, almost all of whom have no K-12 classroom experience in Texas and several of whom have ties to conservative activism.

Critics say the panel has assumed full control of Texas’ social studies rewrite and undermined teacher expertise, when in previous years, teachers have normally guided the process. Draft proposals of the social studies changes, critics argue, prioritize memorization over critical thinking and simplification over accuracy. They also say the current plan focuses heavily on Western civilization at the expense of other cultures, lacks historical perspective of people of color and prioritizes Christianity over other major world religions.

Frazier previously served as chair of Texas’ 1836 Project advisory committee — the state’s counter to The 1619 Project, a collection of essays from the New York Times that examined the foundational role slavery played in the forming of the U.S.

He was appointed a social studies adviser to the State Board of Education last year. Since then, he has become a vocal leader of the group, often one of the first to provide his thoughts and perspective in public meetings.

“I am pleased by the move toward a narrative approach to history, and an emphasis on Western Civilization as shaping the bedrock principles of our nation. I am glad to see an open discussion of Christianity as an influential force in shaping the American character,” Frazier recently wrote. “Other world religions are treated with respect in most cases, yet the single most important shaper of American culture is sometimes treated with trepidation. Mentioning Christianity is not proselytizing, but rather an admission of the reality of the history of the United States.”

The Texas Public Policy Foundation, meanwhile, holds significant influence in state politics, often hosting events with top Republican leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott, and leading conservative policy debates at the Legislature. In the past year, the organization has been a strong advocate for a Texas-centric approach to social studies instruction.

During a September board meeting, Matthew McCormick, the organization’s education director, was asked directly by a board member if the group had any involvement in the development of the current social studies framework.

“TPPF was not involved,” McCormick responded.

On Tuesday, Democratic board member Marisa B. Pérez-Díaz asked Republican board chair Aaron Kinsey when the board could discuss the working relationship between Frazier and the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Several Republican board members objected to Pérez-Díaz asking questions about the connection, saying the board needed to instead focus on social studies content.

“One of the challenges with the question is she made an assertion that it was for a certain purpose — whatever she was talking about — some payment. I haven’t seen that,” Kinsey said of Pérez-Díaz’s inquiry. “I don’t know anything about any private contracts. I know about SBOE contracts; I know about my business contracts. I don’t know anything else, so I can’t tell you when I can advise on that, because I don’t have information on that. Nor do I anticipate giving information.”

Tom Maynard, one of two Republicans who appointed Frazier as an adviser on social studies standards — referred to as Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, or TEKS — called insinuations that Frazier engaged in wrongdoing “troubling.”

“I think the implication is that there’s some sort of quid pro quo,” Maynard said. “There’s no evidence, and it’s just a smear tactic, and I think it’s not productive. And I think we need to stay focused on what we’re doing here and move forward and get TEKS done and not play political games with this thing.”

Democrats, however, said they consider the process “too important to continue under a cloud of uncertainty.”

“We must ensure that any standards adopted by this board reflect the highest level of integrity,” their statement said, “and serve the best interests of all Texas students.”

Disclosure: New York Times, Schreiner University and Texas Public Policy Foundation have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

Texas Republicans Say They’ll Save Diversity on Campus by Killing Diversity on Campus," by Brant Bingamon

Friends:

Besides its clever title, this piece by Austin Chronicle's Brant Bingamon is important because it makes explicit the absurd rationale today to eliminate DEI and Ethnic Studies. Sen. Brandon Creighton, who is leading the charge, recklessly appropriates the language of civil rights and diversity to justify policies that dismantle diversity programs. He redefines “diverse voices” and “unity” to mean the removal of explicitly racial, ethnic, or gender-related curriculum, reversing the meanings of these terms without acknowledging their historical or contextual specificity. This rhetorical ploy is used to distort the truth and mislead the public.

He also misrepresents Ethnic Studies to make it easier to attack, referring to them as “discriminatory” or “divisive” without engaging their actual content or pedagogical goals. Sherry Sylvester with the Texas Public Policy Foundation provides no evidence that DEI or Ethnic Studies cause unproductive outcomes. Both Sylvester and Creighton suggest that keeping such programs leads to educational or societal collapse. Geez, where is the evidence, and why such animus?

As someone who testified in a Arizona District Court case on the dismantling of Mexican American Studies in the Tucson Unified School District—and who, in preparation, reviewed more than four decades of rigorous scholarship—I categorically reject Sylvester's claim. 

Nothing could be further from the truth. The research is clear: Ethnic Studies programs foster academic achievement, critical thinking, and civic engagement. To suggest otherwise is not only misleading, but a profound disservice to the educational integrity we should be upholding.

 I urge readers to read this piece published by the National Education Association and authored by Dr. Christine Sleeter titled, What the Research Says About Ethnic Studies so that readers can learn for themselves what I am saying.

The research is further in line with Izabella de la Garza's testimony quoted herein, who offers a direct rebuttal, expressing how “Inclusivity is the antithesis of discrimination.” She then speaks powerfully about how there is nothing to fear and how Ethnic Studies was one of the most enriching experiences of her life. Great job, Izabella. We need many more voices like yours with ringing clarity in our legislative battles.

-Angela Valenzuela

Texas Republicans Say They’ll Save Diversity on Campus by Killing Diversity on Campus
Higher education Senate subcommittee aims to double down on DEI ban

by Brant Bingamon, Fri., Nov. 15, 2024 Austin Chronicle

State Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe (photo by Jana Birchum)

In the last legislative session in 2023, Texas Republicans outlawed Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs at public universities across the state. Now, they’re getting ready to kill what they call “DEI-related curriculum” – the courses taught under the umbrella of Black studies, Latina/o studies, LGBTQ studies, and other fields.

The new crusade was unveiled at a Senate subcommittee hearing on higher education held on Nov. 11 and dedicated to “stopping DEI to strengthen the Texas workforce.” Such hearings are usually the first step in the creation of future laws.

State Sen. Brandon Creighton, the author of 2023’s anti-DEI law, opened the hearing by appropriating the language of the civil rights struggle, referring to ethnic studies courses as “discriminatory.” He also appropriated the principles that underpin DEI programs and turned them upside down to support ending DEI. “Our public institutions of higher education have a duty to uphold campus culture that encourages diverse voices, viewpoints, and to build trust among administration, faculty, staff, and students, not to divide them,” Creighton said.

With that, Creighton introduced President Jay Hartzell from UT-Austin, professor Holley Love from the University of Houston, and President Mark Welsh from Texas A&M. Texas A&M recently provided a model for how to eliminate diversity-focused programs on a university campus. On Nov. 7, the university’s board of regents voted to end 52 minors and certificates – including the LGBTQ studies minor – which administrators decided had low levels of enrollment. Changes to curriculum are traditionally proposed by faculty but, in this case, A&M’s provost developed the process which identified the programs to cut. The changes are proceeding despite sustained faculty protest.

Hartzell, Love, and Welsh took turns trying to placate Creighton. Welsh assured the senator that his university has instituted a revolving schedule to examine which courses to abolish. Creighton asked whether degree tracks at A&M have any “political leaning.” Welsh denied it. “I’m hoping what our students are getting out of this is the idea of nonpartisanship,” he said. “It’s having your own political views but to keep them to yourself and learn about everybody else’s.”

“They won’t be able to do that with these misguided and frankly pathetic worldviews.”– Anti-DEI advocate Sherry Sylvester of the Texas Public Policy Foundation

Next up, Creighton brought on an anti-DEI warrior, Sherry Sylvester of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a far-right think tank that has been aggressively working to alter Texas education policy for three decades. Sylvester congratulated the committee for passing what she called the strongest and most effective anti-DEI legislation in the country, but said that campuses “continue to revolve around identity politics, gender, and race theory.” She said Texas taxpayers fruitlessly spend billions trying to help students lead productive lives.

“They won’t be able to do that with these misguided and frankly pathetic worldviews,” Sylvester said. “That’s why it’s critical that this committee look deeply into what is being taught in university classrooms.”

Eventually, the actual teachers and students who sit in those classrooms had a chance to speak. Not a single one supported the subcommittee’s mission. Many were Hispanic students, or recent graduates, of UT. Their overwhelming message was that the studies programs they have taken teach critical thinking, communication skills, and a deeper understanding of history and politics.

Izabella de la Garza, a recent UT grad with degrees in government and Mexican American studies, told Creighton that the courses are not discriminatory. “Inclusivity is literally the antithesis of discrimination,” de la Garza said, describing the courses she took as one of the most enriching experiences of her life. “If anything is going to strengthen our workforce, it is cultural awareness,” she continued, “and the curriculum you’re concerned about provides that cultural awareness. There is nothing to fear in diversity and interdisciplinary studies, and it is concerning that you’re framing it as an issue.”

Analysis: A critical culture war over how to teach history by Ross Ramsey of the Texas Tribune

Great read. You can also hear Ross Ramsey read this piece at the website that links to this piece, as well. Love the tone in his voice that belies the nonsense put out this week in a Tweet the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation. Scroll down to see the Tweet that they deleted immediately after posting it to see for yourself how paranoid and extremists these folks are.

If you're not rolling your eyes right now, you might just be part of the problem.🙄

-Angela Valenzuela

Analysis: A critical culture war over how to teach history

The fight over critical race theory is thriving in Texas, and could make an appearance in the special legislative session that starts next week.

BY ROSS RAMSEY JULY 1, 2021

If you would like to listen to the column, just click on the play button below.

Unconventional Wisdom - July 1, 2021 -  

00:00 / 04:37 

 

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A conservative Austin think tank is touting a list of no-nos worthy of Dolores Umbridge, or, if you’re not a Harry Potter fan, of George Orwell.

It’s out of the paranoid “if you see something, say something” genre of civics — a topical guide on how to think about a subject that might or, more likely, might not have been on your mind at all.

Critical race theory.

In a tweet that was deleted just as Wednesday’s political news shifted to building a wall on the Mexican border, the Texas Public Policy Foundation warned of the things to look out for if you’re worried about disagreeable historical content in public school courses in Texas.

See for yourself:

It makes sense, to start with, that you’d know you were hearing about “critical race theory” if that’s the term used to describe what you were hearing. Nevertheless, it’s the first phrase on the list TPPF offers for “How to identify critical race theory in the classroom.”

Texas lawmakers have tried to regulate use of critical race theory as an approach to teaching in public schools, and Gov. Greg Abbott has said he wants to go further and might add this to the agenda of a special session starting next week.

“Equity, diversity and inclusion” is a phrase you’ll hear at any big company — and many government agencies, too — from people trying to make sure certain groups don’t have an unfair edge over others. It’s what you do if you’re looking for a good CPA, and not just a good CPA who’s also a white male.

You can go down the TPPF’s list in this manner, but the point is that these folks have gathered words and phrases they consider signs of CRT.

Ignore the ironies and just call it interesting that conservatives who decry cancel culture and politically correct language have produced a document to assist those who want to cancel an approach to history and sociology based on words and phrases that might turn up when they’re used by teachers.

Some of the terms on the list are jargon. It’s unusual to stumble on the word “normative” in regular conversation. Don’t think of people you know; just ask yourself when the last time was that you heard it in your favorite detective show. Or from a sportscaster. Public school students, as you know if you ever were one yourself, just love jargon.

A thought experiment: Teacher A uses a lot of jargon. Teacher B, with a similar class and the same subject matter, doesn’t. They would have disparate outcomes, though we can’t use that phrase here because it’s on the list, and also, because it’s jargon.

Let’s just say Teacher B’s class would learn more about the subject and Teacher A’s class would learn more about napping.

All of that is fun, and you can make up more of this stuff with your friends. But it’s serious, because critical race theory is a favorite bugaboo of Republicans right now, and because attacking CRT antagonizes many of the groups they like to antagonize: people of color, women, LGBTQ people and so on.

If you’re a teacher, you want your students to know how to navigate their way through the world. To know what it’s like out there, what the history is, what their chances are, relative to everyone else, and just why things are the way they are.

You have to tell them about race, gender, power, conformity and nonconformity. About how to change the things they don’t like if they’re living in a democracy. About who has an easy ride and who has a hard one — and why that so often doesn’t depend on education and skill, but on “social constructs” and identity.

And about why the people now in power are so defensive about all of these things that, they fear, might unseat some of them. About how much of this is like a game of “king of the hill,” about who holds the hill now and about how to climb it if you’re at the bottom.

The words and phrases aren’t really what the current winners are worried about.

They’re worried about keeping people in their place, and about how education and understanding can be so disruptive to their current standing.

Educated people can change the world — whether the world wants to change or not.

Disclosure: The Texas Public Policy Foundation has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

The chief economist for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Vance Ginn, is getting lambasted for his recent racist tweet that he has since taken down.  As you can read in the title to this piece, he said that said schools should open—after all, Hispanics and the elderly are the ones dying from COVID. 

Despite his weak proverbial republican excuse that his words in his Tweet were taken out of context, this is not defensible. Not only is there no nuance in what he said, but if he did want to be nuanced, a single Tweet is obviously not the medium for this. 

No, he's ok with Hispanics and the elderly dying at a greater rate from COVID than non-Hispanics. As far as I'm concerned, his devil-may-care attitude about opening schools disqualifies him from any credible or authoritative viewpoint on whether or not schools should re-open.

Has he not heard that the virus actually doesn't care about your race, class, gender, or age? Has he not yet grasped a key lesson that COVID is teaching us that everybody's health matters regardless of race, class, gender, or age?

But there's an even deeper point...

I also want to remind him and readers to this blog that "Hispanic" is a word that came into existence in the 1980s. It masquerades the fact that we Hispanics, Mexicans, Tejanas, Tejanos, Mexican Americans are native to this continent. We are the descendants of the original peoples to this continent. Somos Americanos Nativos, Native Americans, Indigenous. That we don't emphasize this more has either to do with our own internalized racism that largely comes from schooling and/or we've been severed from those connections due to forced assimilation in both the U.S. and Mexico. Assimilation and disparaging native peoples is a Latin America problem, too, as it was also colonized by Europeans. Award-winning film, Roma, about which I blogged previously is exactly about this problematic.

 To say this, is not to equate our experience with that of Native Americans—federally designated or not who are experiencing unconscionably high COVID rates—but rather to acknowledge a shared history of genocide, violence, and colonization, including the perpetual drumbeat of what I call in my own work, "subtractive cultural assimilation" (Valenzuela, 1999), to which both so-called “Hispanics” and Native Americans—especially the darker ones—alike are perpetually subjected.

I say all of this as background to the comment that I now want to make. In my circles, friends and colleagues—especially those on the front lines of this battle—share with me that they often think about the current COVID moment that we're in as yet again, a genocidal campaign to which our communities are getting subjected. N.B. I encourage you to read Dr. Greg Pulte's recent piece titled, "COVID19 is our Small-Pox Infected Blanket, as well as Dr. Juan Andrade's cogent analysis titled, "Trump's "Passive Eugenics" and Crimes Against Humanity."

So when a Vance Ginn makes comments like these, for many of us, it confirms what we already think and know. Consider that a state so contemptuous against Mexico and Mexican Americans, generally, that officials have already "attempted to deny birth certificates to the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants" (Garcia, 2019). 

It confirms the violent, dismissive, and genocidal impulse against us as native peoples. We as Mexicans, Mexican Americans, or "Hispanic" people are not at all "wearing out [our] welcome" as one unfriendly commentator posted to my blog last January.  We have nowhere to go back to if our ancestors have always been on this continent—thousands of years before there was anything called "Texas," "the United States," or "Mexico." And we're still here. We're not going anywhere. 

And I wish you could really know and internalize that because what we as Mexicans, Mexicanas, Chicanas, Latinx young people, families, communities, and nations have to offer is hopeful, brimming with potential. To draw on Professor emeritus University of California San Diego anthropologist, Dr. Olga Vasquez came up with an apt metaphor for who we as Indigenous people are, "We're like the beautiful sahuaro cactus that blooms in the desert. Despite the hardship, we always bloom and are a refuge for other desert creatures." 

In contrast, European-origin "white" people are exactly that—from Europe who were colonial settlers in their new land that they invaded and pillaged—and that finds expression today in the continued exploitation of native peoples, women, African Americans, and people of color, generally.  To position oneself as white and aboriginal to this continent is ignorant, arrogant, and a reflection of not only one's miseducation, but also of a willful, self-serving desire to perpetuate a highly unequal status quo that disproportionately benefits white people—and as a consequence, feeds the false narrative of white supremacy.

It's amazing to think that 528 years after Christopher Columbus set sail, many of us as Indigenous peoples still know our history. We teach it to our young, too. Perhaps it's not so hard to forget when people like Vance Ginn open up a wound of memory that builds on others. to keep such notions as genocide and colonialism fresh and alive, however painful or distressing.

-Angela Valenzuela

#BrownContinent

References

García, M. (2019, September 7). In Texas, a call to action against white supremacy, CNN Opinion.

Valenzuela, A. (1999). Subtractive schooling: U.S.-Mexican youth and the politics of caring. NY: State University of New York Press.

Conservative think tank leader says schools should reopen since most Texans dying from COVID-19 are elderly or Hispanic

In an interview, Vance Ginn said the intention of his Twitter thread was to outline the more thorough data provided by the state. He also said his tweet with a GIF was “woefully taken out of context out of bad faith.”

BY ALEX SAMUELS JULY 28, 2020UPDATED: JULY 30, 2020

Vance Ginn is chief economist at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Texas Public Policy Foundation

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Vance Ginn, the chief economist for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, is facing fierce backlash for a recent racist tweet that said schools should open since most of the people dying from the coronavirus in Texas are elderly or Hispanic.

Before Monday, the state’s racial and ethnic breakdown of deaths had large gaps, with up to 18% of deaths last month recorded as “unknown.” A revised count of the data released Monday by the Department of State Health Services, however, shows that Hispanic Texans are overrepresented in the state’s updated fatality count.

Citing the revised data, Ginn tweeted that the people most likely to perish from the deadly virus are people older than 50 and Hispanics, whose death rate increased from 24.8% on May 27 to 48% on July 27. Hispanics make up about 40% of the state’s population.

Meanwhile, about 180 deaths, or 3% of the total, occurred among Texans younger than 40. About 2,000 people who died were 80 or older, making up the largest age bracket of COVID-19 deaths.

“Why not #openschools, end universal mandates, target vulnerable & check those from #Mexico?” Ginn wrote in a since-deleted tweet. He juxtaposed his tweet with a GIF of Prince Harry of Wales miming a mic drop.

He later apologized for tweeting the GIF. “It’s been brought to my attention that the gif may have been perceived as insensitive. I apologize as that was not my intention,” he tweeted.

In an interview with The Texas Tribune, Ginn said the intention of his Twitter thread was to outline the more thorough data provided by the state. He also said his tweet with the GIF was “woefully taken out of context out of bad faith.”

“What we’re really focused in on is, ‘How can we best make sure that Texans are taken care of during this time?’” he said. Given the revised data that shows demographic breakdowns, he questioned whether state and local officials should take a more “targeted approach” to combatting the virus, rather than passing blanket policies.

Ginn later removed the tweet and apologized. “I believe strongly based on my deep faith that every life is precious,” he wrote. “My intent was to highlight the positive development of more data available to make better policy decisions and help the vulnerable.”

Almost 53% of public school students were Hispanic in 2018-19 and more than 60% are economically disadvantaged, according to Texas Education Agency data. Public health experts have said schools that reopen in areas with high and fast-rising rates of community spread are likely to exacerbate the effects of the virus. That means staff and students could bring the virus home to their families.

“This is my grandfather Albert. He was an Hispanic citizen of the U.S. & passed from #Covid,” tweeted former state Rep. Jason Villalba, R-Dallas. “His grandchildren (born in Dallas) lived with him and also got #Covid. They survived. W/ great respect, the death of elderly Hispanics does not necessarily make the schools safe to open.”

Ginn, who previously served in the White House under President Donald Trump's administration as associate director for economic policy at the Office of Management and Budget, also served as senior economist for the think tank.

While children may not be the most vulnerable to contracting the virus, fear of community spread has prompted some large school districts to delay the start of the fall semester for in-person instruction.

In mid-July, Texas education officials said school districts could delay on-campus instructions for at least four weeks and ask for waivers to continue remote instruction for up to four additional weeks in areas hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic. During that time, districts must educate at least a small percentage of students in person and give the state information on what public health conditions would allow them to bring more kids into classrooms.

In recent months, the Republican Party has faced criticisms for appearing to prioritize the economy over public health, while research shows that COVID-19 disproportionally affects Black and Hispanic people.

Gov. Greg Abbott, too, has faced pushback from Democrats on his coronavirus response efforts. Although he implemented a statewide mask mandate earlier this summer, he’s been chided for a speedy phased reopening of the economy to which public health experts attribute a record number of coronavirus deaths in the state.

Aliyya Swaby contributed to this report.

Correction: An earlier version of the headline on this story referred to the Texas Public Policy Foundation as a GOP think tank. The conservative foundation is nonpartisan. On July 30, the state said an “automation error” caused approximately 225 deaths to be incorrectly added to the overall death count; a subsequent quality check by Department of State Health Services epidemiologists revealed COVID-19 was not the direct cause of death in these cases. We updated the cumulative numbers for July 27-29 to account for this error.

Disclosure: Texas Public Policy Foundation has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.