The Core Blog

On April 21, the Clean Slate Texas coalition hosted a Twitter Town Hall, Second Chances as Big as Texas, to discuss breaking down barriers to opportunities for people who have previously been involved in the criminal legal system. All too often, criminal records bar people from housing, employment, education and other necessities, regardless of the offense or how much time has passed. With at least 9 million Texans living with a criminal record, awareness of

Addressing harmful, threatening, or violent behavior in Texas schools under a threat assessment model became the statewide expectation following the enactment of Senate Bill 11 (SB 11) in June 2019. An innovative approach to managing threatening behavior was necessitated by a series of tragic mass shootings in 2018 that set the landscape around conversations of school safety at the time. Here, I am specifically referring to the untimely deaths at high schools in Parkland, Florida

We’re wrapping up our 25th anniversary this year, and it’s been a wonderful celebration! We thank everyone for making it special.In the final part of this three-part blog series, we share what kept us moving during the pandemic, post-pandemic activities we look forward to, and our favorite places to visit in Texas. Name something you did during the pandemic to relax, recharge, or take care of yourself. 1. I made sure that my days had

We’re celebrating our 25th anniversary this year! As part of our celebration, we’re releasing a series of three blog posts focused on our team’s fav things — many are connected to our work and mission and some simply inspire us. In the second part of the series, we discuss advocacy. Our team shared informative articles, inspiring activists and organizations, as well as tips for being an effective advocate. WHAT IS THE MOST INFORMATIVE ARTICLE YOU

A recent change made to the federal Pell Grants program has major implications for Texas. Late last year, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, a vast spending package that included the second round of aid meant to combat the pandemic. Buried within the 2,124 page bill, legislators expanded eligibility for federal financial aid to incarcerated students pursuing a higher education, overturning a ban that had been in place since 1994. Momentum had been

We’re celebrating our 25th anniversary this year! As part of our celebration, we’re releasing a series of three blog posts focused on our team’s fav things — many are connected to our work and mission and some simply inspire us. In the first part of the series, we discuss books, songs, movies and podcasts centered around social justice. What book have you read that is social justice-themed and has stuck with you? 1. “The Color

“If kids are old enough to experience racism, then they’re old enough to learn about it. ” 1 Never have words more accurately captured the landscape of our present reality, and never have words fueled more fury during legislative testimony on the Senate floor. It is understandable that ‘telling it like it is’ and stating the ‘hard truths’ stir feelings of discomfort, denial, and anger for some. For others, these words draw both gratification and

The absence of a robust, uniform approach to data privacy in the US is highlighted by news stories and first-hand accountsdetailing the fallout of the collection, use, and sale of a wide range of personal data. The use of this personal data is alwaysintrusive and often discriminatory, resulting in a host of inequities and abuses based on factors such as race, gender, sexualorientation, demographics and biometrics, political opinions, health status, geolocation, browsing habits, social networks,tagged

A more in-depth discussion can be found in Texas Appleseed’s newly-published Education Transformed Report As Americans, we are enduring a time of unprecedented struggle in the midst of an extraordinary crisis that has ignited a fire to fight for change. One of the challenges this crisis has exposed is the deep inequity in K-12 education. This moment thus requires a transformation in K-12 education: the legislature must acknowledge how the pandemic exacerbated so many social

Texas Appleseed applauds Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Congressman Chuy García (IL-4) introducing Congressional Review Act resolutions to stop the “fake lender” rule. This rushed rule adopted by the US Office of Currency in the waning days of 2020, helps lenders charging 179% APR or more. The rule attacks state oversight of consumer credit and banking, by smoothing the path for loan operations to skirt state laws through partnerships with out-of-state

Civil asset forfeiture is the legal process by which law enforcement agencies, particularly local police departments, are able to seize either currency or property from owners under a suspicion that it was used for or obtained through criminal activity. Once property has been seized by law enforcement, a court then determines if it is subject to forfeiture (i.e., permanent confiscation). Law enforcement officers need only have “probable cause” that there may be an associated crime