Dark Money and Misinformation: How Texas School Districts Flunked the Transparency Test

View the original Texas Watchdog article Dark Money and Misinformation: How Texas School Districts Flunked the Transparency Test here. 
The Texas School Transparency Violations scandal, uncovered by The Texas Tribune and ProPublica, reveals that a significant number of Texas school districts have failed to comply with House Bill 2626—a state law that mandates the public disclosure of campaign finance reports for trustee elections. The law, meant to usher in a new era of transparency in local school board elections, has instead exposed a pervasive lack of compliance, administrative chaos, and systemic underfunding. In this investigative report, we’ll dive into the heart of these violations, the impact of political and bureaucratic dysfunction, and the broader consequences for democratic accountability in the Texas education system.
HB 2626: A Law with Good Intentions, Lousy Execution
House Bill 2626, passed in 2023, was supposed to be a game-changer for local political transparency. ...

View the original Texas Watchdog article Dark Money and Misinformation: How Texas School Districts Flunked the Transparency Test here. 

The Texas School Transparency Violations scandal, uncovered by The Texas Tribune and ProPublica, reveals that a significant number of Texas school districts have failed to comply with House Bill 2626—a state law that mandates the public disclosure of campaign finance reports for trustee elections. The law, meant to usher in a new era of transparency in local school board elections, has instead exposed a pervasive lack of compliance, administrative chaos, and systemic underfunding. In this investigative report, we’ll dive into the heart of these violations, the impact of political and bureaucratic dysfunction, and the broader consequences for democratic accountability in the Texas education system.

HB 2626: A Law with Good Intentions, Lousy Execution

House Bill 2626, passed in 2023, was supposed to be a game-changer for local political transparency. The law required school districts, municipalities, and other political subdivisions to post campaign finance reports on their websites within 10 business days of receiving them. The law aimed to give voters a clear view of who was financing their local school board candidates, helping them to make informed decisions about potential conflicts of interest.

The law’s intent was noble, but in execution, it’s been a colossal failure. The ProPublica and Texas Tribune investigation found that not a single one of the 35 districts examined had fully complied with the law. Reports were either incomplete, missing, or never uploaded to district websites, even after the districts were notified of their noncompliance. Of the districts analyzed, 16 were missing reports entirely, while others hadn’t bothered to upload even a fraction of what the law required.

Why? The reasons range from incompetence to a lack of resources. Small, rural school districts, in particular, struggled with the technical requirements of posting the reports online, citing underfunded IT departments and overburdened administrative staff. But in other cases, it appears that the districts simply didn’t bother to prioritize compliance.

Political Transparency or Political Theater?

For all its good intentions, HB 2626 seems to have been more of a political stunt than an actual step toward reform. When you look at how the law was implemented, it’s clear that the Texas Legislature either didn’t think through the logistics or simply didn’t care about enforcing the law. No additional funding was allocated to help smaller districts meet the new requirements. The law was simply dumped on already overwhelmed school districts, leaving them to figure out the details on their own. And figure it out, they did not.

One of the most glaring aspects of the ProPublica and Texas Tribune findings is that even after districts were notified of their violations, some continued to drag their feet. In one particularly egregious example, a district in East Texas took months to post a single campaign finance report after being alerted of its noncompliance. This kind of foot-dragging raises questions about whether the lack of compliance is purely administrative or if there’s something more sinister at play—whether certain school boards are intentionally keeping voters in the dark about who’s funding their campaigns.

The Role of Dark Money in Texas School Board Elections

One of the most significant issues the transparency law was supposed to address is the increasing role of dark money in local school board races. School board elections, once the domain of local parents and teachers, have become a political battleground. Outside interest groups, PACs, and even national organizations are funneling millions into these elections, pushing agendas ranging from school vouchers to curriculum changes related to race and gender issues.

The ProPublica investigation uncovered several instances where school board candidates received significant funding from out-of-state donors and dark money groups, raising concerns about outside influence in local education policy. In one high-profile case in Midland, a group linked to conservative billionaire Tim Dunn funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars into a local bond election through a shadowy PAC. The lack of transparency surrounding these donations made it nearly impossible for local voters to trace the money back to its source.

The influx of dark money isn’t just a problem for transparency; it’s also a threat to the very nature of local governance. School boards are supposed to represent the interests of the local community, not serve as proxies for national political battles. But as more outside money flows into these races, the voices of local parents and teachers are being drowned out by well-funded special interest groups.

The Compliance Crisis: From Technical Failures to Political Apathy

In many of the districts that failed to comply with HB 2626, administrators cited technical issues and a lack of resources as the main barriers to compliance. Smaller, rural districts, in particular, struggled with the requirements of posting documents online. Many lack dedicated IT staff or the infrastructure to manage online databases. Some districts have websites that look like they were designed in the early 2000s and haven’t been updated since. Expecting these underfunded districts to suddenly comply with a complex web of new transparency requirements without additional resources was, frankly, unrealistic.

But technical issues are only part of the problem. In other cases, the failure to comply appears to be more about political apathy—a general disinterest in transparency and accountability. School boards, already operating with limited oversight, have little incentive to comply with transparency laws, especially when the penalties for noncompliance are negligible. Even when districts were notified of their violations, many failed to act quickly or adequately, raising questions about their commitment to transparency.

The Texas Ethics Commission, tasked with overseeing campaign finance laws, has struggled to enforce even the most basic transparency measures. The commission, which is woefully underfunded and understaffed, relies on the Texas Attorney General’s Office to pursue delinquent filers. But as the Texas Tribune reported, enforcement has been inconsistent at best. The backlog of delinquent filers has grown steadily since 2019, with 750 candidates owing over $3.6 million in unpaid fines as of 2023. This lack of enforcement emboldens noncompliance, creating a culture of impunity among school districts and candidates.

Who Pays the Price? The Impact on Voters

The people who suffer the most from this transparency crisis are the voters. Without access to crucial campaign finance information, voters are left to make decisions in the dark. They have no way of knowing who’s bankrolling the candidates running for school board positions, or what kind of political interests might be influencing local education policy.

In the 2023 school board elections alone, candidates received thousands of dollars in donations from PACs with opaque funding sources. In districts like Harris County, where schools serve predominantly low-income and minority students, these elections are critical for determining the future of education policy, from school funding to curriculum content. The fact that voters in these districts are being denied access to key information about their candidates’ backers is not just a violation of transparency—it’s a violation of democracy.

And while dark money influences loom large in wealthier suburban districts, the impact on rural and lower-income districts is even more damaging. In many smaller districts, school board elections are decided by just a few dozen votes. The lack of transparency in these races gives outsized power to special interest groups, allowing them to shape the future of rural education without any real accountability to the local community.

Parental Rights vs. Public Accountability

As part of the broader debate over school transparency, parental rights activists have emerged as a significant political force, advocating for increased control over school curricula, health policies, and administrative decisions. Groups like Moms for Liberty and the Texas Public Policy Foundation have been vocal in their support for laws that give parents more oversight over what’s taught in public schools, particularly when it comes to issues of race, gender, and sexuality.

But while these groups claim to champion transparency, their influence on local school board races is often anything but transparent. Many of the candidates they support receive funding from dark money PACs and out-of-state donors, making it difficult for local voters to determine who’s really behind the push for greater parental control. The investigation by the Texas Tribune found several instances where candidates endorsed by parental rights groups failed to disclose their campaign finances, further muddying the waters of public accountability.

The clash between parental rights activists and advocates for public transparency is likely to intensify in the coming years, as school board elections become increasingly politicized. But as long as school districts remain lax in their compliance with transparency laws, voters will continue to be left in the dark.

Conclusion: A Transparency Law in Name Only

The Texas School Transparency Violations scandal lays bare the systemic failures in enforcing transparency at the local level. HB 2626, despite its good intentions, has been rendered toothless by a combination of underfunding, technical incompetence, and political apathy. School districts, particularly in rural areas, lack the resources to comply with the law, while wealthier districts, where dark money looms large, have little incentive to act.

The reporting by The Texas Tribune and ProPublica shines a spotlight on a critical issue that goes far beyond individual districts. The lack of transparency in local school board elections is emblematic of a broader crisis in public accountability in Texas. Without significant reforms—both in terms of funding and enforcement—HB 2626 will remain a law in name only, leaving Texas voters without the information they need to make informed decisions about the future of their schools.

In a state that prides itself on independence and local control, the failure to enforce transparency laws is a betrayal of the very principles Texas claims to stand for. As long as dark money continues to flow unchecked into local elections, and as long as school districts remain free to flout the law, Texas voters will continue to be shut out of the democratic process.