I'm Stephanie Wolf with a brief look at the latest news in Texas politics and
policy from the Texas Tribune. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has issued a sweeping gag
order ahead of the impeachment trial of suspended Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Patrick
is acting as judge in the Senate's trial, which begins September fifth. In
his order, he said any out of court statements made by both sides could
compromise the proceedings, and he cited comments made by legal teams for both Paxton
and House impeachment managers as potentially problematic. In his order, violators could be
found in content of court and face up to six months in a county jail,
as well as a fine of up to five hundred dollars. The order
applies to members of the Senate and House. It also includes our staff,
witnesses and attorneys, barring them from making comments that they quote reasonably should know
could cause prejudice and the trial that encompasses statements about expected testimony or comments on
witnesses character or credibility. It also includes any opinion around the outcome of the
trial. Meanwhile, Paxton has raised more than a million dollars in campaign donations.
He announced yesterday that his one point seven million fundraising came from more than
twenty three hundred donors in twelve days. His team said it was a personal
postseason record for Paxton and called it a triumph in spite of his impeachment.
Paxton raised one point four million in the same period in twenty nineteen and less
than four hundred thousand during the post session window in twenty fifteen. State officials
are prohibited from fundraising around the regular legislative session. Texas has been struggling with
finding and retaining educators, which is what led one school district to initiate a
teacher apprenticeship program. The Brasoport Independent School District, about sixty miles south of
Houston, launched the effort last August. The goal was to create a way
for aspiring teachers to earn their bachelor's degree and teacher certification within four years.
They're paired with mentors working alongside them in the classroom for a full academic year.
After completion, the teachers are required to work in the district for at
least three years. Twenty five educators will graduate from the program in time for
the next school year. There are similar programs across the state, but Brasoport's
apprenticeship initiative stands out as high schoolers can start it while still in school,
and it can be more affordable than a four year college degree. The program
is on the rad are of many public education advocates. They hope it can
serve as a model for other school districts to curb the state's teacher shortage crisis.
Educator preparation programs were also a recommendation of Governor Greg Abbot's Teacher Shortach task
Force. The task force report said research shows that teacher residency models increased teacher
retention, effectively placed teachers in hard to staff areas, and positively impact student
outcomes. There were some bills before the state legislature this regular session that would
have helped fund and establish initiatives to better prepare people entering the profession, yet
the proposals failed after political fallout in both chambers. Former US Representative Myra Flores,
a Los Indios Republican, announced her bid to win back her old seat
in South Texas last week. National Republicans celebrated the comeback campaign, and within
hours of her official announcement, she had already gotten endorsements from the likes of
US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Majority Leader Steve Scalise. She'll be challenging the
incumbent US Democratic Representative, Vincent Gonzalez of McAllen, who defeated Flores in the
twenty twenty two regular election. Democrats seemed very confident ahead of the race.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee released a memo recently calling the Republican fanfair around Flores's
return delusional. The committee goes on to write that Gonzalez is popular and that
he unseated Flora's during what was supposed to be a red wave for Republicans.
Flora's initially won the seat in a June twenty twenty two special election. It
was a breakthrough victory for the GOP in South Texas, but redistricting made the
seat more favorable for Democrats and Gonzalez won by a healthy margin in November.
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Stephanie Wolf with the Texas Tribune. You've been briefed. Today's Brief is brought
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