YCT Opposes Beck and Tucker UT Board of Regents Nominations
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 26, 2015
Contact: Jenna White, Executive Director
Mobile: (281) 460-8545
Email: [email protected]
Austin, TX — Today, Young Conservatives of Texas (YCT) urged the Texas Senate Nominations Committee to deny the confirmation of Sara Martinez Tucker and David Beck to the University of Texas Board of Regents.
“Governor Abbott said some great things in his State of the State about improving education,” said YCT State Chairman Jeff Morris. “Unfortunately, some of his first nominees to the UT Board of Regents have records of standing up for the status quo instead of superior outcomes and reform.”
Sara Martinez Tucker was intimately involved in promoting the common-core curriculum in Texas. As chair of the National Math and Science Initiative, she has promoted the material by freely distributing the curriculum on an open-source basis. By doing so, schools in Texas have been able to skirt legislation passed in the 83rd legislature that bars schools from purchasing common-core curriculum.
Additionally, her irresponsible actions as Under-Secretary of Education in forgiving a student loan company cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. Her work on the Commission for the Future of Higher Education sought to bring No Child Left Behind principles to Higher Education.
“The conservative grassroots have been clear from day one – common core does not belong in Texas,” continued Morris. “As Attorney General, Abbott fought to defend that principle; As Governor, he needs to follow through.”
YCT also expressed concern with nominee David Beck. Beck is a founding member of the “Texas Coalition for Excellence in Higher Education,” an organization which has vocally lambasted Regent Wallace Hall for uncovering unscrupulous admissions practices at the University of Texas.
Beck was also named and implicated in the recent Attorney General’s report (prior to Paxton) on the “forgivable loan” program at UT, which concluded that the lack of oversight of the program designed by Beck “produced predictable control problems and a lack of transparency owed to the public.”
“YCT wholeheartedly supports the work that Wallace Hall did to uncover the corruption under UT President Bill Powers,” continued Morris. “Nominating Beck and Tucker would only continue to stack the board with status quo liberals that are more concerned with the school’s reputation than the integrity and outcomes of the university. This will undoubtedly result in increased tuition and fees for students wishing to simply graduate and improve their quality of life.”
Both Tucker and Beck are scheduled to appear before the Senate Nominations Committee this morning for a formal hearing.
Young Conservatives of Texas is a non-partisan organization that has promoted conservatism at universities across the Lone Star State for over three decades. The State’s most active political youth organization, YCT is composed of hundreds of members and alumni who participate in the full spectrum of politics. YCT issues the most respected ratings of the Texas legislature and is the only conservative group to have done so without interruption over the past 20 legislative sessions. For more information about YCT, please visit .
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