I think a portion of this is a good idea, I also think another side to it is a waste of money.

Governor Abbott signed HB 2497, filed by Representative Tan Parker. The bill creates the Texas 1836 Project, a nine-person advisory committee that will serve two-year terms to promote and expand education including "the presentation of the history of the State's founding and foundational principles, examination of how Texas has grown closer to those principles throughout its history and explanation of why commitment to those principles is beneficial and justified."

Governor Abbott tweeted out a video on the importance of this bill, which you can watch above. "To keep Texas the best state in the nation, we can never forget WHY our state is so exceptional," he said in his tweet. So what is the bill going to do?

The duties of the 1836 Project include:

  • Increasing awareness on the following topics:
    • Texas history, including the indigenous peoples of the state, the state's Spanish and Mexican heritage, Tejanos, the Texas War for Independence, annexation of Texas by the U.S. and Juneteenth;
    • The founding documents and founders of the state
    • State civics
  • Advising the governor on the core principles of the founding of Texas and how those principles further enrich the lives of its residents
  • Facilitating the development and implementation of the Gubernatorial 1836 Award to recognize student knowledge of Texas Independence
  • Advising state agencies with regard to their efforts to ensure patriotic education was provided to the public at state parks, battlefields, monuments, museums, installations, landmarks, cemeteries and other places important to the Texas War for Independence and founding of the state
  • Facilitating, advising on and promoting other activities to support public knowledge of and patriotic education on the Texas War for Independence and founding of Texas.

Critics of the bill say this education is unnecessary since Texas history education is already mandatory in public school from grades 4 through 7. I guess more education wouldn't be a bad thing. There is one aspect of this bill that I think is a tremendous waste of money.

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If someone is moving to Texas and they go to get a drivers license. They will be handed a pamphlet on Texas' rich history. You and I both know those are going directly into the trash after people get their drivers license. This new project is going to cost 2.3 million dollars through August 2023. I really want to know how much of that is the pamphlets because I think that is waste.

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