“Save Texas Schools is a liberal group posing as a non-partisan, education advocacy organization. The rally they have planned for Saturday will push for raising taxes, draining the Rainy Day Fund, and continuing the cycle of setting spending priorities that are focused outside of the classrooms.”

“Texans are tightening their belts, and voters sent a strong message in November that they expect government at all levels to do the same. Since education spending is a major portion of the state budget, it is appropriate that education also share in the cost cutting. We can cut education spending without cutting instruction or teachers.  But educrats are calling in all of their forces to oppose any education cuts.” 

“We want spending priorities aimed at classrooms, not at administrator pay and perks, Taj Mahal-style buildings, or non-instructional staff.  Data from the Texas Education Agency shows that only 49 percent of the revenue schools receive is  spent on instruction (http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/snapshot/2010/state.html).”

“We have launched a new Web site, www.RedAppleProject.com, which shows how priorities on a district-by-district basis are also placed on expenditures outside of the classrooms.  We are engaging citizens across the state to take their district-specific data to their school districts and state legislators and urge them to make in-classroom spending a priority again.”

“None other than the George Soros crony, Fred Lewis, serves on the steering committee and is co-chair of strategic partnerships for Save Texas Schools. Lewis is the founder of Texans Together Education Fund, which received $80,000 from Soros’ Open Society Institute in 2009. Texans Together spawned the notorious Houston Votes organization that came under fire for submitting thousands of fraudulent voter registration cards in Harris County in 2010.”

“Lewis served as president of the left-wing organization Campaigns for People, which worked to keep large private donations out of campaigns. Brian Donovan was an associate of Lewis’ at Campaigns for People. Donovan, who also worked for the Travis County Democratic Party, is the fundraising co-chair for Save Texas Schools.”

“Clearly the ideologies of these men have been to promote the big-bureaucracy, big spending status quo in which we have one non-teacher for every teacher and fail to focus education spending on the classroom. We believe that throwing more money at a problem does not create solutions. We’ve been increasing the amount of tax dollars going to schools in Texas for decades, only to see a decline in test scores and college-readiness, and an increase in the dropout rate.”

“We say students and teachers deserve better. Cuts should be made, outside of the classroom, without short-changing students, teachers or taxpayers.”