Barry Smitherman Stood for Religious Rights of Kountze Students with Greg Abbott

As Christmas nears, one thing we are talking about is the Merry Christmas bill. The Merry Christmas bill was passed this year to allow teachers and students to be able to celebrate Christmas in schools without fear of lawsuits. This is a great bill, but it only scratches the surface of stopping the attacks against Christianity in schools. The Texas Attorney General is on the front lines defending the religious rights of Texans and Texas Students.

Texas Attorney General Candidate Barry Smitherman does not just stand up for Christian Conservative values, Smitherman goes out of his way to get involved. From rallying against Common Core and CSCOPE, to promoting the Merry Christmas Bill, Smitherman has been there. Just last week, Barry Smitherman went way out of his way to speak at a Women on the Wall #CanISee anti-Common Core community meeting in Frisco, TX organized by Alice Linahan.

Since we are on the topic of standing up for students in Texas, I want to let everyone know about how Smitherman stood up for the religious rights of cheerleaders at Kountze High School. Many people do no know about how Smitherman went out of his way to stand up for the religious rights of students in the small east Texas city of Kountze. Kountze, TX is a small city in Hardin County in East Texas. Last year there was a battle of ideas that occurred here. The Kountze Cheerleaders made their own signs with their own money to hold up at public football games after school. Some of the signs had encouraging Bible verses on them. The Wisconsin based freedom from religion foundation did not like that these signs had Bible verses on them. This anti-Christian organization is known for going around the country finding people to threaten with lawsuits unless they back down from anything that even mentions God. These students have a Constitutional right to express their faith, even in school. Unfortunately, many organizations and individuals do not have the money to fight a lawsuit so they just give in to the demands of the freedom from religion foundation.

These students in Kountze, TX were not backing down from their faith or from their rights. The students and parents started speaking out and created a facebook group. They took a bold stand. Word started to get out about the situation and the cheerleaders got some legal help from the Liberty Institute.

Texas Railroad Commissioner Barry Smitherman heard about this situation in Kountze, TX. Smitherman probably had lots of important issues on his plate, but he took time to get involved and stood up for these kids in Kountze. I am from Hardin County and I was very involved in standing up for the Kountze Kids. Barry Smitherman personally sent me a hand written statement expressing support for the Kountze Kids and standing up for their Constitutional rights.

See the Kountze Faith letter form Barry Smitherman here

This really impressed me and this is one of the reasons why I really support Barry Smitherman. Smitherman got involved even when no one was looking. His actions are exactly what I would expect from a possible Texas Attorney General. In fact, your current Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott did get involved to defend and protect the religious rights of the Kountze Kids.

Barry Smitherman getting involved over the years from Frisco to Kountze shows me that he have the values and dedication needed to be the next Texas Attorney General.

Shock Recording: Ken Paxton NOT interested in Stopping Common Core or CSCOPE as Texas Attorney General

Texas Law bans Common Core in Texas Public Schools. The Texas Attorney General plays a very crucial role in defending Texas from Obama’s attempts to break Texas law by getting Common Core into our schools. Attorney General Candidate Ken Paxton was asked recently how he, as the Texas Attorney General, would approach Common Core Standards and CSCOPE. Shockingly, Ken Paxton was caught on a recording responding, “the Attorney General probably won’t get involved in that.”

This is absurd! Texans have been fighting tooth and nail to stop CSCOPE and Common Core from getting into our public schools, and Ken Paxton, in his own words, says he probably won’t get involved in defending Texas law that bans common core?

In comparison, Texas Attorney General Candidate Barry Smitherman has taken a STRONG stand against CSCOPE and Common Core and Smitherman has vowed to fight it tooth and nail as Texas Attorney General. See statement from Barry Smitherman below.

The rest of the article below is a more in depth information from Alice Linahan originally posted at Voices Empower:

Last session, the Texas Legislature passed HB 462 which bans Common Core in our Texas public schools.  The U. S. Dept. of Ed. under Obama has created a work-around in which Race to the Top funds are sent directly to Texas public school districts.  RTTT-D demands that schools implement the Common Core Standards Initiative. Last year Harmony and Idea Charters received the RTTT-D1 funds, and this year Houston ISD and Pasadena ISD are in the running for the RTTT-D2 funds. This puts these schools directly in opposition to Texas law under HB 462. 

Barry Smitherman has issued a strong commitment to uphold Texas laws, including HB 462: 

   

“As the chief law enforcement officer for the State of Texas, the Attorney General must ensure that the laws of Texas are obeyed and enforced.  

When the Texas legislature passes a bill, in this case HB 462, which forbids Common Core Standards in Texas Schools, then the Attorney General should ensure that Common Core Standards are not utilized by Texas schools.  

We cannot let the enticement of federal dollars cause our school districts to ignore state law.  I have personally reviewed CSCOPE curricula which is extremely biased against fossil fuels; describing, for example, only the “harmful effects” of oil, natural gas, and coal.  The State of Texas is the leading provider of fossil fuels in America, driving our economy forward, lowering energy costs, and eliminating our country’s dependence on fuel from countries that are hostile to America and her ideals.

I have stood strong for Texans by suing the Obama EPA 7 times to stop the implementation of poorly scienced, boneheaded environmental regulations. I will continue to fight for all Texans against an ever encroaching federal government, and as the next Attorney General, I will vigorously defend all of the laws of the state of Texas.” Barry Smitherman

 In Contrast AG candidate Ken Paxton states….

At a Q&A session Texas Attorney General candidate Ken Paxton was asked about how he would approach Common Core Standards and CSCOPE. 

“That’s more of a legislative function…The Attorney General probably won’t get too involved in that.”

Here is the recording of Ken Paxton saying this:

Then Paxton referenced “lawsuits” as a reason he would avoid taking action on Common Core Standards/CSCOPE issues.

TEX. ATTORNEY GEN. GREG ABBOTT AND CSCOPE

On May 6, 2013, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott came to the assistance of Texas parents by sending an official letter to TESCCC, the corporate owner of CSCOPE, in which Abbott reminded them of Section 26.006(a) in the Texas Education Code which gives parents the right to review all teaching materials, lessons, etc. that are utilized in their children’s classrooms.  https://www.oag.state.tx.us/oagnews/release.php?id=4394

As stated in the Dallas Morning News on 7.17.13, “Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott is a fierce critic of CSCOPE and has threatened to subpoena its records.”  –http://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/headlines/20130717-texas-criticized-cscope-curriculum-system-may-live-again.ece

COMMON CORE IS A TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL ISSUE – COMMON CORE BANNED BY TEXAS LEGISLATURE FROM TEXAS PUBLIC SCHOOLS – HB 462

Following is a statement sent to Texas public school personnel on 11.7.13 by Texas Commissioner of Education Michael Williams in which he explains the ramifications of HB 462 recently passed by the Texas Legislature:  http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=25769808124

As you consider funding opportunities, especially those offered by the United States Department of Education, I want to remind you of the provisions in a new law prohibiting the adoption or use of the Common Core State Standards.

The 83rd Texas Legislature passed House Bill 462 (HB 462), which contains several important prohibitions relating to curriculum standards. The bill:

1.     prohibits the State Board of Education (SBOE) from adopting Common Core State Standards;

2.     prohibits school districts from using Common Core State Standards to meet the requirements to provide instruction in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS);

3.     prohibits a school district or open enrollment charter school from being required to offer the Common Core; and

4.     prohibits the Texas Education Agency from adopting or developing assessments based on Common Core State Standards.

You may read the full text of HB 462 at: http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/83R/billtext/pdf/HB00462F.pdf#navpanes=0.

Texas Speaker Joe Straus Shows Support for Obamacare and Tax Increases

In Texas, you expect the leaders to oppose Obamacare and oppose tax increases. No state leader in Texas even has to think about whether or not to oppose Obamacare and new taxes. Why? Because this is Texas and we are a pretty conservative state and if you do no oppose Obamacare and oppose new taxes then you might as well resign because you will not get elected again to a statewide office in this state. All of the Texas leaders are very vocal about their opposition to Obamacare and are opposed to new taxes instead of spending cuts.

Except for Texas Speaker of the House Joe Straus…

Alice Linahan of Voices Empower explains more:

Joe Straus is on the record as stating that we cannot “cut our way to prosperity,” which echoes the sentiments of Barack Obama nationally. Rick Perry (Texas Governor) and David Dewhurst (LT Governor TX Senate Leader) have both signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, which is a firm pledge to oppose any tax increases, while Straus (TX House Speaker) has not.

Rick Perry and David Dewhurst have come out and stood firm against implementing Obamacare on Texas. In fact, of the top 3 leaders in Texas, Joe Straus is the only one who is unwilling to oppose enacting Obamacare in Texas. When pressed, he said he had to bring all the stakeholders together and decide. Why is this a hard decision? Obamacare is harmful to the strength of our state and its economy.

As Alice Linahan points out above, Joe Straus is not standing up against Obamacare and is open to the idea of raising taxes instead of cutting spending.

Wait, how is that possible that Joe Straus is a state-wide leader and is not strongly opposed to Obamacare and tax increases? How was he ever elected to that position? The reason Joe Straus is the Speaker of the House in Texas is because the people of Texas do not vote to make him Speaker. If the people of Texas voted for speaker in a state-wide vote then Joe Straus would never be elected to lead this conservative state. The only reason he ever got elected to be Speaker is because he was a traitor to the Republican Party. Joe Straus was elected speaker by teaming up with the DEMOCRATS in the House. He got all the democrats in the House to vote for him. Straus also has money and has wielded his money and power as Speaker to threaten and hurt people who oppose him as Speaker.

This is not a man who should be leading our conservative state and the Republican State Representatives in the Texas House need to stand up and elect a better, more conservative person to lead the Republican majority Texas House of Representatives.