Recently in Austin, a half-dozen mild-mannered, soft-spoken mothers, at a news conference echoed the cry from the movie Network:
“We’re mad as hell, and we’re not going to take this any more.”

Actually, they didn’t use exactly those words. But it was the same sentiment.
The backlash may finally be happening. The actions of the Texas Legislature on school finance – or, as it perhaps is turning out, the inactions -- have some Texas mothers and fathers and grandparents steaming.

Some of those hacked parents have formed a group called “Texas Parent PAC,” a political action committee.
And what that means is this bipartisan group of usually mild-mannered parents and grandparents “and anyone who loves children and supports high-quality public education” plan to raise at least a quarter-million dollars to invest in10 to 20 targeted legislative races next year.

“We believe the future of Texas rests in the children of today, and our public schools are the best opportunity we have to ensure that the state’s future is bright and prosperous,” said the group’s chair, Carolyn Boyle of Austin.

They are convinced that many Texas legislators, led by Republican House Speaker Tom Craddick, talk about quality education but vote the opposite.

“Representative democracy is based on trust, and parents historically have trusted state legislators to consistently vote in the best interest of our schoolchildren,” Boyle said. “Unfortunately, many Texas lawmakers have betrayed that trust, which is why Texas Parent PAC was created.”

For the past several years, Boyle has been executive director of a consortium of groups interested in public school issues like opposing school vouchers. But Boyle said she got so frustrated that she quit that job to help start this political action committee, to try to change the play by changing some of the players.

“Unfortunately, some state legislators continue to shortchange students by refusing to adequately fund neighborhood public schools,” Boyle said. “There are no good excuses for failure by the Legislature to meet the needs of 4.4 million students enrolled in Texas public schools.”

The group will try to educate parents about which legislators deserve a Texas Parent PAC seal of approval --or disapproval. They plan to and organize voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives, both in primary and general elections.

The PAC “will make contributions to Republican and Democratic candidates, men and women, who are committed to strengthening Texas public schools,” Boyle said. “Endorsements will be based on key record votes and positions on issues such as public school finance, opposition to private school vouchers and excessive testing, local control, school start date, and government mandates.”

She thinks it’s an uprising whose time has come.
“We hope to involve parents in a way they have never been involved,” Boyle said. We think parents are a sleeping giant. The fledgling group’s efforts are being warmly received, Boyle said.

Boyle and her fellow moms were hot enough that they had after their press conference they headed off to hand out flyers to 3,000 attendees at a Parent-Teacher Association state conference in Austin that weekend. ((July 22.))

“So many parents are so angry,” Boyle said. “We tell people about this, and they say, ’Where do I send my check?’” (Answer: Box 303010, Austin TX 78703 or www.txparentpac.com.)

Boyle said the group hopes to help elect Republican and Democratic legislators who consider a strong public education system a valuable and necessary investment rather than an expense. To Boyle and her board, that means getting rid of some of those who are there now.
“We need to elect a bunch of new legislators,” Boyle flatly declared. “We can do a whole lot better than we’re doing now.”