Thanks in part to a board of education dominated by
conservative reformers such as Andy Smarick of the American Enterprise Institute and former Thomas B. Fordham Institute President Chester Finn Jr. (the latter of whom presided over the
think tank's initial activism against the Obama - era guidance), the
Old Line State only plans to intervene when suspension levels for poor, minority, and special ed - labeled children are three times higher than that of other peers.
But in a case study of the power of fossil fuel interests to shape government policy, the industry's money and alliances with
conservative think tanks and advocacy groups transformed the committee's membership and supported the rise of Smith, son of an
old oil and ranching family in South Texas.