Mrs. Walker would be proud {Save Texas Schools Rally}

My second grade teacher, Mrs. Walker, was one of the first people other than my parents who believed in me. She singled me out for praise. She chose me for special assignments and bragged to anyone who would listen that I was destined for greatness. Mrs. Walker was also a bit of an activist. She was opinionated and loud, but intelligent and courteous. I wanted to be just like her.

My political persona has been on all sides of the fence at various times in my life. I've voted Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, and Green. I've written in names and made up my own along the way. The way I vote today is a culmination of all the things I've learned along the way and I believe that when I check that box on election day, I'm honestly voting for the best possible candidate or issue based on my knowledge of the subject.

I tend to stay unbiased in my blogs because I photograph all people. People are beautiful regardless of the way they vote or where they go to church or whether they even vote or go to church at all. But today I'm going to step away from the norm and share with you some images of the Save Our Schools rally in Austin this afternoon. This was not a rally for one party over another. I saw Democrats chanting side by side with Republicans. There were Socialists along with Tea Party followers. Aggies and Longhorns were joined arm and arm chanting "save our schools" and cats and dogs were putting aside their differences for this one moment in time. Okay, maybe not the cats and dogs part, but seriously, this was a magical moment for me to be a part of.

Schools in Texas are facing a serious problem and their funding is being slashed drastically across the board. There's talk of classroom sizes of 40-50 students per teacher. There's talk of thousands upon thousands of teachers being fired because there's not enough to pay them. Programs are being cut, nobody in the school system is safe -- regardless of their experience, college degrees, or popularity. Meanwhile we're sitting on billions of dollars in the "Rainy Day Fund" and turning away millions in federal aid. People are upset and understandably so. The state expects teachers to turn out high scoring students on standardized tests, yet at the same time tell them they may be out of job regardless and even if they still have a job, they won't have any money to spend on teaching supplies and are going to have twice as many kids to teach. Whew! And I thought I had a lot on my plate!

So sit back and click here take a look at some of the scenes from the rally today. And if you have a moment. Write to your local legislators and tell them to do whatever it takes to ensure our children have the proper funding for their education.

I sometimes wonder where Mrs. Walker is today. What would she think of this situation? Would she have stood by and let the state cut her funding without a fight?





















































































































Lisa On Location Photography