Top lawmakers back lifting camp safety law
Top Texas legislators are pushing to waive a new state law that requires camps to install broadband fiber optics in order to legally operate this summer, The Dallas Morning News reported. Scores of camps are struggling to meet the deadline. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dustin Burrows released a statement last week saying they support lifting the law.
Nearly 20 camps have sued to block the law requiring them to install a fiber-optic network, arguing that it does not make their properties safer and would cost millions of dollars. So far only nine Texas summer camps are licensed to open, with fewer than two weeks before the season begins. Nearly 300 are still working to obtain licenses. The Department of State Health Services said last week that camps will be allowed to operate under existing licenses while their applications are reviewed.
The laws were passed in the aftermath of last year’s July 4 flooding, which killed more than two dozen campers at Camp Mystic along the Guadalupe River. In addition to fiber optic networks, camps must install emergency warning and public address systems and provide safety training for campers.
Cornyn, Paxton in tight runoff race
Paxton is locked in a tight race against incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn for the GOP nomination, the Texas Standard reported. The Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston recently conducted a poll that showed Paxton leading Cornyn, 48% to 45% with 7% still undecided.
The poll of those indicating they were likely to vote in the GOP runoff had a 2.83% margin of error.
In the first quarter of this year, Cornyn raised nearly $9 million, including $3.4 million after the March primary. Paxton raised $2.2 million. Democratic nominee state Rep. James Talarico, D-Round Rock, raised a record $27 million in the first quarter, the largest-ever sum for a Senate candidate in the first quarter of an election year in any state.
Texas has biggest teacher workforce, but they get paid less
Texas has the country’s largest teacher workforce but lags behind the national average in teacher pay and per-student spending, according to a report in the Austin American-Statesman.
A National Education Association report said teacher pay in Texas is about $10,700 below the U.S. average. Texas public school teachers earned an average of $63,749 in 2024-2025, which put it 33rd among states and Washington, D.C. The national average was $74,495.
Texas had nearly 370,000 public school teachers in 2024-2025, the highest number in the country.
Gary Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published a number of community newspapers in Texas during a 30-year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Cedar Park. Email: [email protected]