The Red Apple Project

11/22/2023

This past week, Republican members of the Texas House of Representatives voted with the liberal teacher unions and the Democrats they support to gut House Bill 1 by stripping the Governor’s key legislative initiative, the Education Savings Accounts [ESA] provision, from the bill.

ESAs are designed to empower parents with greater control over their children’s education. Governor Abbott has specifically called the legislature into multiple special sessions for the primary purpose of passing ESAs.

Governor Abbott is aligned with the voting public in Texas. Poll after poll indicate that Texans overwhelmingly support giving parents a greater say over the education of their children.

More importantly, from a political perspective, 88% of Republican primary voters voted for Proposition 9 in last year’s primary. The ballot language was very straightforward and read as follows:

“Texas parents and guardians should have the right to select schools, whether public or private, for their children, and the funding should follow the student.”

Last year, 88% of primary voters agreed that Texas parents should have this option.

These are the same folks who elected each of these 21 rebels, who instead voted with the teacher unions who endorsed or contributed to most of their campaigns.

While holding hands with these woke unions, these 21 Republicans effectively provided a middle finger to not only a popular governor, but the very people who turned out to elect them in their primaries last year.

To them, it was more important to protect the status quo, and the woke left, than to support their governor, the party platform, and the will of the very voters who elected them.

Let’s take a look at some of the specifics for each of these House members who sided with the Democrats:

Rep. Steve Allison represents a conservative district in San Antonio. Last year, 87% of his primary voters supported Proposition 9.

Rep. Ernest Bailes represents a conservative district in east Texas, where 87% of his primary voters supported Prop. 9 last year.

Rep. Keith Bell represents a district just east of Dallas, where 85% of his voters supported Prop. 9 last year.

Rep. DeWayne Burns represents a conservative district just south of Fort Worth, where a whopping 89% of his voters supported Prop. 9 last year.

Rep. Travis Clardy represents Nacogdoches and surrounding east Texas areas, where 77% of his voters supported Prop. 9 last year.

Rep. Drew Darby represents San Angelo, Big Spring and surrounding west Texas. 86% of his voters supported Prop. 9 last year.

Rep. Jay Dean represents an east Texas district including Longview, where a whopping 88% of his voters supported Prop. 9 last year.

Rep. Charlie Geren represents part of Fort Worth in Tarrant County, where 87% of his voters supported Prop. 9 last year.

Rep. Justin Holland represents a district just north east of Dallas including Rockwall. 85% of his voters supported Prop. 9 last year.

Rep. Kyle Kacal represents a central Texas district including College Station, and 85% of his voters supported Prop. 9 last year.

Rep. Ken King represents a very conservative panhandle district, where 82% of his primary voters supported Prop. 9 last year.

Rep. John Kuempel represents a south-central Texas district including Seguin, where a whopping 88% of his voters supported Prop. 9 last year.

Rep. Stan Lambert represents Abilene and surrounding areas, where 84% of his voters supported Prop. 9 last year.

Rep. Andrew Murr represents a south-central district including Junction, where 86% of his voters supported Prop. 9 last year.

Rep. Four Price represents a panhandle district including part of Amarillo, and 84% of his conservative constituents supported Prop. 9 last year.

Rep. John Raney represents a central Texas district including College Station, where 81% of his voters supported Prop. 9 last year.

Rep. Glenn Rogers represents a rural district west of Ft. Worth, which he narrowly won last cycle, where 86% of his voters supported Prop. 9.

Rep. Hugh Shine represents a conservative district in Temple, where a whopping 89% of his voters supported Prop. 9 last year.

Rep. Reggie Smith represents a north Texas district including Sherman, where almost three-quarters, 73%, of his voters supported Prop. 9 last year.

Rep. Ed Thompson represents a district just south of Houston, where 86% of his voters supported Prop. 9 last year.

Rep. Gary Van Deaver is a former school superintendent who represents far northeast Texas including Texarkana, where 83% of his conservative voters supported Prop. 9 last year.

-- Liberty For The Kids

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03/31/2016

03/28/2016

AFP Foundation-Texas filed an amicus brief (friend of this court) brief challenging the school finance lawsuit on the basis that funds are not efficiently spent.

Texas ISD’s are $117 billion in debt, and only half the public education funds are spent on instruction.

March 28, 2016 More Spending Will Not Fix Public Education Texans are awaiting the State Supreme Court decision on school funding. School districts sued the state claiming the school funding is unconstitutional. APF Foundation-Texas filed an amicus brief (friend of this court) brief challenging the…

03/17/2016

Want to know what your ISD superintendent makes? Here's the salary report in the link below.

Are you surprised to see high superintendent salaries in low income or low performing school districts?

This page will provide you with superintendent salary information. You may receive the statistics either as a web page or a comma-delimited file. The figures will be summarized for a particular district, or for the entire state. A statewide list will be about 700,000 bytes in size. It will take tim…

03/09/2016

Is this how our education tax dollars should be spent?

"No other words can describe it when funds intended to provide much-needed educational resources to a community are allegedly used to line the pockets of corrupt leaders and contractors.

School board members demand – and receive thousands of dollars from school attorneys to keep their contract according to indictments following an FBI investigation."

March 9, 2016 Rotten Apples at Donna ISD No other words can describe it when funds intended to provide much-needed educational resources to a community are allegedly used to line the pockets of corrupt leaders and contractors. School board members demand – and receive thousands of dollars from schoo…

02/18/2016

A new study from the Brookings Institute: Education Choice and Competition Index provides insight into large public school systems and how they embrace school choice.

The study reveals that out of 112 school districts in the country, only three get an “A” and one of those is the Recovery School District serving New Orleans.

The index ranks large school districts on their design and implementation of choice and competitive systems in 13 categories including open enrollment and charter school availability.

The study provides an objective analysis of what major school districts in the country are embracing relative to providing parents with educational options rather than the traditional school assignment by zip code.

February 17, 2016 Public Schools Embrace School Choice: But only within the public schools Written by Peggy Venable A new study from the Brookings Institute: Education Choice and Competition Index provides insight into large public school systems and how they embrace school choice. The study reveals…

01/21/2016

What do we want?
!

When do we want it?
NOW!

School Choice would give parents a voice in where their children attend school. Education is not a one-size-fits-all. Assigning students to schools based on where they live is unfair - especially when students are assigned to failing public schools that are allowed to remain open year after year.

We can do better for the children in Texas!

Urge your legislator to support school choice this legislative session and ensure that all students in Texas have a chance to receive a good education!

Contact your legislators with just a click.

01/12/2016

It’s the Supreme Court case that could provide “right to work” to all of the nation’s public employees. Have you heard about it? http://bit.ly/1RyaWjA

11/30/2015

This year, Toni Richardson of Jacksonville, Fla. is celebrating school choice and the joy of watching her daughter thrive in a school that equips and challenges students to reach their dreams.

11/10/2015

It may have been a "thank you" to the National Education Association for endorsing her, but Hillary Clinton put the interests of unions above those of disadvantaged kids in her flip-flop on support for charter schools. Charter schools generally serve kids who were not doing well in traditional public schools. Many charters cater to kids who have dropped out of school. Hillary should apologize to the charter school teachers who are working hard - with fewer resources - to help kids succeed. Shame on Hillary - putting unions ahead of disadvantaged kids!

Since 1993, the leading voice and advocate for lasting, substantive and structural education reform in the U.S.

10/09/2015

Arlington, Va. -- Americans for Prosperity released the following statement from Senior Policy Fellow Peggy Venable, regarding today's reauthorization of the Washington, D.C. school choice program known at the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee v…

09/02/2015

Superintendents can get a pink slip, a fat check and another position just for doing a bad job. Here is yet another example of why putting more money into the Texas school system doesn't help the kids. Edgewood ISD is giving a pink slip (they call it a buy-out) and a $400,000 check to outgoing Superintendent Jose Cervantes. This move will cost the iSD an add'l $200K in state funding, so this district - where 94% of the kids are economically disadvantaged - is out $600,000.

One of the state’s poorest school districts has bought out its superintendent for $400,000, double his annual salary — an award so large that Texas will penalize the district by withholding $200,000 in state funds.